2004-11-28 - 7:00 p.m.
Thanksgiving Part One
In the first place, I invested my own time and money for training, for driving into the dangers of Thanksgiving travel, for finally enjoying a leisurely vacation in Denver--at a time every place is closed.
Off to a late start, I missed having a cup of tea at a place I picked out from my guide . This was just as well since the map deceived me into thinking it was closer to the regional branch than it is in actuality. Rude, I rushed past everyone to the back office where my mentor awaited, so busy that he said he did not mind my being a few minutes late--I can not say I was comfortable believing him. Two hours later, my head was swimming with new information, and I did not leave the building for another hour for visiting others.
At the deserted mall, cold, dark and damp, I made a few additions to my wardrobe including a long, very warm coat. Bob will be grateful that I found a coat that does not match his. I hope he is happy because I waited another two cold weeks for that purpose. Aside from that short moment of glee and appreciation for great customer service, the shopping was lonely. It frightened me to be out on alone on such an evening and I was very hungry.
I found myself waiting for the movie to start in a Red Robin. I had not been in one since Virginia with Kate--since married to an airplane mechanic leaving my cousin alone to find her tall, quality man of her dreams. How times have changed--although, that night, long ago, Kate was advising me to let you go; on this occasion she might have been congratulating me for my (mis)fortune. My server was so awesome that I paid attention to the others just to make sure she was as outstanding as I thought she was.
She was supporting her child of seven months, missing out on college and a bright career. At her request, I left her my card anyway, happy that, if nothing else, I had "made [her] night".
The Incredibles disappointed me because I was expecting to be as smitten by the movie as I was with Monsters Inc. Although I found the movie very positive in each theme it presented, one of the mothers at Thanksgiving said her son, 5-years-old, found it a little too violent. As to that, you will have to form your own opinions.
I fell completely in love with Cherry Creek. I had no idea the city had that much style or culture. In my investigation of the neighborhood shops I passed the Starbucks twice. The second time I was sorely tempted to introduce myself to the solo which was a good indication to keep driving. I remind myself that I think I could be happy almost everywhere I have been in this state, so I can be happy right where I am.
With time to kill, I stop at the Starbucks on Arapahoe Drive with people nearer my class. A father acts crazy in some pantomime game, embarrassing his children, causing me to smile at the family being together (though I suspect he is divorced). A couple stands close like lovers. Perhaps they are taking a coffee break between visiting families. I start to miss just about everyone I have known and break those thoughts by cracking open my prayer journal.
Later I am talking about the cultural differences between New England and Colorado, raising kids, missing family, and tips on how to improve my job performance, interrupted by being led around the house by Jillian who learned to walk the day before. Boy is she excited! until she bobs her head and loses balance. The three-year-old acts thirteen and pouts to find out that I am sleeping in her room. By morning she wants to be friends, testing my boundaries, and not comprehending why I have to leave mid-morning.
I am boundless with gratitude and thanksgiving for the life lessons learned the day before, but I have been an inconvenience and try to leave quickly.
