Giving Thanks

I hope everyone's having a good Thanksgiving. And for those of my overseas readers, a Happy Thursday to you all!

I spent the day watching MST3K like any red-blooded American should do, and I ate too much as usual. Here's a view of the Galileo Family Spread:

Yum yum Turkey Yum. Well, that was just SOME of the turkey. The rest of it was, well, offscreen. Damn my hastily cobbled together thoughts of taking pictures for this entry!

Speaking of haste, here's a mini buffet because my Italian mom just HAD to use the entire table space for other food. From right to left we have Green Beans (ick), Corn (not in cob form), and my mom's awesome stuffed mushrooms. If the mushrooms were red, you would've been reading a heck of a traffic light joke. I'm not thankful for missing that opportunity.

See? Not red. And Blurry. They don't look like much (mostly due to said blurriness), but they are some of the best things you could eat. I don't know why people detest such a thing. They're probably communists.

Now here's the good stuff: Stuffing! Aside from the turkey, it's the most popular item on the menu. So much so that this is simply the overflow that couldn't fit in the turkey itself. So what if Alton Brown thinks "Stuffing is Evil?" It's a delicious evil. And in the upper left-hand corner? That's the traditional Americana side dish of Cranberry Sauce That's Shaped Like The Can It Came In. I'm surprised that this isn't available everywhere, it just doesn't seem like Thanksgiving without it. Again, I think the haters are communists.

Now with that crap outta the way, we come to the real reason why I'm writing this: Being Thankful. I didn't mention this before, but this was the first Thanksgiving without my beloved Grandma, who I called "Nana." She passed away two months ago, and I'm ever thankful that she was in my life as long as she was. If there was a family member who raised me when the parents were at work, gave me money for no reason, and loved and supported me whatever I did, it was her.

Yes, it's hard to experience the first holiday with a beloved family member (and we've all been there), but I got through it by overstuffing myself like I always do. She was one of those people who didn't want anyone worrying about her, and with that in mind, it was easier for me to try to move on. So far it's been working, save for the random bouts of depression.

Had I had the strength to write a long-heartfelt tribute to her when the inevitable happened, it probably would have been lovely, if not schmaltzy. As you know, I hate schmaltz and fortunately, so did she. She loved wrestling, after all! It's pretty much why I've had little patience to continue writing, but I've been getting better every passing day. December's coming up, so expect a whole slew of exciting entries!

So I'll sum up the last two months the only way I can: In 10 Words: "She died of natural causes. I'm still upset. The End."

But I don't want to end this thing on a downer. I'm thankful for each and every one of you for reading this, you people make my day with al those view counts I keep seeing. I rarely see comments...but that's okay by me. Okay, not really, but I'm still thankful!

So on this day of thanks, go re-read A Very Dennis Thanksgiving Special, and it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without the traditional listen to Arlo Guthrie's seminal song "Alice's Restaurant."

Let's bring on Christmas! I'm finally ready for it!