I'm Thankful That I'm Thankful

I wrote the headline about a week ago, but then the directory got the better of me and I've been lost in chamber-of-commerce land for the last couple days. I'm about halfway through the alphabetical index, a process of searching the entire document for the 1200 member names and listing upon which page the member is featured.

Also, I just got the final correction list from Kelly at the chamber, and half of the short list is already taken care of. So the rest of the evening will be spent fixing typos, tweaking elements and finishing the index. I will not go to bed until I have a finalized book to hand off to them.

My last post was about a week before Thanksgiving, if I recall correctly (and I do). At that point I was facing the Thanksgiving weekend on my own. But Kittie called up, saying she and David were thinking about coming down here for the holiday. The day after I wrote the last post, they called to say they would be coming down. I take care of the turkey, Kittie does the side dishes.

The rolls are always the last on the table: TRADITION!

They showed up around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, having zipped through from Grover Beach with very little traffic: seems everyone was heading out of L.A., so the congestion was on the other side of the freeway. I had gone out the day before and purchased a fresh turkey hen, and Kittie arrived with her coolers filled with side-dish makin's.

I only remember three things from their visit: 1. It's so nice to have other people's voices in the house; 2. We got to the final two-guy tasks, like packing Christmas and the remaining artwork for shipping, and; 3. I realized Punkin Chunkin, or at least its spirit, will have to be woven into my new life if I am to truly embrace the Midwest.

Kittie's photo provides a bird's eye view of the bird.

I researched it, and Punkin Chunkin is first mentioned in the 12/1/09 blog entry "'Tis the Season to Be Dealt With." When Kittie called on Saturday to say they might be coming down, I said, "I'll record Punkin Chunkin for Dave." And I did.

The production quality had improved quite a bit in the past few years, and they now had hosts from the cable show "Mythbusters," which helped give it some cohesion. Then there was a special called "Superchunk" where they hurled pianos and small cars and a half-ton pumpkin and such through the air with trebuchets.

So Kittie cooked the meal on Thanksgiving, and it was really good. We had enough for leftovers on Friday and turkey a la king on Saturday. Also on Saturday, we went out to Andy's for brunch and then to Arclight Pasadena to see "Interstellar." I was really disappointed. Really.

They left Sunday afternoon and suddenly the house was silent again, and emptier than even. The cleaning ladies were supposed to come last Wednesday, but their schedule shifted and I said they could come on Monday (yesterday), which they did. So now the house is minimalist, all the surfaces shining, only the akimbo window screens destroying the perception of modernity on a budget.

So now I'm wrapping this up, as I have to return to the indexing chore. The cat is once again lying on the desk, head encumbering the mouse pad just enough to be a bother. She knows if she doesn't make room, she's off the desk until my work is done, so she's fairly cooperative about it.