A Random Cornucopia of Thanksgiving Joy

For the record:

• A couple weeks ago, Brian and I really did workout to the audio of a Supreme Court case.
• Continuing our string of car troubles, Brian recently replaced the starter and resealed the oil pan in my car.
• In a moment of serendipity, we acquired a 7-foot Christmas tree that was on the verge of being thrown away.
• I still cannot stomach gizzards of any variety and Brian still harbors an irrational disdain for cooked carrots.

Returning to our regularly scheduled program:

We enjoyed a delightful and unusual Thanksgiving. On Thursday (the actual holiday), we deliberately shut out the rest of the world, put all our responsibilities on hold, and savored a quiet day together. Brian fixed a scrumptious breakfast feast, I cleaned out my overflowing basket of miscellaneous papers on my kitchen counter, we spent one hour organizing the closet in the scary room, and read aloud a section of Les Miserables. We also made a mountain of cranberry relish for our traditional Thanksgiving dinner which we had on Friday.

Speaking of which . . . Brian and I hosted the official day-after-Thanksgiving dinner for a number of my students and their families and some friends. About 40 people attended with representatives from Cuba, Mexico, Eritrea, Burma, Vietnam, Nepal, and Armenia. To feed the crowd, we cooked 38 pounds of turkey, 15 pounds of potatoes, 6 dozen rolls, 3 quarts of cranberry relish, a pile of stuffing, and a gallon of green beans. (Sorry, sweet potatoes. Something had to go.) To our relief, friends generously provided the pies! For after-dinner entertainment, Brian and Valerie provided guitar/violin/vocal music that enthralled everyone. Also, one of my students told about his experience as a political prisoner in Burma, which made us all extra grateful for our present circumstances. It was truly a Thanksgiving to remember.

Gutting a Nissan

Brian spent last Saturday taking apart his car. As evidence, I present the following artifact:

In case it's not readily apparent, this is the front of Brian's car - the innards of the steering wheel and dashboard.

Some of the removed parts were stashed in the back seat, the others in a box.

This saga began a couple months ago when Brian's radiator exploded while on the way to Detroit to attend the temple. Unfortunately, said explosion occurred during rush hour and by the time he could pull over, the entire heating system was fried. (An unexpected blessing of temple attendance?)

And thus Brian embarked on a 12-step, multi-week process of restoring life to his car. My two favorites scenes in this drama include a) winning a free football at Napa Auto Parts and b) Brian's ingenious use of a mop handle to reroute something or other in the heating system. I mean, seriously, who else do you know who thinks to patch together a car with janitorial supplies? Even more, who else do you know who would be visionary enough to place a football in my hands?

Yes. This man of mine is truly remarkable.

And yes. He did eventually put the car back together again and it runs swimmingly. According to his report, out of the 125 screws he unscrewed initially, only 2 remained unaccounted for in the end.