Thanksgiving With The Zurlo Family

I felt it was necessary to compile a list of quotes from my family members at Thanksgiving dinner today.  A lot of people don’t believe me when I tell them what these Aunts, Uncles, Grandmothers, and Cousins say – I wish I had a video camera!  But, here are some new goodies:

1. In reference to the dining room window which, when opened, needs to be held open with a butter knife, G-mom said, “No, I’m not gonna put the knife, it’ll be fine!”
2. G-Mama, also in reference to the window being open (keep in mind her apartment is 95 degrees every time we go there), “I hate to have the windows open in the winter, I like Thanksgiving to be cold.”
3. Grandmom, flustered as usual – “I have to warm them stupid biscuits, Joe!”
4. When Harry Conick, Jr., came on the radio singing a Christmas song, I said, “Oh, it’s Leo from Will and Grace!”  My cousin Chris followed up with, “Isn’t Will a woman?”  I said, “No.”  ”Oh, then Grace is a man?”
5. Uncle Joey, in reference to the sweet potatoes in the oven, “Take ‘em out, they’re gonna be like horse hooves ya leave ‘em in there any longer!”
6. Uncle Joey, in response to Grandmom noticing that he doesn’t ‘cook the cranberry sauce til the cranberries burst, “Yeah, we don’t cook it all the way down, we leave it rough.”
7. “My throat hole’s real small.”  - Uncle Joey
8. “I wish they’d put a casino on Pitman Avenue.”  - Granny
9. Sitting in front of the window that Uncle Joey demanded to be opened, he said by the end of the night, “I never thought I’d say this, but my ass is freezing.”
10. My cousins Chris & Danny and I were bonding over the phenomenon of having small bits of food get caught between your nasal passage and your throat while you’re eating (we were the minority until Aunt Trish showed up.)  In order to explain this problem to our parents, Chris said, “There is turkey stuck on my nasal shelf.”

“Thanksgiving Dinner Special”

My beautiful friend Maria created a list of 50 things for which she is thankful.  She has inspired me to follow suit.  I often find list-creation to be a wicked challenge, but that’s okay, right?  Thanksgiving is all about challenging yourself…since today.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER FOLKS, 51 things for which I give thanks:

1. President-Elect Barack Obama.
2. My record player.
3. My new ceramic Buddha.  He looks something like this and he is sitting on the top of the bottom half of my bedroom window and when the sun is shining he is just a laughing, shouting, wondrous shadow.  And, he was only 99 cents!
4. Ray Lamontagne’s timeless voice, most particularly on his new album “Gossip in the Grain.”  Get it.
5. The new Gmail skins.
6. Season Four, Episode 9 of Will and Grace.
7. My General Psychology professor, Joe Manganello.
8. Donna Adair, the 49-year-old lesbian recovering alcoholic who shares my birthday.  I’ve been sitting next to her and laughing with her throughout Environmental Science I this semester.
9. The adorable/sexy blonde girl who I sit in front of in the same class.  Every time she talks, Donna says I light up, and then she proceeds to make fun of me for it until I am blushing so hard that I have to get up and leave the room.
10. Freedom of the press.
11. 88.5 WXPN
12. The sound of a banjo.
13. The dream I had last night in which Uncle Matt and I went to the water park in Wildwood.  He wanted so badly to throw me off the top of the stairs into a pool (from 40FT in the air).  I was nervous because there was a good 10-15FT length of cement I would’ve had to clear, but I obliged.  When he went to throw me, I didn’t let go of him, so he and I both fell to the ground.  We just got up and continued on to the next waterslide, all giggly and what not.
14. The time Jess, Lauren, Samantha and I turned a swimming pool and a Nerf ball into a competitive skinny-dipping game.
15. The “Daily Literary Quote” widget on my Google Sidebar.
16. Sacred Heart Church in Camden, NJ.
17. The Huffington Post.
18. Justin Timberlake.
19. My friend Dennis because he is so humble, caring, giving, and like-minded.
20. Sophia Elizabeth Meares.
21. My new vinyls – Sly and the Family Stone: Greatest Hits & The Eagles: Greatest Hits 71-75.
23. I <3 Huckabees.
24. Cindy for giving me a place to live and being a silly, Jewish, Italian old lady.
25. Texmati Rice.
26. Having my own personal radiator in my bedroom.
27. Gina Rongione-D’Argenio for having my all-time favorite intellect and approach to education.
28. My best friend Samantha for being the Will to my Grace.
29. Leaf smilies on AOL Instant Messenger.
30. The way cold air reminds me that I am alive.
31. Libraries.
32. Parmesan Cheese.
33. The way my fingertips burn whenever I touch something the morning after playing guitar.
34. Amanda Davis.
35. Lemongrass Tea.
36. Mandala.
37. My many bizarre and healing dreams.  Especially the lucid ones.  And especially when things like my little piece of Driftwood and my warped seashells make a special guest appearance.
38. Sigur Ros, Bjork, and various other Icelandic fairytale characters.
39. Green Bean Casserole.
40. Coloring books.
42. Uncle Matt for reasons innumerable.
43. My newfound assertiveness.
44. Motorcycles.
45. Harmonicas.
46. Synchronicity.
47. My singing voice.
48. Plasticity.
49. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (and their Phillies).
50. College education.
51. Trees.