Thanksgiving

     I love Thanksgiving. It's the one time of the year when the whole family gets together and has a blast. Every year since I was a little kid my mom, grandma, brother and I would always go over to my cousin's house for dinner. It's always so much fun. My family is one of those loud and crazy families, so dinner is never the same each year. You never know what's gonna happen! My cousin Selena always cooks the dinner, then we all gather in the living room and chow down, since her kitchen is rather small for our whole family. My cousin's Zack, Sheyanne and I all sit on the floor by the table, or sometimes I'm lucky enough to make it on the couch. Then there's Sara in one recliner, A.J in one, and Theresa is either on the couch or in the 3rd recliner. My brother Jeffery, our cousin Brittany and her husband Frankie all sit on the couch, and Selena, my mom, my grandma, and my Great Aunt Susie sit in the kitchen.
     Selena always cooks up such a yummy dinner. She makes turkey, ham, broccoli & cheese, cauliflower & cheese, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, corn, and sometimes brussel sprouts (<--YUCK!). I usually only eat a little bit of the turkey, I'm not a big turkey fan. But Zack and I are always fighting at the front of the line for the ham. We love us some ham! Then, for dessert, she has chocolate mousse pie, cherry pie, homemade banana pudding, & other stuff, but I can't remember what, haha. I always make sure I get a big ol' piece of the chocolate mousse pie and a huge spoonfull of banana pudding. Those are my favorites, obviously. After we get our dessert, we have to haul butt back into the living room if we want our same seat! Last year, it was Theresa, Brittany, Frankie, my mom and me all sitting on this couch. Keep in mind the couch is only made for 3 people! If I moved, my mom took my seat, if my mom moved, I took it back! There's usually a football game playing on t.v. amidst all the chaos, but we usually are too busy talking, yelling or eating to pay attention to it.
     It's funny because every year, Zack and I get into a big ol' fight. Well, everytime we see each other we fight. It's been that way literally since we were born. I don't know what it is about us, but we just can't even look at each other without fighting! We're usually never physically fighting, but if we are, we're never really trying to hurt each other. Last year, we got in a big fight. We were fighting over who was going to be first player on the video game... I took the controller from him, then he yanked it back. I stood up and pushed him, then he pushed me back and I fell onto the bed. Then I stood up and punched him in the arm, then he punched back. Pretty soon he had me in a loose headlock, and I bit his chest to make him let me go. He fell on the bed whining about it, then I punched him in the back and went and told on him! We both got in trouble, but it was still fun. Our family is so used to how we behave around each other that if we weren't fighting, then they'd be worried!
     Every year after we eat all we can eat, we all sit in the living room together and just talk. Last year, the topic of choice was a rather inappropriate one. It was about my old dance teacher's "socks". At one of my dance performances, my great aunt Susie watched my old teacher perform with another teacher from the studio, and she said "What did he do, stuff his pants with socks?". So that was the topic of choice. It was hilarious, but inappropriate. But then again, this is my family we're talking about, so... yeah. My mom was talking about how she came to one of my dance lessons and his "socks" started showing while we were dancing, and she says to the family "And I was looking at them dancing..." and I cut her off at "I was looking" and said "Well, why were YOU looking?". I have never heard so many people laugh so loudly at something I said! It was hilarious. She corrected me and continued on with the story, but it was just such perfect timing when I interjected, I couldn't quit laughing.
     Usually during our family talk time, someone gets in a little friendly argument, and we're all sitting around watching like we're watching "Jerry Springer". When one person says something, our heads turn real quick to them. When the other person says something, our heads turn real quick over to watch them & make sure they're staying in their seat. It's so funny, cause the arguments are usually over something silly, but hey, that's my family. You gotta love 'em!
     Then, after all is said and done, my mom, grandma, brother and I get us lots of to-go plates, pile in our cars, and head home. I hate to think what it would be like if we didn't have our usual Thanksgiving dinner. Things just wouldn't be the same...