Hello I'm Rich Brown and this is my personal website and blog. I'm just your simple, average, down to earth, professional, out gay man and aspiring circuit boy, living in Phoenix, Arizona with a few things to say while trying to find my place among all the scary, conservative, religious nuts in this sick and twisted world.
Friday, November 24, 2006
Completely Stuffed
Instead of stuffing the turkey this year I stuffed myself. I guess that's not really different from any other year though. It's always so difficult to sit down at the dinner table with all the holiday food options presented in front of you and not fill your plate from edge to edge with tasty creations.
In most years past, neither Justin nor I would go home for Thanksgiving. We would end up having what was dubbed as the orphan holiday dinner together with Mark, Andrea and whomever else was around with no place to go for the holidays. Last year we all trekked down to LeAnn & Camron's house to have dinner at their place. It was a great time. Rather then a family holiday, Thanksgiving for us had become a fun time that consisting of good friends, good food and plenty of drinking.
This year was different. Not just for Justin and I, but also for Mark & Andrea. This year would be the first year spent with real family in a long time. Now that my Mother is living here in Arizona, there was no question that she would be coming over to spend the day with us. Mark's parents are also living here in Arizona now, and Mark's brother Johnny and his wife Karen drove down from their home in Colorado to visit, which meant that Mark & Andrea would spend the day together with their family at Mark's parents house.
Now, it's not that I don't enjoy having my Mother here, I'm actually glad she can finally be part of our lives. I am however somewhat sad to think that this holiday is a representation of so many of the other things in our lives that have changed this year and marks the end of our orphan holiday dinners together. I guess it's all an evolution right? Things change and people adapt. I suppose that's what makes life more interesting.
Justin and I decided to finally try making a deep-fried turkey this year. Ever since that time many years ago when we had deep-fried turkey at our friend Steven's house we've often thought about it. At the last minute this year we decided to purchase a fryer and try it out ourselves. I think my Mother was a bit skeptical at first, but it actually turned out very well. With only having to cook the turkey for 3 minutes per pound, it really cut down our time spent in the kitchen. Justin monitored the turkey for a hour while my Mother and I finished up making the stuffing other trimmings. Dinner for us was served around 4 PM and lasted less then an hour. I wonder sometimes if it's all worth it just for an hour worth of over indulgence. Oh well that's a debate better left for another day.
We finished dinner, watched some TV, and a movie before my Mother headed off to bed in the guest room. Around midnight, Mark and Andrea stopped over for a nightcap, just back after the hour drive from Mark's parents house. We broke out some wine and beer, talked, laughed and rekindled a small part of what always made our orphan holiday dinners so much fun, the friendship. While all our lives have changed these days, each of us having family in town now, and our paths starting to take slightly separate directions, it's nice to know that we can still get together, laugh, drink and enjoy each others company just like we've always done in the past.
So in the end, it was a nice holiday. Neither better or worse then the past, just different that's all. And you know something, I'm completely ok with different. If anything I've realized that we can't live in the past and the one factor that's always constant in life is change, so to me different is good, it's just what we make of it. I'm really looking forward to winding down the rest of this year and starting off with a brand new year of new challenges, adventures and experiences. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, Cheers!
I think the holiday spent with mom is a great thing! My parents did the deep fried turkey two thanksgivings ago and I really liked it, a completely different taste, but always moist!
And I love different, monotony gets old fast.
:)
|______________________________________________________________________ posted by James @ Friday, November 24, 2006 1:22:00 PM
oops, Beta always logs me in under my Video Blog profile, not so sure why.
|______________________________________________________________________ posted by The Persian @ Friday, November 24, 2006 1:24:00 PM
Happy Stuffing! ;-)
My ex, who was somewhat British, always hated when I used the term "stuffed" -- since it has a whole other connotation over there. *WINK*
|______________________________________________________________________ posted by J. David Zacko-Smith @ Saturday, November 25, 2006 10:48:00 AM
What a great post Rich. I'm glad your mom is living close to you now and that you can share more time together.
You're so right, change in life is inevitable and necessary.
|______________________________________________________________________ posted by Jude @ Saturday, November 25, 2006 11:48:00 PM
Hey,
I know it is a big adjustment for you all to go your separate ways, but I'm glad to hear that you still are able to get together and enjoy your friendships together.
I find myself wondering where I will be in 20 or 30 years and who my friends will be then. I'm not worried that I will never have friends or family around, but the holidays have a way of shoving nostalgia in your face rather rudely. You think back to old boyfriends, old friends, family members that have passed on, good memories and bad.
I have learned an interesting new fact in my line of work - starting in mid-November through January, more suicides occur than at any other time of year. The holidays bring out a lot of conscious and unconscious emotions in all of us. There are a lot of people out there who have no reason to carry on and no family to speak of. It's nice to know that we all have each other as "family". :)
Love you guys. Hope to see the whole JMRA clan soon.
|______________________________________________________________________ posted by SilentBob @ Tuesday, November 28, 2006 6:34:00 AM
