Truth is stranger than fiction (and that's why my team won Charades last night)

It's easily been at least 10 - 15 years since I've managed to catch more than 30 seconds of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We're always trying to time our trip from New Jersey to New York in accordance with the parade schedule so that we don't get caught in any post-event traffic. As we're rushing around the house gathering up sippy cups and the garlic mashed potatoes, we'll occasionally turn the television on quickly to see if we're still ahead of the game. Inevitably, Santa's already parading down the block and we'll know that we're in for some serious road rage.

But not this year! This year, the kids and I watched more of the parade than we've seen in years, courtesy of a streaming video feed we found online. "Are they in London? It looks kind of like London," Evan kept saying as we watched the balloons and marching bands pass across the screen. "Don't be silly," Julia would reply. "Look, they're all holding brellys. And it's not raining in London today." Irony, eh?

It was, in the end, a lovely Thanksgiving. The highlight for Evan was discovering that when the grocery store does not sell chopped walnuts, it is suddenly acceptable to use a toy hammer on the granite counter tops.

The highlight for Paul was discovering that not only did he not have to hand wash any china, but our primarily shrink wrapped meal meant that there were actually very few things that needed to be washed at all.


And the highlight for me was being on the winning Charades team yet again. (Tina Turner in under 30 seconds! Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction while the rest of the assembled team just sat there scratching their heads and riffing on Mike's name! Take that, Atlantic Ocean separating me from my loved ones!) Yes, it is possible to be home for the holidays even without the hassle of air travel. Thanks to the Skype webcam, my mom's new birthday laptop and a very thoughtful and accommodating Thanksgiving party, Paul and I sat at the dinner table with my family and joined them for a rousing Charades game after the festive meal. We may have missed the yummy squash and some decadent pies, but we didn't miss the laughter or the camaraderie or the fun. If only I'd remembered to buy those After Dinner Mints, it would have been a proper Thanksgiving after all...