Erieversible

How times change.  Around 2001 (maybe 2002), while we were visiting Erie, a certain Mr. Spongebob Squarepants visited Millcreek Mall.  We were strolling around the mall with our then 3-year old (maybe 4-year old) son.  When he saw this ‘yellow thing’ he asked who the “big cheese man” was.  That was the extent of our exposure and knowledge as a family about Spongebob.

Oh come on…from a distance, not having any awareness of the character, he could look like a big yellow Swiss cheese.  And that’s just as likely as a sponge!

Fast forward to 2008 and I understand Spongebob is visiting Millcreek Mall again, in early December.  At least, so I am reliably informed by our 5-year old daughter who already has plans for the occasion.  In the years in-between our family has been invaded by this yellow peril.  Why?  I don’t know.  Anyone in their right mind can see that the character is pathetic.  Patrick should have the lead role

Our opening offer on the house we are after was rejected.  That was expected.  They’d have been silly to accept that first offer.  They have come back with a counter-offer which we have accepted.  It was a lower counter-offer than we were expecting, and to negotiate further would only be for small change and would probably create bad feeling.  So, we accepted.  Being a weekend, and the weekend after Thanksgiving, it is almost impossible to get things done so it looks like the next set of paperwork in the process will take place on Monday.

We spent Thanksgiving round at family, so we didn’t cook.  yesterday in Wegmans we saw free-range, top notch fresh turkeys at 99c a pound.  So guess what we had for a meal today?  We invited some family round and recreated Thursday.  I used local (US) stuffing.  We’ve got some Paxo stuffing hidden away but I’m saving that for Christmas!

So, slow progress, but progress.  Inch by inch we are moving towards settling in a family home.

This was our first American Thanksgiving for the four of us.  We did make it back to Erie one year at Thanksgiving time when the oldest was about two, but that was the last Thanksgiving we spent in the States.  So how was it?

Wonderful!  We went to my cousin’s house and she very kindly did all the hard work.  The kids had a wonderful time with their cousins.  I had a wonderful time with my cousin, Aunt, mom and sister.  Hubby watched some football with my cousin’s husband and the Cowboys won.  (Cousin’s hubby is a Cowboys fan…it would have been a less happy Thanksgiving if they had lost.)

We all ate too much (of course), laughed a lot and really enjoyed each others company.  This is one of the main things that I wanted to move back to the US for…holidays with family.  Every year on the Isle of Man we would celebrate Thanksgiving, but it was just us, the kids were at school so we have to wait to eat until they got home and some years we couldn’t even get a fresh turkey!  (Turkey is the de facto Christmas meal in the UK, so in November they are all still busy being fattened up for the big day.)

I am really hoping that next year everyone can come to Buffalo and have Thanksgiving at our house.  If we have a house, and furniture, and…everything.