USA 04: Colorado - Thanksgiving

Monday, November 25, 2024

I was up early this morning because I needed to return the rental car by the 07:00 deadline. The return location was near to my office, so I decided to head to the office for the morning after returning the car. Thinh was still sound asleep when I left for the morning. After returning the car, I had an Uber drive me over to the office.

Everyone was surprised to see me this morning since they hadn’t planned on seeing me for another week. Many of the people in the office had been hired on since I was last in the States, including my two employees, so it was nice to meet everyone in person. I only stated at the office until around noon, when my dad came to pick me up. I had to do some more work when I got home, but it was much more relaxing to work from home than from the office.

Today was Thinh’s 26th birthday and he had slept in quite late this morning; he was relaxing when I returned from the office. Later in the afternoon, my sister came over with three of her kids (Jack, Luke, and Lucy) so we could celebrate Thinh’s birthday together as a family. My niece Jane and brother-in-law Andy were at some lesson of Jane’s this evening and were thus unable to attend. Jane wanted to come and had baked Thinh a small birthday cake all on her own, which was incredibly sweet. My nephews and nieces had all taken a quick liking to Thinh during our previous visit, so they were all very excited to see him again – I think they were more excited to see him than me!

Mom made brisket for dinner, which was one of the foods that Thinh had requested for our visit, along with Aunt Shari’s potatoes (cubed potatoes in a cheesy sauce). The dinner was delicious and filling. For dessert, mom had baked Thinh a large birthday cake! The kids were eager to eat cake and Jack wanted to light the candles on the cake for Thinh. After we finished eating cake, mom brought out Thinh’s presents. She had bought him some proper winter gloves and a hat, along with a sweater for him to wear during the cold winter days. Thinh really liked his presents – he looked very handsome in the sweater!

Caryn and the kids didn’t stay too long after dinner since they had an hour drive back to their house, but we would see then again in a few days for Thanksgiving. After dinner, Thinh and I relaxed for the rest of the evening. He preferred to stay upstairs near the fireplace to stay warm – the basement is very cold at night and not ideal for hanging out. Overall, Thinh said he had a very good birthday – he especially enjoyed the cake that mom had made for him.

 
Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Today I had to work, but I worked from home rather than going into the office. Thinh slept in this morning while I worked. When he woke up and got ready later in the morning, we went into downtown Castle Rock to Dazbog Coffee. I continued to work and Thinh began going through the photos that he had taken throughout our road trip from California to Colorado.

We went back home in the late afternoon and had dinner with my parents. Mom bought tickets for us four to see Wicked the following afternoon. I was very excited to see the movie – I have seen the stage musical several times and I took my parents to see it in New York two years ago. Thinh knew nothing about Wicked, so this would be his first exposure to the musical.

The day wasn’t overly exciting, but it was nice to just have the time to relax after the long days of the road trip.

 
Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Today I went in to the office for work since they were having lunch brought in for the office/team for Thanksgiving. I figured I should probably be there to participate and do some team-building, especially since I work remote the vast majority of the year. Work was slow today and we were all looking forward to leaving early after lunch (around 1pm). One of my employees was a contractor and we were letting him go after today – bad timing right before Thanksgiving, to be sure, but we needed to get him replaced as soon as possible while I am in town to train his replacement.

Lunch was delivered by Maggiano’s and consisted of rolls, asparagus, broccoli, chicken parmesan, and some pasta. It wasn’t the most appetizing array of food and I mainly ate the vegetables. As the team gathered to eat, we took turns talking about our plans for the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend. When my contractor employee’s turn came, he told us that the following day was his birthday, which was news to me and I felt far more guilty about ending his contract with us today (he didn’t yet know – the staffing agency would be calling him at the end of the day).

I was anxiously watching the clock so I could leave the office in time to meet my parents and Thinh at the cinema to see Wicked. Lunch dragged on and on as people talked ad nauseum. Finally, at 13:30, I faked feeling nauseous, excused myself from the conference room where the food was, and sat at my desk. Continuing the charade, I told the team that I was going to take off and head home.

I raced back to Castle Rock and arrived at the cinema at the same time as my parents. When we went inside, we discovered that we had bought tickets for the 3D version of the film by mistake! None of us were keen to watch the movie in 3D (I can’t stand wearing the glasses over my regular glasses), so we decided to have the tickets refunded and to come back on the weekend. It was a bit disappointing that we couldn’t see Wicked today, but mom suggested that we go home and watch The Wizard of Oz together – she added that she would make us popcorn to enjoy with a movie as well. Since Thinh had never seen The Wizard of Oz, we all thought this was a great idea so he would be more familiar with the story before we came back to see Wicked.

When we got home, mom made us all some popcorn, turned on The Wizard of Oz, and we all settled in to experience Dorothy’s journey over the rainbow. I hadn’t seen the movie in years and I had forgotten many things from the film. It was fun to introduce Thinh to the movie as well and he enjoyed watching it. Knowing how Wicked ties into the original movie (and book), it is fun to watch the original with a different perspective.

After finishing the movie, mom made us all dinner and then we spent the rest of the night relaxing.

 
Thursday, November 28, 2024

Today was Thanksgiving – Thinh’s very first official Thanksgiving Day! This holiday was the reason that we had flown to the States so early this year. Thinh had only ever celebrated Thanksgiving once before – last year with me at the Moose & Roo in Hanoi. We had eaten a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at the restaurant, but it was still not quite the same as having the full meal with the family. I had suggested to Thinh that we fly back to the States earlier this year so he could experience the holiday, and he had eagerly agreed with the idea. It was helpful this year that Thanksgiving fell so late in the month of November too.

My sister, Caryn, and her family was coming over this morning, so we had only a few hours of solitude before the chaos arrive with my four nephews and nieces. Thinh slept in again this morning, but I was up early – my internal clock had adjusted to getting up early each morning for work. We had intended to get up early to watch the Macy’s parade on television (I had told Thinh all about it, as well as how mom and I had attended it twice so far). Sadly, I totally forgot about the parade when I woke up and I let Thinh sleep through it! I should have thought to record the broadcast so we could watch it later in the day, but by the time I remembered the parade was long over. Thinh finally got up around 10:00 and shortly thereafter Caryn and the kids arrived.

My nephews had seen Thinh only a couple days earlier for his birthday, but my eldest niece Jane hadn’t been able to make it to that dinner, so she was excited to see us both again. I was still amazed at how quickly and enthusiastically the kids had taken to Thinh – they love him and all vie for his attention all the time! All of the kids were excited about our upcoming wedding and they were very sad that they could not attend. I tried to explain to them that flying the entire family to Scotland was just too expensive (not to mention the hassle of getting passports for the kids, flying with all four of them, etc). Jack and Jane have some understanding of how far away places are from where they live, but I don’t think the true reality of what it would require to fly to Scotland had set in.

My youngest niece, Lucy, who would be turning two in just over a week, was extremely shy today. She refused to interact with Thinh or me for the majority of the day, hiding behind my sister or my mom whenever I tried to talk to her. Finally, Caryn came over and hugged me in front of Lucy so she could see that I was an okay person. After that, Lucy slowly started to open up to me – she eventually let me sit next to her and do some coloring together.

Luke, my youngest nephew, had decided to wear his suit to dinner today. He had gotten the suit a month or so ago when they all attended my brother-in-law Andy’s sister’s wedding. Jane showed off her new earrings to everyone and then told us all about her new school. My oldest nephew, Jack, who is nearly 12, is starting to enter the phase where he doesn’t want to socialize with the family as much, which is totally normal. He was still excited to see us and we talked for a little while.

Mom had been busy all day preparing dinner for everyone and she was working very hard to get everything ready to serve at the same time. It isn’t an easy feat to achieve and I do not know how my mom manages to do it every year – I would give up and just order Chinese delivery or something. My mom always makes a large feast for Thanksgiving, with everything looking and smelling delicious.

Dinner was served in the late afternoon and now Thinh could properly experience Thanksgiving. He filled his plate with the various dishes: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, etc. I had a small portion of stuffing and sweet potatoes, but that was all of the traditional meal that I ate. We all sat down at the formal dining table to enjoy our meal. Thinh really enjoyed the feast – I think it exceeded his expectations! I have never been a fan of Thanksgiving dinner, so I opted to have a bowl of cereal for my main tonight.

Caryn, Andy and the kids were all staying the night with us tonight, so we just hung out for the remainder of the night. The kids went to bed by 21:00, letting the adults unwind after the chaos of the day. It had been a typical Thanksgiving holiday, and I was glad that we were able to fly back to the States to celebrate with my family. Thinh was fully part of the family by this point – everyone was excited to see him again and he enjoys spending time with everyone in my family. I don’t need to be there by his side all the time – he is fully at ease with my entire family and they all love him very much.

Thinh and I didn’t stay up too late this evening because we had plans early the next morning.

 
Friday, November 29, 2024

This morning I had an appointment with an optometrist so I could get some new glasses made during our time in the States. The only problem was that the doctor’s office was at Park Meadows Mall… and today was Black Friday. Fearing the mall would be overwhelmed with shoppers, Thinh and I set off early. When we arrived at the mall, it was surprisingly easy to find a parking spot, and we were left with oodles of time before my appointment. We spent the time walking around the mall, which became increasingly busier as we waited. My appointment was at 10:00 and then Thinh helped me pick out some new glasses – they assured me they would be ready before we left the States.

Our next plan for the day was to go shopping for wedding rings! Neither of us wanted anything too flashy or over the top – we like simple and elegant rings. We walked around the mall and stopped into several jewelry stores to look at their men’s rings, but the majority of the rings weren’t our style or were out of our desired price range. We did find a ring at Macy’s that we both liked quite a bit and we decided that we would keep it in mind in cased we didn’t find anything else we liked better.

The mall was packed with shoppers by this point and we decided to get a bite to eat at the food court. We managed to grab a standing-only table to eat our food. Thinh and I decided to leave after lunch and head to the outlet stores in Castle Rock to check out the jewelry stores there. Traffic getting out of Park Meadows wasn’t as awful as I had predicted, but the traffic getting into the outlets was horrendous. This was the first time Thinh got to properly experience Black Friday. We had to park along a side street and walk up a grass hill to reach the stores, but at least we were able to find parking!

The outlet mall had just a couple jewelry stores, so we visited them both. At the first one, we were helped by a rather rude saleswoman who was arrogantly telling us what rings we needed and what size rings we should get – even after she measured our fingers, she was telling us something different. At the next store we found a ring that we very much liked, but they unfortunately didn’t have it in either of our sizes. The salesman there was quite friendly and told us that the online store would have what we needed.

Thinh and I then returned home, where we got online to order the rings. We placed orders with two different stores for two slightly different style rings. We liked them both, but wanted to see them side by side to compare before making a final decision.

Caryn and the kids were still at the house when we got back. Caryn, Andy and Jane had gone out for the day to have a special day for her birthday month. My parents had taken the other kids out to the cinema. As usual, it was chaos at home with all of the kids at the house. Lucy still wanted nothing to do with me and would go out of her way to avoid me. It was so strange because all of the other kids were never as shy as Lucy, but everyone assured me that she’s that way with everyone.

Overall, it had been a very good, yet busy, day. I’d hoped to have some time to just relax a bit during the day, maybe get coffee with Thinh and hang out, but we’d been on the go since morning. When dinner was over, we watched some television and then went to bed early.

 
Saturday, November 30, 2024

Thinh slept in this morning, but I got up early since I had now adjusted to getting up for work each morning. I had a leisurely time with my coffee and then played some video games while waiting for Thinh to wake up. I eventually woke him up around 10:30 so we could get ready for the day.

Our plan for today was to go see WICKED at the cinema with my parents – the rescheduled showing from the other day when we’d accidentally bought tickets to the 3D screening. I teased mom about it and made sure we had the correct tickets this time – she was less than amused. The cinema was crowded, but thankfully there were no people chewing loudly near us. Thinh and I got caramel popcorn to share. This was his first time at the cinema in the US and he wasn’t used to the salted butter popcorn that we typically eat. Cinemas in Vietnam serve sweet popcorn, so he’s more accustomed to eating caramel corn. It was good, though a bit too sweet for our liking – the portion was also way too big (and we got the small!).

The movie was incredible! I have been a huge fan of the Broadway musical – and the novel – for years. I had high expectations for the movie and it far exceeded them! My parents and I had see the show in New York a year ago, but Thinh was unfamiliar with it whatsoever. Everyone enjoyed it, though I think I liked it the best.

When we got home, Thinh and I went out to downtown Castle Rock for a little while before dinner. We grabbed a drink at Dazbog Coffee and walked around the small downtown area. I was so surprised that places in Castle Rock closed around 18:00 each night – I distinctly remember going to several places in the evenings, after dinner, in years gone by. Now it meant that there wasn’t much for us to do in the evenings though.

Mom made us dinner again tonight and then we all watching some TV (the usual routine).

 
Sunday, December 1, 2024

Today we got to sleep in a bit again. I woke up before Thinh, as usual, and let him sleep for a little while longer. He was up at 10:00 so he could get ready for the day. Mom had bought tickets for us to see the play “A Christmas Carol” in downtown Denver today. Last year, we had listened to an audiobook of the story while driving to Chicago, which was the first time Thinh had ever heard of the story. Now he would be able to see the play properly and truly enjoy the quintessential Christmas story. I remember watching the various movie versions of the story growing up, from the Muppets version to the musical with Albery Finney.

My parents, Thinh and I drove downtown and parked at the theatre complex, arriving with plenty of time to spare before the show began. Thinh grabbed a drink at the theatre bar and we soon went in to find our seats. Mom had done a great job and bought us very good seats – not too close and not in the nosebleed section.

When the show began, they started with some singing and I was a bit worried that the show would be… campy. My fears vanished when the play truly began and I was immersed in the story. The actors were all very talents, especially the man playing Scrooge. During intermission Thinh told us that he was enjoying the play very much, which I was glad to hear. The play ended around 17:00 and we then set off back home. It had been a very fun afternoon out with everyone – I was really glad that mom had taken us all to the play.

This evening was spent relaxing, not doing anything crazy or staying up late – I had to head to work in the morning, sadly.