Turklette Day 2008

As promised, or warned, I'm back! And I sure do have a lot to say.

Today was Thanksgiving. The day of the turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, greenbean casserole, apple pie, and, of course, familial ridiculousness.

I have found two supreme remedies for the yelling, fighting, screaming, fighting over the remote, spilling of milk, breaking of glasses, and general craziness associated with Savrda holiday time:
(1) Turner Classic Movies and (2) Eating my feelings.

(1) Turner Classic Movies.
I am currently addicted to the TCM Channel. Since I've been home I've watched approximately 4.5 classic movies and I have loved them all. My favorite, so far, has been Three for the Show. It is one of the funniest musical comedies I have ever seen. You're probably thinking, "Yeah, well how many musical comedies have you seen?" And in response, I say, "Get off my back! Enough to have a favorite, idiot."
The movie opens as "Julie" (played by Betty Grable), a singer/dancer/stage performer, greets her audience after a show as her husband and co-star, "Vernon", waits in the car. She remembers her deceased husband, "Marty", who helped write the show and was reported dead after serving in the Air Force during WWII. Sounds pretty normal, but the plot is complicated when Julie receives flowers from "Marty", who is not only alive, but now wishes to resume his spousal role in her life. The hilarity continues as the three return to the home of "Julie" and her two husbands, accompanied by "Gwen" who finally breaks the news to "Marty" that his wife is now married to his best friend. (Clearly, this is a universal story that applies to us all. Hah. Well, even if it doesn't apply to all of us, or even at all to us, it provides a great deal of laughs as "Julie" tries to work out her dilemma.) I won't tell you what happens at the end, but I will say that at one point "Julie" decides that since both of her marriages are technically legal she shouldn't have to choose only one and invites them both to live in her home.
That explanation was extremely muddy, so I apologize; it's merely the Costeira story-telling curse. If it happened in 5 minutes, it takes, oh maybe, 30 minutes to explain.
Did I mention that the musical numbers are amazing? It's no surprise, considering musical greats George and Ira Gershwin contribute to the score. Since we're talking details here, I need to say that I would love to be Betty Grable. She does an amazing job with the humorous parts of the movie, sings and dances beautifully, and manages to do all this while looking absolutely fabulous throughout the entire film. I was also extremely impressed to discover that she choreographed many of the numbers herself. Ridiculous.
Yeah, I am definitely a classic movies freak now. It may be weird, but I approve of anything that can cause audible outbursts of laughter for a girl hermiting herself to avoid the noise on Thanksgiving Day.

Fact: I just looked up the word "hermiting" for curiosity's sake and it's legit. Check Urbandictionary.com. There it is, defined as the following: to conciously decide to dwell alone for long periods of time. (Guilty.)

The holidays are the perfect time to practice one's hermiting skills. Also, textroversion. Yeah, you know who you are, you textroverts!


(2) Eating my feelings
I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory, but it was a real problem this year. The noise, oh the noise, when this family gets together is just ridiculous. I find no other option but to grasp at the only thing I can control in my life. Foods, Foods, Foods. (How about that, Hamlet? You can't eat "words, words, words", now can you?) Yes, it is delicious, but at a certain point I cross over the threshold, and it doesn't even taste good anymore. So why? Why?
You see, if my mouth is full of food, it's definitely not saying anything it shouldn't be saying, and I can cope a little better. It's not that I don't love spending time with my family, but sometimes I just need a little escape from the general "excitement" of family gatherings.


No more of that. Let me try being nice for a little while.

I do love the food, but my favorite Thanksgiving Day tradition comes before we eat. With my whole family seated around the table, the aluminum foil still on the endless vegetable dishes, empty plates before us, we bless the food and each person in turn says what he or she is thankful for. Yes, it's repetitive, and everyone usually says something about the three cardinal "F"s (Family, Friends, and Food), but it is just plain nice to hear my family say something good about their lives, their world, and each other. We stop yelling for a couple of minutes and actually listen to each other. And that, to me, is sweeter than any apple pie.

I can tell by the level of cheesiness that I am running out of steam. Curses! That tryptophan, good ol' Mother Nature's prozac, is getting to me, and I think this post is probably having a similar effect on you, so...

Goodnight, and, on this Turklette Day 2008, thank God for you.