Missing Loafer.

Traveling alone can be lonely.  I felt especially down today when my parents dropped me off to go travel home by myself.  No one is back at my apartment yet, and to make matters worse I can't pick up little Loafer until tomorrow.  The airport is kind of like Wal Mart, you can find lots of funny people there.  One woman was wearing a jean skirt with too high of a slit, with a shirt she must have found at baby gap.  Another woman had super curled/teased bangs in a large circle on the top of her head.  Lastly, I sat asleep slouched in an airport chair with my feet on top of my suitcase in front of me and my mouth wide open.  I hope someone got a picture and is blogging about it now.  I have arrived home safely and am sitting gearing up for the season finale of Snapped while my apartment heats itself up.  Yes, its cold here in Atlanta and my Raynaud's syndrome has attacked four of my fingers tonight.  Here is a recap of my Thanksgiving break:


Dinner at the Lalley household has always been a famous/infamous (depending on how you look at it) event to all who have attended.  In high school we had a friend at the dinner table almost every single night to chime in on Lalley converstaion.  Some families sit around their dinner tables quietly and politely while using the correct fork and knife, chewing with their mouths closed, minimal conversation.  I am not saying we are barbaric and eat with our hands and our mouths open, but the conversation is always lively, and we usually end up sitting around the table for a good hour and a half.  Macaroni and cheese has been flung on faces, salad has flown everywhere, and there is one topic of conversation that always comes up.  I am not going to mention it for those of you who might be so lucky to eventually sit around the table with us.  I can't imagine family dinner any other way.


Naturally, Thanksgiving dinner is an even bigger event.  It is a family tradition for this dinner to be held at my house, with an average of 15 people in attendance per year.  I can remember there being 22 before, but the past two years the number has been 17.  Yes folks, 17 people at my house causing a huge ruckus.  I don't know any way else to celebrate such a feast.  Let me break down this year's attendance.


-6 Virginia Lalleys: This consists of 2 lovely parents, and four children with type A personalities.  2 recent college grads, 1 in grad school on his way to being a doctor, the other on his way to being the President of the United States of America.
-4 DC Lalleys. 1 Aunt and 1 Uncle who wears Harry Potter glasses.  1 14 year old cousin who is in her first year of high school, 1 19 year old boy who is in college, and says lots of things a 19 year old boy would say.
-1 DC Lalley Aunt: Judy.
-2 Virginia Lalley Aunts: 1 who has been around for every dance recital, piano recital, Redskins game who has a hilarious personality, 1 is my Godmother, who loves the fact that I dance and likes to cause trouble with her younger sisters.
-1 cousin: comes every year.
-1 fiance who likes to hunt deer, 1 girlfriend who was pretty quiet and is my ally, 1 girl who is a friend who is an ex cheerleader with a lot of energy and loves to clap.  I give major props to each of them for surviving the event. (I missed the memo that I was supposed to bring a date.)


Mix this all together and you have a house full of overwhelming fun.  In years past, dinner consists of a kids table attached to the dining room table, but this year the two tables were separate.  Somehow we got ageist and everyone over 30 had to sit at the adult table.  The kids table is always way more fun.  Today my mom and I decided that whoever acts out will be excommunicated to the kitchen table, so I want to see that rule go into effect next year.  Crazy dinner conversation ensued, followed by a family game of catch phrase a tradition which started last year.  Catch phrase with over 15 people is bound to get ugly.  There aren't really words to properly represent the atmosphere in the Lalley household on Thanksgiving, so invite you to use your imagination to predict how the night went.


The rest of the weekend was relatively quiet.  Banana Republic opened an hour early for me to do my black friday shopping since my mom is an employee.  At 11:45 when I was checking out I witnessed crazy people running down the mall while dragging their children on leashes and such to try to get the best deal they could at the Coach outlet store.  My mom and I were out of there by 12:30.


This morning I was getting ready and packing my things when my Mom yelled up stairs to me, "Andrea can you come down when you have a second."  I finished brushing my pearly whites and headed down stairs.  "Put some shoes on," she says and for some reason I immediately get nervous.  We head out the front door and pause at the top of the porch.  My mom has a cute scene going on there, a bale of hay with two pumpkins on top, and two flower pots with some fall flowers in front of the bale.  Tribal woman [a woman looking figure made out of a tree limb] frames the scene.  My mom points the pumpkins and says "pick a pumpkin."  Still nervous I pick the small one as she goes running down the porch holding the bigger one.  I follow as we head around the side of the house and to the back by the creepy clown hut playhouse.  We start to walk into the woods and I ask "Are we going to throw these down the hill" to which my Mom replies "PUMPKIN ROLLLLL!!!" I watched as she tossed her pumpkin down the hill toward the stream while giggling with delight.  "Oooo its still going!" she squealed with excitement.  We watch it plummet toward the stream and stop short.  Then she looked at me, it was my turn.  I tossed my pumpkin granny bowling style into the woods, for sure it was going to hit the tree 20 feet in front of me.  There it rolled, and kept rolling while my mom squealed that it was still rolling, and stopped while leaning on a tree. Apparently my mom has been rolling pumpkins for years, and I hope I get to do the honor of rolling more pumpkins in years to come.


So there you go, readers.  My Thanksgiving was a success, great to see family and friends. I hope yours was just as great!


Over and out.