Thanksgiving is Over and Advent Begins

I didn't even realize that it had been a few days since I posted.  I was either doing absolutely nothing, or I wasn't home all day.  Yesterday, we left to go to my grandma's in the morning and didn't get home until about eight or so in the evening.  We were there to celebrate Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family, and it was a whole lot of fun.

Aside from just talking and things, we also played board games.  My sister Regina, Aunt Kate, and I played this Hunger Games training game.  I got to play as the District 12 tribute (which isn't specified as being Katniss, but her skill is archery so...).  It was extremely confusing at first, but after we figured the game out it turned out to be a lot of fun.  Regina, our cousin Danielle, and I also played several games of Clue.  And all of us grandchildren (except my brother Matthew) played Quelf.  It was Regina's first time playing.  We had so much fun!  It's impossible to not have fun while playing Quelf.

I completely forgot that today was the first Sunday of Advent until this morning.  As far as I'm concerned that means it's officially Christmas season!  Speaking of church related things, today was also the first time we used the new translation of the mass.  That turned out interesting...  Even though we knew the responses had changed, it's hard to say something different when you've gone your whole life saying it the old way.  It'll be interesting to see how long it takes before everyone gets used to the new translation.

Tomorrow is school again.  It's always a little weird to go back to school after breaks, even if they're only five days.  The month until Christmas break seems like such a long time.

Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to write a quick Thanksgiving post.  If you're in America, I hope you're having a great Thanksgiving, and if you're elsewhere in the world, I hope you're have a great day even though it isn't a holiday.

My dad's side of the family is getting together this weekend, but for today it's just my grandma, dad, sister, brother, and me.  My mom is unfortunately at work today, but someone has to be at the hospital even if it is Thanksgiving.  My grandma and sister are downstairs while everything cooks right now.  (As you can tell, I'm being a great help.)  Everything was already put together last night, and today just really involved sticking stuff in the oven to cook.  We should be eating really soon!  I can't wait for the dressing!  That's the best part of the Thanksgiving meal.  (My family has a dressing recipe that's just amazing.)  And of course pumpkin pie is another amazing Thanksgiving food.

I got up early to watch the Macy's parade for the first time in a few years.  I used to watch it every single Thanksgiving, but then I got older and discovered the joys of sleeping in.  Since then, I've usually only caught the end of the parade.  Today though, I was supposed to help my sister cook, and I was determined to actually see the whole parade.  Our dog Poppy woke me up just before my alarm this morning by coming into my room and laying on my chest.  After that I was wide awake, which under most circumstances would be good because I'd actually get up, but I really didn't want to move her.  She looked so peaceful sleeping there even though I was in a slightly uncomfortable position, so I laid there a little longer than planned.  I still managed to catch all of the parade.

Ji's mom made a Korean dish called kimbap today, and she wanted us to have a roll of it.  I'm not really sure why, but Ji brought it over to us about an hour ago.  It was an interesting experience.  It wasn't that I didn't like the kimbap.  It's just not something I'm used to eating.  I think it's something I could get used to eating if I had it over and over, but it's probably not something I'd seek out.

Since it's Thanksgiving, I'll do a little list of things I'm thankful for:  family, friends, our dogs, books, writing, Harry Potter (especially the fandom), J.K. Rowling, the Internet (that may sound stupid but really think about all it's done), the fact I have a chance of going to college even though applications are stressing me out recently, and all of the other things that make me happy.

I hope all of you Americans enjoy your Thanksgiving meals!  I'm ready to go eat all of our awesome Thanksgiving food!