Giving thanks (part 1)

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be working on my papers right now (I have 18 pages written and 31 left to write in the next two weeks), but I've been pretty darn productive today, so I thought I'd blog a bit about my experience hosting my first ever Thanksgiving.

My parents came out from CA, which was a lot of fun and a nice excuse to not worry about what I eat for a couple of days. We picked them up at the airport Wednesday morning, took them home, dropped their stuff off, had some breakfast (pan amasado w/ butter and strawberry preserves), gave them a tour of the house, and headed out. First we went to The Hermitage, otherwise known as Andrew Jackson's digs. It was really interesting and Gen. Jackson was a fascinating character, although JC decided he didn't like him because of what he did to the Native Americans. I tried to explain that it's not very fair to judge historical figures by our current standards and understanding, but he wasn't having it.


Then we tried to stop by Rita's for some delicious gelati, but they're closed until Spring. I had never heard of such a thing. So we went to Jack's Bar-B-Que for lunch and got all sorts of different meats and sides so everyone could try something different. After that we headed over to Cheekwood Gardens to see some art, including stuff by Fabergé, and the beautiful gardens. It was really neat, but my poor parents were pretty exhausted. They were good sports, though.


For dinner we went out to the Loveless Cafe, which I had heard of but never been to. It was fun and kitschy and had great southern food, like fried catfish, fried okra, and hushpuppies. It was deliciously fatty and they gave us way too much food. Everyone loved it. I have to admit, though, that I was a little disappointed that my dad didn't get those bacon-flavored toothpicks in the gift shop.


Then it was on to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which houses some amazing indoor gardens and was all decorated for Christmas. We decided not to take the $9.00 per person boat ride. After all, the only thing it does is go around in a kind of circle on an underwater track.

Finally we decided to head home, and everyone crashed. I was actually kind of thankful (speaking of Thanksgiving) that we wore my parents out, because they didn't mind at all having to sleep on an air mattress!

Today

I'm declaring today a good day because:

1. BYU won.
2. We bought Christmas lights for the house at half price.
3. I submitted a paper to the AHCT conference.
4. I went to a baptism.
5. I ate a pupusa.
6. I spoke Portuguese with a native speaker.
7. JC is making more pan amasado.
8. I had apple pie for breakfast (Thanksgiving leftovers).
9. I started my history paper.
10. We hung up our stockings by the chimney with care.

Ginger

We redheads get a bad rap. I know, I know, most people don't think I have red hair, but I am what's called 'strawberry blond,' and I'm certainly not a brunette nor a blond. When I drew self-portraits as a kid I never knew what color to use for my hair, so I inevitably combined red, orange, brown, and yellow crayons in an attempt to come close. Unfortunately, I am almost always disappointed at the way redheads are portrayed in movies and on tv. Have you noticed that a lot of fictitious bullies and unpopular kids have red hair? Seeing as how it's already difficult enough just to stay alive as a redheaded kid, the Facebook site encouraging people to beat up kids with red hair really ticks me off. It also reminds me of a happy little rhyme a childhood friend recited to me in elementary school:

"Red, red, poop on my head.
I'd rather be dead than have a red head."

Charming, no?

Following in Lucy Stone's footsteps

Here's a shout out to the rest of the 20% of us married women who have not taken their husband's last name (although JC often tells people he's taken mine). Check out this article to see why the original meaning of the word "Stoners" is way cooler than the current meeting, and why I am one. Keep in mind, I'm not judging people who took their husband's last name, I'm just wishing people wouldn't think it's so weird that I didn't. :)

Sportsmanship? What's that?

This girl absolutely deserves to be suspended. She is nothing but nasty. At least BYU won.

<a href="http://msn.foxsports.com/video?vid=2573a07c-2121-4848-aeb1-29fba7865348&amp;from=IV2_en-us_foxsports_articles" target="_new" title="Loco Lobo">Video: Loco Lobo</a>

Yet another "BEST EVER" moment

So I got my hair cut the other day and they used a ton of product to make it look cool, which inevitably lead to the BEST BEDHEAD EVER! It reminds me a lot of Rihanna, actually. Check it:

The Best Typo EVER!!