Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thanksgiving-less Thanksgiving

As I'm sure you're all aware, I'm still in the UK, for another 2 weeks anyway. Thus, once again, I spent this year sans Thanksgiving. True, it's a bit less depressing this time around as A) I'm now used to being in another country, and B) I'm only missing it by 2 weeks anyway, but I still feel I need to celebrate it in any way I can. So, here's my ever-so-cheesy, blatantly cliche list of things I'm thankful for this year.

I'm thankful for:
-Fiona for coming to visit me-I didn't realise exactly how much I missed her until she walked in the door.
-Rebecca, Stacy, and Chris for always being so enthusiastic about coming to dance class every Saturday-you guys are one of the highlights of my week!
-Lili for always making sure I don't starve when I'm destitute
-Zee for letting me into the cabaret show last week for free just because I held his camera for him
-Mimi for just being awesome-I'm so glad we got to know each other better this term, and I wish we'd gotten closer earlier!
-Charles for keeping me amused with philosophical conversations at society events
-Seb for being my poverty buddy. And for cooking me dinner that one time. And just being my friend.
-Adnan for our burger trips, random text message conversations, and Buffy trivia contests. I love hanging out with you, even when you are 30 minutes late.
-Everyone who put up with me this summer when I was in a serious funk, including Joe (especially Joe-poor guy was stuck in a house with me alone all summer!), Lili, Betsy, Rachel, Fiona, Matt, and my poor mother who had to listen to me whine on the phone constantly. Sorry about that, guys. It was a tough couple of months, but it's behind me now. Maybe I'll start referring to it as the Dark Ages.
-Betsy, Rachel and Fiona for keeping my chin up with the Latin fiasco and making me see the funny side to everything. Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.
-Rachel for our Tuesday night pizza and wine dinners. They're the high point of my week.
-Clovis for being my new drinking buddy. We definitely should have started that sooner! Oh, well. Make your way to DC over Christmas and we'll make up for lost time!
-My sister Leigh for being not only an awesome sister and promising me Taco Bell immediately upon my return, but for being the bad kid so that everything I do looks tame in comparison. ;)
-My brother Adam for listening to me yammer to him endlessly on the phone when I'm bored.
-My dad for providing me with an outlet to bitch and moan when I need to.
-Will, Lizzy, Clare, and Mimi for working to make Honk! so much fun both times around; I really enjoyed that show!
-Caddy for letting me tag along on his Amsterdam trip without really knowing me. That's one way to become friends with someone!
-Lili for organising the France trip this summer, and everyone who came along-what an awesome experience! (And an extra shout-out to Fern for consistently feeding us in France!)
-Alicia Crane for always being willing to snuggle up in our pjs with teddy bears and watch a movie with me when we're both home.
-Betsy for being awesome, making my workday bearable via g-chat, bringing me trashy magazines when I was a depressed zombie, and putting together a ready-made group of friends for me in DC. Good work on that! :)
-Alex for being my London buddy for a while. God, that was fun. When are you moving back to DC?
-Stephanie for our Copenhagen adventures. Let's have more adventures when I'm back home, yes?
-Charlene for taking me out and buying me tea out of the blue-that was so much fun!
-Rhys, Gemma, Kendall, Rick, Rob, Dave, Daz, and Lou for always filling my Oxford trips with rip-roaring hilarity and never letting me get away with sobriety. (Particularly thanks to Rick for always letting me invade his house whenever I'm in town!)
-Shana for being so sweet and reaching out when she knew I needed it most.
-Manny A.F. for being my best friend, even from 3000 miles away. I'm so glad things haven't changed even after a year apart. Although this whole lack-of-a-dance-partner thing is starting to make me twitch....
-Grace for remaining not just a friend but truly family after all these years, and for making sure I was updated regularly when Parker was being born. That meant so much to me!
-Arianne for not only being such an awesome friend all the time, but for being so enthusiastic every time I call to the point of crying when I leave a voice message. That's love!
-Manny C. for our seldom yet always awesome phone chats. Talking to him always makes me smile!
-Nick A. for always randomly reminding me that he misses me in his own special way.
-Nick Osborne for still sending me random forwards that he knows I'll like even after I skipped off to another country.
-Liam for continuing to amuse me with random texts at odd hours of the night.
-Iona for being my friend-I always have fun with you, and so what if people always think I'm your big sister? Is that a bad thing? Huh? HUH?
-Dan Groz for being my halls buddy last year and for never exposing the dirt he has on me after countless drunk walks home (not that he could, given my dirt on him, but still!).
-Jeff for consistently walking home with me every night for an entire year. I miss me some Jeff.
-Matt for being the sweetest, most supportive man I've ever known. I would never have made it through the last 5 months without you. I love you. But you knew that.

I'm sure there are people that belong on this list that I've for one reason or another forgotten to include. I promise if I did it wasn't intentional! You all mean the world to me, and have made this past 18 months some of the best of my life. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Colleeeeen! I'm thankful for you! I can't wait to see you in America, whoo! I should be moving back in May, and hopefully visiting MD as soon as Feburary. But if you ever come down to visit Miami, and happen to be around on a Monday (which is my day off), I will make that drive to see you! --Alex

Anonymous said...

aww leenieeeee! haha umm ima say no its not a bad thing? no fair to you going :( who else am i gonna complain toooo? and yaah it isss always fun avec you :P even if it does involve standing outside in freezing cold hour long queues.. :)) ♥