thanksgiving

although this year thanksgiving took a bit of a beating, things finally turned out very nice. we didn't have to do any running around except to get to my mom's house in hackensack, and nothing after that except back home. at times, thanksgiving for me has meant pace yourself at house #1 so you can eat again at house #2, and digest along the way. i was spared that, and hopefully for all years to come, by deciding that if our families can manage to share the holiday, then so can we. my mom in the past has done a more latin styled thanksgiving by making the guest of honor in a fricassee instead of roasted. frankly i prefer it in the former fashion as opposed to the latter, it's more juicy and infinitely more flavorful. this year it was a more traditional bird with all the trimmings; sweet potatoes, string bean casserole; except for the rice of course. cubans have rice with everything. my grandfather used to have rice with his spaghetti. you read it right. he would just spoon some rice into his pasta with marinara sauce and slurp it up. i never tried it 'cause at that age i was into being grossed out by things like that; but now, who knows. the evening went well though, my brother behaved himself, he and i spent alot of time making fun of my uncle's side of the family (especially melissa my cousin and her daughter victoria) just because they weren't there and it pisses off my mom. don't you just love family dynamics?! we used to spend our holidays all together before my uncle (who is my mom's brother) and his family high-tailed it outta new york for the hurricane-drenched shores of miami. the story was that they were running to a better, more affordable life in warmer weather. my take is that they were running away from my cousin mark's crazy bitch girl friend who fucked him up so bad that he had to go into therapy (she actually came into the apartment one day and stole everything that wasn't nailed down-and i mean EVERYTHING!!), and my other cousin melissa's druggie boyfriend who got her pregnant and is a fucked-up psycho. but that's just my opinion. anyway, all went well right down to finding the perfect parking spot when we got back into the city. i hope you all had a great one, or at least survived it with a minimum of extra sessions with your shrink. just remember, the big one is just around the corner...AAAIIUUUUGGHHHHHH!!!!!
GEORGE WINSTON (to relax some)