Watch out that turkey may take flight!

This Saturday was one of our high points since moving here 10 weeks ago. It also offered wind so intense that if rain was added to the mix, in the South we would be packing the car and headin inland to Hotlanta, "directly" and the rednecks would be boarding their houses and firin up the generators and icin down the Busch. I digress, We were invited to an American Thanksgiving on Balmoral Beach by a very very nice lady who, as my MIL said "I met on the internet." It is not quite as seedy as it sounds, I started stalking her blog before we moved and once we moved I sent her an email and she was kind enough to send one back and so on and on Saturday we met "in real life" at the Thanksgiving party she put together.  Even LK who is usually begging to leave a party was trying every trick he could to stay put. I think there are a few Disney movies that capture the sentiment that I felt at being reunited with Americans, "my kind, my people." The Disney scenario usually goes something like a kitty is raised by elephants or a mouse by lions or a hippo by hedgehogs or something insane and then they are reunited with their kind and they feel so happy and in place. That is how I felt, so happy to be around other Americans. The day started a little rocky with hitting a ton of traffic and not having adequate food in the car to keep the troops happy. We arrived, I scooped out my vat of potatoes into a chafing dish while battling hurricane force winds all while trying to keep my hair in place and out of my lip gloss and most importantly my skirt in the down position. While I was doing this the  boys sat right down at the picnic table that was being used as the buffet, totally oblivious that it was not a place to eat, Colin reached for some chips, fell off the bench and the chips blew away and HYSTERIA ensued. Screaming, crying, running around the table, more screaming, keep in mind there are more chips and more food than you could ever eat in a lifetime. Finally, I spied a cookie and in a moment of desperation broke(literally) the saran wrap and took one before proper dessert time. Most of this break down was my error, I never go anywhere without our 'nacks.' I assumed there would be soooo much food(I was right) that packing 'nacks' would not be necesary WRONG! BAD DECISION! I will never go anywhere without fruit sticks every again! Anyway, we had a met nary a person, Mike was parking the car and here is Colin acting like a crazed maniac. I was a little defeated. BUT I WAS HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH MY KIND DARNIT I MUST KEEP GOING!!! So I just acted like he was not mine, just kidding, I followed him around like an idiot offering everything under the sun until he calmed down. Mike is gonna freak when he hears I promised him a pony! So, anyway, after we got Colin settled we could start socializing in earnest. We fixed a plate of some amazing food, the ham was ridiculously good, turkey, corn casserole, dressing sweet potatoes, roasted root vegetables(I love these and can never pull them off), rolls, green bean casserole, this was a SPREAD, there were so many thing I did not get my own creation, potatoes which will have their own post soon, anyway they were so not worth the space on my plate! So we tucked into some(alot of) food and sat down at a picnic table with a group of people. One person at the table graduated Dana Hill HS c.o '92, Mike is c.o '94, SERIOUSLY THE SAME HIGH SCHOOL. Another person out of the 4 sitting with us was born at the same hospital in Illinois as Mike in 1976 no less, another grew up in Denver, Colorado and her family moved to the Ranch while she was in HS. Another family used to live in Mike's parents hood. What a small world, really.

The "Spread"

Two of my three best guys! Can't tell their Father/Son huh? All we need is Gil for a triplet picture

The cookie that saved the day, I think he had three cookies, his wrist and no real food! Ahh my little Colin, he is a man who knows what he wants and will not settle for less. 

The view from Thanksgiving Dinner

Now keep in mind our social skills maybe a little rusty but I think the day was a success! We met some really great people and maybe on our way to joining the world again. We have been invited to TWO playgroups, and a bookclub and I really hate to brag but I now have a total 8 contacts in my phone. I can pretty much connect you with anyone in the city! Almost everyone we connected with lives super close to where we will be living, PERFECTO, really perfecto! What I think is going to be a really interesting dynamic here is that everyone is in different stages of their visa, most are on a 4 year visa like us. Some are 2 years in, some are 4 months in and some like us are 10 weeks in or "fresh off the boat" as we were called a few times. So, I assume relationships will have a certain fluidity to them. As I think about it this may be one of the reasons that everyone was so open to newcomers, there is no SET clique that have been together for life, people come and go. 

Mike and Cars feet together, we were trying for family feet...The boys bathwater was grey that night. Always a sign of a good time.