The Book of Me

Thanksgiving ☻

I know that I always show my gratitude for my amount of reads in here, and you all are probably bored with my ASDFGHJKL OMG YAY thing. But that's literally what happens every time I check my reads almost.

And get an earful of this-- I have 773 reads.

This morning, when I checked, I had 650 something I think. So HOW did it increase by over 100!? At this point, there has GOT to be some kind of error. It's so hard for me to believe. It's either that the counting or something is wrong, or people read the first part of the book and are like "lol nope" and remove it from their library.

I don't know what it is... But almost 800 reads. I'm overwhelmed with love right now.

And now, the actual entry. Happy thanksgiving to all! If you're not American (to think someone from another country reads this book is just CRAZY), that doesn't apply to you. But still! Today was one of the best days ever. And now, I'll tell you why.

I woke up and went downstairs this morning, finding my mom and dad in the basement. They had all the Christmas stuff on, and they were watching the Today Show. They were minutes away from the start of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which they wanted me to watch, too. So I did.

No one I cared about was on there, honestly. But I watched it anyway. I found out that the people on here lip sync, which actually I wonder why I haven't noticed until now. My innocence must be fading. :(

After about halfway through the parade, it was time to get ready. We decided to record the rest of the parade and watch it tomorrow. And then, I started to get ready.

I felt like such a PRINCESS after I got dressed! I changed from my brother's hand-me-down sweatpants and FCA shirt from, like, 3 summers ago to my new outfit. Yesterday, we did end up going shopping as planned. I got a blue sweatshirt-type shirt that says "love" inside of an arrow, SUPER TIGHT stretchy jeans that are dark blue on the front and black on the back, and these awesome gray leather boots.

I felt so beautiful when I put everything on, and I never say that about myself.

After we all got ready, we drove for like 374662838 years to go to my aunt's house. She lives all the way in Oldham County. On the way, I listened to Midnight Memories (album) via illegally downloaded 59-minute-long YouTube video.

And no, I STILL don't have the album. My iPad won't connect to the computer. :(

1 vote = 1 cry.

Anyway, when we got to my aunt's house, I talked to my family. I actually felt comfortable when I was over there in their super nice house, which was amazing considering I always feel awkward in their house. I usually feel under dressed. Not today.

After a while, dinner started. I tried to remember my table manners and stuff, considering I normally don't cut my meat in such small pieces, and I normally keep my elbows on the table like an ungraceful loser. I did fine, though, and dinner was awesome. I ate so much of everything--turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, ham, pie... Yum.

When dinner was over, my cousins and I all went to their toy room and was jumping on an old mattress. I developed a horrible headache (sigh), and after that the adults told us to go outside to see something.

Now, honestly, when they told us that, I expected the unexpected. And that I did receive. In front of me, a swanky hot tub was bubbling up. It was the nice kind, and maybe even nicer than nice. It had a built-in stereo, colored lights, and even neck rests. I was amazed.

I stuck my hands in like a loser and hummed softly at the warmth it brought. It was so cold outside, like 20-something degrees, but my hands felt amazing.

And what do my cousins do? They invite me to get in.

Two things were going on in my head. The angel on my right shoulder was all, "Really!? How cool! Wouldn't it be so awesome to get inside such a nice hot tub!? Nothing feels as good as a warm, luxurious hot tub in the dead of winter! Take the offer! It's amazing!"

Meanwhile, the devil on my left was going, "omg, Danielle. What the heck are you going to do? You haven't shaved in decades, and I bet you'll look super fat in whatever swimsuit they give you. And, plus, you'll be the odd one out. Your cousins will have their long, gorgeous hair up in messy buns, and you'll be awkwardly sitting there with your short hair down and glasses on. Like, really? And what makes you think they'll even give you a swimsuit?"

Now that I type it out, the devil sounds pretty convincing. But, no, I went with the angel and thanked my aunt when she let her borrow her tankini. (Btw, I look horrible in tankinis.)

I did look fat. I was the odd one out. But, hey, the hot tub was SOOOOO cool. It was so much fun. They told me stories and we all laughed, and I ended up surviving.

Afterward, I ate pie. Let me just say that there is no feeling better than going straight from the hot tub to eating pie. A little after that, we left my aunts house. As we were leaving, I looked back into the house from the doorway. I'm the kind of person to look back at something I know I'll miss. (ie, the football homecoming.) When I did, I saw the inside of the beautiful house, along with my family that I loved and had tons of fun with.

An overwhelming sense of gratitude filled me. That's what Thanksgiving is all about.

Once we got in the car, I was truly engulfed into a state of peace and happiness. It was warm in the car, but cool enough where it was comfortable to breathe. I kept smelling the scent of chlorine and my conditioner, which was fresh and comfortable. I kept listening to one of my favorite songs ever, Feel This by Enation. I fell asleep eventually.

I don't remember the last time I was that much at peace.

We just came from Rue 21 (again) to get my brother a new coat. They opened at 8, and we were home by 8:13.

Overall, today was a fantastic day. I loved seeing my family. I've honestly never had a day where I was so emotionally and physically relaxed, where I felt good about myself and didn't worry, and at the same time had fun. I loved today. :)

Tell me how your days were in the comments, and Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all of you lovely readers, and I hope your days were great.

If you ate a bunch of turkey today, you go, Glen Coco. ☻

-Danielle ♡