Thanksgiving highlights

We had a great Thanksgiving meal and visit with the family.  Spouse made his famous dressing (with Granny Smith apples, Craisins, pecans, celery and onion) which was off the chain delicious.  We've somehow lost the origin of this much-loved recipe.  I believe I suggested the ingredients to Spouse for our 1st Thanksgiving together, but he says he'd been making this dressing before he met me.  I don't think either of us would bet our paychecks on it, but our ongoing claims make for a funny conversation every year.

Corn casserole in the oven

This year he also made a cannoli cheesecake which was also very good.  I made corn casserole which is also a family favorite.  I've taken it to work for our office Thanksgiving meal several times and everyone loves it so I'm not allowed to bring anything else.

When we arrived at Spouse's sister's house she explained that we'd be having an unexpected visitor for Thanksgiving this year; the cashier from CVS.  Spouse's sister frequents this store because its close to her home so she's familiar with many of the employees.  As she was checking out she'd engaged in a little casual small talk and asked the young woman if she was having Thanksgiving with family or friends.  She explained that her family is from Bangladesh and her parents have not adopted American holidays like Thanksgiving.  She further shared that her older sister (a physician) had a baby recently so their parents were fully consumed with their 1st grandchild.  She said she'd just go home when her shift ended at 6:00.  She's in college but her roommates were all away, spending Thanksgiving with their families.

Spouse's sister suggested that she stop over after her shift and pick up a plate to go, since we would have already finished our meal by 6pm.  The young woman was very appreciative and they exchanged phone numbers.  A few hours later the young woman called to say there'd been a schedule mix-up and her shift was ending at 2pm, not 6pm, and asked if she could come over then.  So, the invitation for a plate to go turned into another seat at the table!  

My plate

But it worked out fine.  The young woman was very nice.  She loved all of the food, but needed explanations as to the ingredients since she'd never eaten some of these dishes/combinations.  

I could see the wheels turning in her head as she struggled to figure out how these diverse people were related, so Spouse's sister introduced us all and explained the connections.  "This is my brother and this is his husband Mark, and this is Mark's aunt Mary, and this is my daughter Anna and this is her husband Randy and their daughter Gabby..."  Anna is white/Italian, Randy is African American, and their daughter is biracial.  Honestly I felt a little proud of our diverse family and everyone's willingness to have a stranger join us for Thanksgiving dinner.  

Later, after we'd all had desert and were relaxing and talking, our nephew Eric was talked into playing his guitar and singing.  Baby Gabby quickly joined in by blowing on a recorder, creating a clash of chords and chaos.  It was a very nice day!

We left on Fri around noon and got home about 2:30.  I put away the pots/pans we'd taken with us, ran the dishwasher, and then began decorating for Christmas.  First the wreaths were placed on the doors, then I removed all the photos from the mantel and put up the candles, garland, dried flowers and fruit.

Later that evening Spouse & I joined Steven & Thad for carol singing and the lighting of the Rehoboth Beach Christmas tree.  

Thad opted not to be in the selfie

It was really cold that night but the turn-out was big and we had fun.  Despite having lived here for nearly 12 years and having visited here prior, we'd never attended this tree lighting and carol singing event.  Then we had dinner at a nearby spot. 

My 1st time being paid for it

I really do appreciate the diversity that exists among my friends. I don't want all of my friends to think, act, or look like me. I enjoy the other viewpoints and experiences from those who are different from me.

Several years ago, while reflecting on the previous night's big holiday open house we'd thrown, I said to Spouse that I wanted a drag queen friend to round out my circle of friends. That seemed to be the only category I could think of that was missing at our party the night before.

Fast forward several years to the summer of 2010. One Thurs night I agreed to accompany some friends to the Blue Moon bar/night club for cocktails and karaoke, hosted by the local celebrity Mona Lotts. It was a lot of fun and Mona was especially kind to me after she heard me sing. I continued going there for karaoke most Thursdays and became 'friends' with Mona on facebook. But it wasn't until early Nov when the tourists were all gone that we really became friends. There were about 6 of us at karaoke 1 night and Mona joked that it would be her and me singing to the tables and chairs. We talked about our lives, jobs, partners, etc. and I truly found her to be an interesting person. Before I realized it, I had a drag queen friend!

Then 2 weeks ago I sent Mona a message suggesting that she and I sing a duet of "Baby Its Cold Outside" at karaoke, now that it was appropriate to sing Christmas music. To my surprise she wrote back and said that she and Tim (1 of the club owners) had just been talking about that exact same thing! So that week Mona and I did our duet which turned out nicely. At the end of karaoke Mona and Tim asked me if I was willing to perform the duet with Mona in the club's big Christmas Show the following week.

Of course I said yes. All week long I practiced the song at home, we sang it together at karaoke on Thurs night, and then practiced it with a little choreography on Fri afternoon to get ready for the show Fri night. As I was about to leave the rehearsal Fri afternoon, Tim asked if I would do him a favor. I said sure and asked what it was. He wanted me to don a Santa Claus costume and join Mona and the other performers on stage for the show's finale. I laughed and said okay.

When I arrived at the dressing room Mona and the other drag performers had finished their make-up but were still wiggling into their girdles, styling their wigs, rethinking their jewelry, and putting on their glamorous gowns. Although I'd watched RuPaul's Drag Race on TV, I'd never witnessed this firsthand. Mona introduced me to everyone and asked Miranda to show me the Santa costume. When everyone was dressed we went over the performance schedule and my queues.

I watched the 1st several numbers from out in the audience, then slipped out the back and met Mona in the dressing room. We got our mics and then positioned ourselves to go onstage. I was wearing black dress pants and a red sweater. Mona was wearing a green antique satin 2-piece skirt/blouse set. We were introduced, our music started, we took our places on stage and sang our duet. The audience was very appreciative and generous with their applause.

Back in the dressing room Mona changed her hair and outfit for her next number while I struggled to get all 12 pieces of the Santa costume on over my clothes. There was plenty of room in the costume, it just wasn't easy to bend over once I'd put on the big padded belly to get the rest of the pieces on, but I did. I stood next to the stage entrance so I could hear what was going on inside. Then, dressed in full-on Santa 'drag', I joined Mona on stage and waved to the audience as 'snow' fell from the artificial snow machine, catching the lights and looking amazingly real. It was pretty spectacular!

Back in the dressing room I got out of my Santa drag and talked to the girls as they removed their false eyelashes and fingernails, girdles and make-up. I was truly amazed at the transformations as each 'lady' became a man again. Each breathed a sincere sigh of relief when they 'untucked'. Tim came in bearing envelopes for everyone, containing their payment for performing in the big Christmas show, including me. Although I'd sung in public many times before, it was my 1st time being paid for it (and dressing up as Santa too, I guess). I also received an invitation to Tim's holiday party which I am very excited to attend. I'm hoping to get Spouse to come with me.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the duet or of me in the Santa drag, so you'll just have to imagine it from my wordy description above.

It was REALLY a fun experience to be involved in the big Christmas show, both singing with Mona and dressing as Santa Claus. Its also been a lot of fun to get to know Mona and Tim better and to think of them as friends. I wonder what else is in store for me?