"Lord, this is good punch!!!"

I had the funniest moment this morning. Right as I was getting out of bed I heard Patrick's voice in my head: Lord, this is good punch. I started cracking up. What a memory to wake up to.

I thought I would take a second out of my long day to put the little memory on here for everyone to laugh at.

We were having Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house. Patrick and I always sat directly across the table from each other and my little grandma was in between us. My mom sat directly by my brother. It was one of the few Thanksgiving dinners we had at my parents house. Traditionally, we went to my grandma and grandpa's, but that changed after grandpa passed away. Unfortunately, it was strange change. It seemed so much less intense and less "Thanksgiving" at mom and dad's. Maybe it was because I was wedged into a corner by a birdcage in a small kitchen cluttered with unnecessary boxes, papers, mixing bowls, and overly-extravagant table decorations. Or maybe I really am a creature of habit and I preferred going to my grandma's house for Thanksgiving.

There are so many things I remember about Thanksgiving at my grandma's. Every time I would go I would think:
**Remember the Thanksgiving that Patrick bit my hand before we went to grandma's? I had a band aid over it and tried to show it to her to get sympathy for the teeth-torn skin. She just said, "Well, you must have done something to egg him on! He wouldn't just do that." There went my sympathy. She was right.
**Remember the boys go downstairs to watch "the ball game."
**Broccoli and cheese, olives, string cheese and that strange purple cranberry sauce still globbed in the shape of a can.
**Going to see Toy Story with Alex C. after dinner. That was so much fun.
**Left overs in plastic sandwich bags and left over butter tubs-- I miss her so much sometimes.
**Starting to bring new family... Carlos, Casey, Stacy... interesting additions.
**Uncle Dave always stopping by at some point.
**Remember helping grandma put her Christmas tree up before we leave. It was that or save it for a sleep over night and do it with her anyway.
**Setting the table. Couldn't miss that job.
**Fat free ice cream for dessert for years and years and years until the Thanksgiving grammy finally said: Life is too short for that gross fat free stuff.
**Pralines and Carmel root beer floats. Carlos was such a trooper.
**Walks around the block with grandpa. Throwing tennis balls and hiding under the giant pine tree in the neighbor's yard. "Don't forget to stop by and say 'Hi' to Val and Margaret.
**Making a plate of food for Margaret when there was no more Val. "Come on Hilly, you are going over there with me."
**The year I wanted to dress up as an Indian for dinner and mom told me I could wear her old nurses hat if I wanted to be a pioneer. WHAT? That is not any fun. She said I didn't look like an indian. So I didn't dress up at all.

That is the difference. When you go annually to the same place an know the process, it feels forced and unusual when you switch environments. I think that was most of it. It was just family dinner with a lot more food than usual. Thanksgiving was at grandma's and Christmas was at our house.

So, my mom had made some punch concoction that was burgandy in color. I'm not sure still to this day what fruit flavors were in there. I know she had added Sprite for bubble and ice to keep it cold. Other than that, we could only guess... grape juice maybe?

Before we could even say the prayer, my brother had pounded back his entire drink. He slammed his goblet down on the table emphatically and said, "Lord, this is good punch." It was so loud and out of place. I started laughing and so did my dad and Carlos. My grandma looked a little taken aback and said, "What? What did you just say?" Unfortunately, for her that just made the 3 of us laugh harder. My mom had heard the comment and the insane laughter. She pursed her lips together and refilled Pat's drained glass. She sat down and gave him a look like she was hurt by the comment. That just made me giggle more because if I had made punch that made people roar like that I would have been proud of myself. She just didn't appreciate the "Lord" in front of the comment. Probably becaue the prayer hadn't even been said.

It is one of my favorite memeories and just one of those times that Patrick and I connected through something funny like that. Sometimes I remind him of that when we are drinking things and we laugh. Today I told him that I remembered it and it made me laugh. He replied, "...to be fair, it WAS really good punch..."

I agree... it was the best punch we have ever had. Good thing after the prayer Patrick continued to quote Zoolander. That just made it all the more funny. I thought at the time if I heard "the black lung" joke one more time I would scream. Now it is just another thing that makes me laugh even harder when I see the show. Patrick and I sharing a laugh again and again and again.