The Week-Long Day: Thursday & Beyond

jamin | November 29, 2013 | 0 Comments

Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday

“Can I have everyone’s attention, please? Hello! Okay, I’m trying to be nice. YO, SHUT. UP!!! Thank you. Yes, I have a microphone synced into the sound system. Anyway, let’s pray so that we can eat.

“Dear God, I come to you in Jesus’ name thanking you for this time together as family and friends for this holiday set aside to give thanks to You and be mindful for what we have. Thank you for everyone who was able to come being able to do so. Thank you for the representation of family and friends here this afternoon along with those who will be joining us over the weekend. Thank you for safe travels for everyone who’s arrived over the past few days, including today. Lord, we pray for those who are less fortunate than we are today who don’t have anything seemingly to be thankful for, but we thank you for their lives and that somehow, if they don’t already know you, that they will get to know you and that you’ll bless them as you bless all your children. I pray that they would be provided for today and every day. Finally, thank you Lord for…THIS. This is a dream come true and it’s even better than when I wrote about it only a few years ago, back in 2007. Thank you, Lord, for leading me and guiding my footsteps and all of us to bring us to this moment and for all future moments. I love you. WE love you. You truly do bless exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think! Bless this food for the nourishment of our bodies and our time together. May it be so much unbelievable fun that we want to do it again and again, but may it also be safe and sane. Thank you again. Amen.

“Happy Thanksgiving, y’all! OH! AND LET ME SAY THIS! Don’t ask who made what and what’s in what. Everything is clearly labeled. Those of us who cooked worked hard. We also slap across the lips hard, so don’t say nothin’! Pffbt! HAHA. Enjoy your meals! Love ya!”

That was the prayer and necessary announcements, and the food was consumed thereafter. We were about 30 minutes late eating due to the bread and other stuff having to finish cooking and warming. Can you believe that we ran out of some stuff? We also had to place emergency delivery orders for the party on Friday and for the rest of the weekend!

All in all, we had a great Thanksgiving Day and weekend.

Jamie and Liz and their families came in Thursday morning around 11 or so. It was so great to have most of Mama Madge’s and Grandpa Ed’s remaining kids and grandkids there. Some who hadn’t been around in a few years made it in. By Thursday morning, they were all there. We took so many group shots of us by generation. Everyone wanted that photo in front of the house, too.

We had so much fun eating, talking junk, almost everyone telling me that we should do this next year (me agreeing to do so if I was able to be home around this time and not working or something), Honey having light reservations about it (due to the amount of people this year), the kids loving the idea, playing bid whist and spades all weekend, watching movies in the theatre, having the theatre turn into Football Central on Thanksgiving, swimming in the heated pool, partying in the heated gazebo/hot tub, figuring out which dumpster to take trash to after running out of room in the cans, seeing over 250 people come through the house for the weekend (Thanksgiving, the day after, the party, Sunday “farewell/drive safely” brunch), people asking Billy (Winn), Kelli (Blackwell) and I the latest gossip on fellow coworkers/celebrities and seeing us not divulging information, (I don’t know a lot of stuff, but I know about some stuff. It’s people’s private lives and it’s not up to me to divulge secrets – but yes, your favorite singer is gay), seeing so many people dancing and having a great time dancing, laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing, having downtime while mom, her sisters and others regaled us with funny family stories, which we recorded this time, and laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing, and laughing some more. Honey urged me strongly to finish the screenplay sequel based on my family. Honey loves my family as much as I do now. Honey always has fun with us and at times gets more excited to see them than I do.

Monday (Next Week) & Beyond

It’s now Monday morning and the maids have brought in extra help for today. I know they want to scream and complain. It’s funny because they complain in their native language and I can totally understand them. I’ll reveal that when they leave. I’ll savor the looks they’ll give. I plan to take a nap after that. Everyone left either on Saturday night or Sunday by the afternoon. Honey has gone back to the L.A. house with Dudley to do some work there. We will spend the hiatus/vacation together, including a trip after Christmas to Paris for a few days and then back here for New Year’s. Then, I’m off to Prague to shoot my next movie (a rather smart mystery thriller) before getting serious about starting a family, about which Honey and I are excited. But for now, I sit here in my office alone. Jenae and Cleon come back to work tomorrow. The pool cleaners will be in to clean the pool and the hot tub tomorrow. The decorators will be in on Wednesday and Thursday to start making this place look like Christmas. I help with some things and ideas I designed, but two houses sitting on 4 acres is a lot of work for one person to do.

I’m thankful for what has been done. I’m thankful for what I’m doing. I’m thankful for what has yet to be done and what I have yet to do.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!