"Gobble gobble goo and Gobble gobble gickel, I wish turkey Only cost a nickel Oh I love turkey on Thanksgiving"

Today is Wednesday, Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. On the average Thanksgiving day, There is a Turkey, a Ham, 3-4 casseroles (such as merliton, eggplant, oyster dressing, baked macaroni...) Rice, Peas, maybe stuffed bell peppers, maybe gumbo, and a couple of pies/cheesecakes. Even if there is only 3 of us, my parents and I spend the whole day in the kitchen cooking together. In the good ole days before Katrina, we consistently found ourselves at my Aunt Gloria's house on Wednesday evening chopping seasoning that would be used to cook the next day and prepping meals to just pop into the oven the next day. we would be there till midnight, go home and come back bright and early the next day. The Thanksgiving Day parade would be on in the kitchen and Christmas music would be sounding down the hall from the den. We would cook cook cook till around 7 and then we would thank the good Lord for providing us with such a wonderful meal and feast on the deliciousness.
Christmas was very similar. Christmas eve was much like thanksgiving eve,  we'd have the chopping party, the get pretty and go to midnight Mass at St. James. We all went to the same church, my cousin and I grew up in this church and 5 aunts/uncles lived within walking distance. After Mass we would kiss everybody Merry Christmas, go back to my Aunt Glo's house and drink egg nog. The next morning we would go to Mass again usually because I was an alter server and my Mass was always the 8am. Then much like Thanksgiving Day we went back to her house to cook and eat and be merry.
The holidays changed a little before the storm but we still tried to keep the visits even though it was at a different location. I honestly lost track of how many years things were different, but it didn't really matter because we were still together. After the storm, my parents and I didn't drive down to visit much. The first year, my brother came down for thanksgiving, it was the first time we ever had Thanksgiving at our house. It was the first year I cooked the ham, and it was a huge beautiful ham. Then for Christmas, we went up to my brothers house with my sister who flew in to visit for a while. That was interesting. New. It really felt strange though, I missed my extended family; I missed New Orleans. After getting jobs and being a church musician, leaving town for the holidays was harder to manage. The same with my brother & sister-in-law, they weren't able to travel down to us either. So the 3 of us carried on, cooking more food than necessary but always sharing it with people who couldn't go home, or didn't have family. and we'd freeze the rest. Sometimes, we'd spend so much time prepping and cooking that by the time the food was made we were too exhausted to really eat most of it. Honestly, none of that ever mattered. its the time we spent together cooking. Growing up in a big Catholic New Orleans family, you spend most of your time in the kitchen. It's where you chat, read the newspaper, play cards, and drink coffee. Most of my memories take place in my Aunt Gloria's kitchen. She passed in 2008 and I took it really hard. It was just more change. Her health had been failing for a while, but she was still the center of my holiday memories. She was really more like a grandmother to me. I spent more time at her house than my own. We couldn't help but think of her during the holidays every year after her passing. By now my parents and I had out own little traditions. They were never perfect, and sometimes things went awry, but they were ours. I began to cook the Turkey in a roaster because it made it more moist. My dad & I would have fun experimenting with the cajun injector and I started stuffing the turkey meat with a garlic/seasoning/pepper mix my dad concocted. I would get creative with the pineapple designs I made on the ham. My mom and I would try baking new recipes, such as cranberry pumpkin bread pudding. I finally learned how to make egg nog. And as is the case with my family, at some point during the day we would argue, it just happens. That stupid city finally became home.
I'm thinking about all of this because tomorrow will be my first time away from my family.
Family time has been a huge part of my life, especially during the holidays.
I've had a rough day wrapping my head around  the fact that I can't be home.
It was especially hard this morning after class when all of my friends were together chatting as usual and then they were all gone, headed home to be with their families. I have an invite to someone's family dinner tomorrow, but I don't need a place to eat, its not about the food, I need my family.

''Owning the Crazy' or 'There's Something Bad Wrong With You'

So, I've recently had an epiphany in my life, I'm nuts. 100 percent, certifiably insane.
Therefore, I have decided to embrace it.
It wasn't really a conscious decision....it was more like getting tired of suppressing my inner self.
I feel like I can not write this blog without help from others, as I don't always realize the extent of my crazy until its too late to take it back. So i will give examples of random things I do that warrant my title.

Lets start with this lovely gem...I call it a slight case of Tourettes
I randomly make sounds. I can be sitting in complete silence and the next second make a weird siren sound or yawn loudly and squeak....look I don't know, I can't explain it. The closest thing I can compare it to is when a dog is just laying down and gets bored so he makes a whiny sound and sighs.
I also do that...I sigh...loudly...usually for no reason....

While we're on the topic of dogs, I love mine. His name is Puck. Yes, Puck. No not as in "hockey puck" as in the mischief maker from A Midsummer Night's Dream. Now, if you knew my sweet little fur ball as a pup, you could see how fitting the name was for him and his interaction with my dear Jack. I am that crazy pet owner. I dress Puck up for any occasion I am able to. Mardi Gras, Christmas, Halloween, and what ever happens in between. He deals with it like a good sport and LOVES the attention he gets from people.
He was a pimp for his first Mardi Gras parade, but his best costume has been when he dressed as the Saint's quarterback Drew Brees. This was during the Saints undefeated period and he was a smashing hit at the pet parade. He got his picture taken with the king & queen of the parade and got to meet Cane of Cane's Chicken Fingers. Puck also had a puppy birthday party too, one with the family, and one where other puppies were invited. There were pup cakes make with bananas & carob icing.There was real cake for the humans in the form of a bone, delicious cake....

I name things. Yea, everyone names their cars and stuff...but I name everything. Think back t this summer...I named the dead bugs I was photographing. My first desktop was a VAIO and she was a beauty, top of the line, I named her Isabella. My first ipod = MoPod...My first Laptop = Jewel....no lie...My ipad is named Diego, he's my favorite named thing because all of my friends refer to him as Diego, I introduced him to the world as the love of my life. My phone's name is Dora, she's pretty cute too. Recently, my crazy has reached a new level, as I named a white pumpkin Casper....And I have a majestic blue orchid I named Cecilia...but naming plants is perfectly sane...There's a camellia bush in Monroe named after me and another plant somewhere in Europe bearing my name too...perfectly normal....see

What else do I do that is absolutely ridiculous?

When checking out in a grocery store, I place things on the belt in a very specific order. All the dry food items need to be together, all the refrigerated items, all the liquids, ect... But not in piles  in straight lines....

This is a huge problem, and after being persecuted for it, I have tried to stop...now I keep like items together but I just leave them in messy piles....

I have improved quite a bit.

I've discovered that I'm fidgety when I am not 100 percent comfortable. I went to dinner with several folks and while I was happy to be there, I didn't do much talking. By the end of the meal, I had a little paper sculpture gallery consisting of contorted coaster, straw wrapper, and napkin rings. I was at lunch with a friend and I found myself constantly picking at my nails. When I'm in class or sitting on the phone, I feel the need to doodle. So apparently I have some kind of nervous tick inside of me.

I'm sure there are more things that I do...when I first thought about creating the "owning the crazy" blog I had TONS of examples but now they seem to have escaped me so i will finally post it as is...If i think of more, I'll let you know.