Thanksgiving...

This was the first Thanksgiving that I did not spend with my immediate family in New Jersey.  First we watched the Holiday Parade from the bottom of our Loft complex as they lined up at the beginning right outside our place.  Of course people were bundled up for the 45+ degree day, me being fresh from NJ/NYC - wore basketball shorts and a T-shirt.  I got some strange looks.  The parade was disappointing, I must say.  I am used to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in NYC.  This was only a 45 minute parade.  Sure it ended with Santa Clause, but where was the big balloons, the broadway show numbers, the celeberties?  I guess that may come in time, but being this was the 50th annual edition, I dont think it will change much.

Where did I spend Thanksgiving? Well a few months ago I got in contact with my cousin Cathy.  She is a cousin from my mother's Puerto Rican side that I had not met prior to Turkey Day.  Her Father Carlos is my mother's nephew (just so you get an idea on the relation).  They live out in the "Hill Country" of Texas - New Braunfels.

The drive wasn't bad, about 2.5 hours from our loft apartment downtown.  The food was good, a mix of Puerto Rican food with traditional American Thanksgiving food.  I am not sure my wife understood the white rice with turkey, but I had to explain white rice to the Spanish is what pasta is to Italians, its a staple and can be added to almost everything.  It was great to catch up with family I had not seen in some 15 plus years.  I hope we can stay in touch more often.

On the back, we passed the Katy Mills Outlet mall around 2AM Friday.  I have never seen the mall as packed as I did on this day.  It was crazy...just tells me people are willing to shop at any given hour for a good sale.