Thanksgiving

Cracking up
Originally uploaded by SarahorNicholas.

Sorry it has taken me so long to post. Nicholas and I are having two holiday parties this weekend and we have been in full party-planning mode since coming home.

We had a really wonderful Thanksgiving full of family, friends, and food. We got home late Tuesday night and stayed up till 1am with my parents looking at old home movies and listening (and dancing) to my mom's old 45's...don't worry video is to follow. On Wednesday, I went to lunch with some friends from high school and got caught up on all the gossip. That night we went for sushi IN PADUCAH and it was actually pretty good. Although the best roll was deep fried, which was not surprising. ;) We also went to see Casino Royale, which was excellent. I just want to say for the record I always supported Daniel Craig and his hotness as James Bond. Anyone who has seen Layer Cake would never doubt his ability.

On Thursday, we did a whirwind tour of family gatherings. We went to Allen Family Thanksgiving for lunch in Evansville. My Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jimmy hosted the clan and we had some fantastic food. I made a chocolate roulade which my counson Andrea called a big chocolate burrito, but a good chocolate burrito so I guess I shouldn't complain. It was really wonderful to be with all my family, especically since they are crazy fun (see above picture).

After lunch, we drove to Hopkinsville to eat dinner with Ron's family. The only problem was none of us ate because we were so stuffed from lunch. However, we got to visit with everyone which is sort of the point. :)

On Friday, my dad's family and my Aunt Lana and her family came over for pancakes. I know most would find it absurd that my father's family is coming over to my mother's house since they've been divorced for over 20 years. But hey later that day my grandmother came over with all the family to my grandfather and his new wife's house for dinner. So at the very least it runs in the family. ;)

The next day we drove to Louisville for the day to visit with our friend's Tim and Emily and see their new house. Tim and Emily (or Timily if you prefer) are pretty ridiculous. On the surface, they have very little in common but somehow that translates - they seem to be the only two people on the planet that understand the other. We also saw Annie and Kyle and their new house. From our guided tour, I would guess those two have done nothing else but home improvement projects since they moved. Kyle in particular has crazy energy so this fits him perfectly. They've been in the house only a couple of months and they've already ripped out walls in the basement, vines on the front tree, and painted their back room. I don't know how they do it - ya'll saw what happened when I asked Nicholas to help me paint our tiny kitchen.

On our way home, we stopped at Beaver Dam - a rest stop on the endlessly boring West Kentucky Parkway. On my way in the door, I hear "Hey Sarah!" I recognize the face and the voice so I put on a big ole smile and gave the guy a hug with an accompanying "HEY!" We exchanged pleasantries and he introduced himself to Nicholas as Brandon but as we walked away I had NOTHING - I mean absolutely nothing on who that kid was. So lucky Nicholas had to hear for the hour and half back home. "Brandon! Brandon! Brandon Who!?!" I called my mother, my grandmother, TWO friends from high school and no one could figure it out.

I racked my brain through all my groups of friends - high school friends, Paducah family friends, La Center familiy friends, church friends (or "churchies"). They were the only group left and conveniently enough were coming over that night to visit. After eliminating Brandon Mosley, Jessica Carfield (my savior!) remembered Brandon Driver who was a few years older then us. A quick search through the church directory and myspace and TADA! Brandon Driver! Thank god we figured it out or I would have been tossing and turning all night "Brandon WHO!?!"

Sunday was our last day in town and we didn't do anything exciting except gorge on Red's Donuts and go shopping. We flew out of Nashville late that night - arriving home at around 1am. An exhausting trip but worth it! :)