Turkey Hangover

Boy, I needed this... A quick little stint down to Florida always recharges my batteries. I came down yesterday morning, and from the minute I left my apartment, I have had a smile on my face. I come down every Thanksgiving, to spend the holiday with the family. This is the third year in a row we are celebreating at 109 Talavera (My parents house) New additions to this years Turkey Manifesto include: Shaun (My sisters Fiance'), Donald & Dawn (good family friends)

We started the feast with Joe's Famous Stone Crabs (A rather new family tradition). Donald and Dawn also brought a few goodies: Proscuitto and melon, w/ aged Riccotta, Boratta (super rich/milky mozzorella), Caper berries, and Italian pignolli cookies. For the actual meal we ate: Turkey w/ stuffing and cranberry(Obv.) Yams with marshmallows, and green beans with fried onions. I enjoyed a few vodka cocktails with dinner, hence the "Turkey Hangover"

Heres a quick rundown of the trip so far...

Thursday:

6:00 am- I woke up to the Opey and Anthony radio show

6:10- Jump in the shower

6:20- Make the bed and clean up around the house (I strongly dislike coming home to a dirty apartment)

6:45- Start to organize my clothes for the trip

6:55- Pack my backpack

7:10- I feed Ninja, and leave extra food and water for him.

7:25- Double check that I have my phone charger, and my iPOD and I do the double pocket tap to make sure everything is in its propper pant compartment.

7:29- I stop at the front desk to my building, to leave keys for Ninja's possible caretaker.

7:35- I drop off a check at the garage, and pick up my sunglasses from my car

7:41- I grab a bottle of water and a New York Post from Impress Deli

7:44- Hop in a taxi to JFK International Airport

8:12- I arrive at the airport

8:15- Get my boarding pass

8:20- Go through securtiy

8:25- I bought a vegetable sandwich and soy chips, and headed to my gate.

9:00- Rows ten and higher boarded the plane. Since I was in the fourth row, I was the last person on the plane (I like to board the plane as late as possible, the smell of exaust before you take off makes me dizzy and nauseus)

9:13- Get on the plane

9:30- The plane takes off (Exactly on time)

9:37- I fall asleep

10:00- Z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z z

11:00- Z z z z z z z z z z (PEEP) Z z z z z z z z z z z z z

11:45- The plane descends, and I wake up

12:01- We land (45 minutes early)

12:15- I grabbed a cup of black coffee in the airport, and head to the pick up area

12:20- I finished the Phish Boston Montage video while waiting to get picked up

12:27- My wonderfull mother comes to pick me up

12:45- We arrive at the house.... YEsss

1:00 PM- Say Hello to Grandma Molly and Aunt Ruth

1:10- I went for a run (5 miles)

1:55- I return home and shower

1:20- I unpack the laptop and fiddle with the Internet

2:00- Mingle with the family and think about the preparing for the feast

4:00- I begin cracking the Stone Crab Claws

4:45- I finish the crab cracking, and serve with them w/a creamy mustard sauce. Mmmmm

4:55- Belvedere with Olives

5:15- I began carving the turkey

5:25- Finish carving the turkey and enjoyed some more appetizers

6:00- The dinner bell rang

7:15- After dinner, eveyone was engrossed in a computer game (Travel IQ is a great new application on Facebook that tests your knowledge of a world map. Big ups to Shaun for the introduction)

7:20- I had another cocktail =D (Hey, its a holiday)

7:35- Desert

8:15- After desert I lost 2 Sit & Go's on the computer (Poker)

10:00- Tracy, Sean and I watched the Office

10:30- I watched two Phish videos on my iPOD

10:50- Went to bed (Turkey Coma)

Today I woke up late and Played golf with the boys. Dad had about 6 pars in 11 holes (not too shabby) Richie has spent a lot of time practicing his swing over the past year, and it shows.

Above is a picture of the house.
Below is a picture of the dinner table.

Dog Day Afternoon

So this weekend was pretty relaxing. Hung around the city and ran a few erands, that I have been meaning to take care of. I got two new rugs for my apartment and some groceries. I also picked up a new shower curtain and liner. During the shopping trip we went into a pet store, thats where I took the picture below, of the white "BullyBee"(the half Beagle half Bull Dog mutt)
When I was looking for a parking spot I accidently tapped the car in front of me. There was no damage to the cars, but the Asian man insisted there was. He wanted to stop in the middle of a busy street to assess the white smear that was left on his bumper. I licked my hand to show him you can simply wipe those kinds of discolorations right off. But he still insisted, and repeated "Damage" "Damage" He wanted me to stay but I basically told him he was being ridiculous for making scene over nothing. "DAMAGE" =D

Friday night we played poker up at Ryan's. Thats where I took the picture of his two dogs; Justin "Jackass" and Sebastian "Seabass" Martin. I finished in the money for the 2nd game in a row. My cousin Terry brought an english girl to the game who didn't really know how to play, and was quite annoying. It was one of those things seems funny when you look back at it.

Meals on Saturday:

Breakfast- bannana and green tea

Lunch- Lentil soup, sauteed spinach, and a whole wheat pita

Dinner- Tuna Tar-Tar, raw oysters, and scallops(AWFULL!) Skate, and Flounder.

-Other News
After dinner, we picked up Jon and played a three way poker match, back at my place. Congratulations to Gabi! Finished the day undefeated.

Methane-Ammonia-Overtones

The picture above was taken this morning, on my way to work. I could tell it was going to be a great day from the minute I saw the ethereal sunrise. This weekend is daylight savings, so by the time the sun begins to rise from now on, I will already be at work.

Question: Does daylight savings officially take effect at Midnight, or 2 am?

The Heavy Pets roll into town this weekend, kicking off in Philly. Then Saturday night in NYC, and Sunday in Goshen NY. Looking forward to seeing a lot of familiar faces at the concerts.

BTW- big ups to Gabi for taking the photo =D