gobble. gobble gobble.

happy thanksgiving, dearest readers, from sunny fairfield, connecticut. did i say sunny? i meant rainy with a threat of snow. but you know what? it's late november and i'm in new england, basking in the smell of brined-to-perfection-stuffed-with-seared-vegetables-and-rosemary turkey roasting in the oven (it never hurts to go to a professional caterer's house for thanksgiving), so a little cold weather is just fine by me.

i told amanda yesterday when we were on our way to the bakery to pick up pies for today's dinner (gasp, barbara bought pies this year) that it's funny how where i live changes my sense of place. when i first came to fairfield, i was 18 years old and had only been on the east coast once before; i'd never been to new york. connecticut seemed very metropolitan and east-coast-ish, very busy. threatening, even.

now, six and a half years and 700 miles east later, i live in baltimore, and coming to connecticut feels like a trip to the country. it's silent and pitch-black in the sidebottom's guest bedroom; not many cars drive past their house. the nice thing is that nyc is an hour away.

what hasn't changed, wonderfully, is the sidebottom family dynamic: unlike my family, who tends to get angry at each other then seethe quietly for upwards of 6 months (my sister once didn't speak to me from thanksgiving to christmas), the sidebottoms get it all out there in the open--they're screaming at each other, arguing about the cleanliness of the bathroom. but then at the end of the day, the argument's over. it must be because half of them are italian. i don't know.

terry called me last night when he was on his way to his parents' house. it accentuated for me how quickly time seems to pass, yet how much can change. a year ago today, terry and i were in the car together, fighting traffic up I-95 and he was about to meet the whole crazy sidebottom clan. and even though it seems like yesterday, a lot has happened. terry is with his family in illinois and i'm here with my surrogate one in connecticut. and that's ok.