This Thanksgiving was a very lowkey affair and I am not even a little bit mad about it. I was just happy that we got to have Chooch home, even though he is a big football bro now and that’s annoying.

It was just going to be the three of us (it usually is for T-giving), so I suggested to Henry that we (LOL “we”) just make a few Romanian dishes and call it a day. henry found a recipe for vegetarian sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls, but the Romanian version uses sour cabbage), mamaliga (polenta with farmers cheese and sour cream – we got Bulgarian feta from Pitaland and Ukrainian sour cream from one of the European markets), and sour cherry pie but somehow that morphed into a sour cherry cake and I was not happy about that but whatever.

I think I must not actually be Romanian because I was not a fan of this. Maybe it was just the way Henry made it, I don’t know, but I had to unwrap the cabbage and just eat the insides.

When Chooch set the table, he said “Pick a holiday.” I chose Halloween.

LOL and then when Henry brought out all the food I realized that OK, perhaps we underplanned this holiday spread. Henry also made green bean casserole and mashed potatoes but it didn’t feel like Thanksgiving.

I think that a past Erin would have pouted about this but I chose to look at it through an optimistic lens – Chooch was here and it felt normal here again. Also, the part of me that is terrified of food was glad to not be tempted to overeat. It was nice to spend the evening not feeling sick!!

See?? We actually had a decent evening anyway!

This was fine but it was supposed to be like the pie we had in Sighisoara and I was so excited because Henry said he found a recipe online that was a dupe of the exact pie we had at a cafe there, but then it ended up being a cake so I was extremely confused. It was still good but also had a pizelle-esque taste to it and I don’t like pizelles that much. I’m not sure where he went astray and I don’t bake so I guess I can’t judge him too harshly. IT WAS A DAY TO BE THANKFUL, AFTER ALL. I think I did a pretty good job not being too much of a brat – baby’s growing up.

It just took 46 years and getting back into therapy, lol.

Ugh, then we played some games even though I didn’t feel like it – especially not Scattergories because I get so competitive and then everyone accuses me of cheating but hello, maybe I’m just really good at linguistics?! The humming game is always dumb to play because I can’t hum without laughing, Henry is tone deaf, and the only time anyone ever guesses anything is when it’s Chooch’s turn and it’s always me guessing it correctly while Henry looks on in confusion.

And Scattergories – of course I killed it as usual, but there was one point where I was laughing so hard that I started to cry and Chooch was like, “I HATE PLAYING THIS WITH YOU! YOU’RE SUCH A CHEATER!!” while I was laugh-sobbing and defending my answer of “dabbing down ditches” as a hobby.

“No ‘cuz look – there is probably someone out there that enjoys jumping down into a ditch and dabbing!” I squealed in defense, wiping away tears, which Chooch and Henry started at me in disgust.

Then Chooch took over the TV for the rest of the night because FOOTBALL ugh.  I truly don’t know him anymore.

Anyway, it was a really nice day. I can’t remember the last time we all crammed onto the couch together – me frantically playing Duolingo because my friend challenge with my work pal Michelle was ending in 2 HOURS OK Duolingo, why would you do that on A HOLIDAY.

Today, Chooch was bitching about the Thanksgiving food selection and OK, I’ll claim the L on that one, it was my fault, I shouldn’t have suggested the Romanian theme! Henry worked hard in the kitchen all day and I know he felt bad about it but honestly, it was still a really nice day and I am thankful that I have a family that gets along – even when Chooch accuses me of cheating and then we start sniping back and forth at each other (“You’re annoying” “No, YOU’RE annoying!”). It’s what makes us “us” :)

(Chooch leaves Tuesday morning and I know he’ll back for Xmas but I’m still sad.)

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