Turkey Day miscellany

Last night I watched a rerun of The Letterman Show (the strike has hit late night shows hard) and thought Robin Williams, who was there to promote Happy Feet, was terrific (really, the producers are digging way back for material; I think this was '04). But I thought, "Would I want him at my Thanksgiving table?" I don't know. I think he's too manic for me.

If I were to host a celebrity Thanksgiving guest, I think I'd choose Frances McDormand. Yep. She'd be perfect.

****

I was thinking that families at Thanksgiving are a lot like women with PMS. I'm thinking this because the two are about to collide at my house tomorrow. Men might think they've got this PMS thing figured out; that is, if they have a woman in their life, but I say: Pay close attention to your Thanksgiving body and emotions and you'll have a good idea what we women go through every month:

1. Anxiety at night: for PMS women (PMSW), unexplained; for Thanksgiving Celebrants (TCs), worry over the shopping, the baking, the in-laws.

2. Cravings: for PMSW, it's often for carbohydrates and sweets; for TCs, same thing--carbohydrates and sweets.

3. Short temper: 'nuf said.

4. Inability to cope: for PMSW, agitation at all things stressful; for TCs, the agitation is best symbolized by that last half hour at the stove, when the turkey needs carving, the gravy is clumping, the potatoes need mashing, and no one will fill the water goblets. Note that primal scream working its way up your gullet.

5. Bloating: for PMSW, could last for days; for TCs, experienced right after the grand meal. Phenomena almost always involves jeans suddenly too tight with discrete loosening of button and zipper under sweater.

6. Extreme fatigue: for PMSW, we should just lie in bed a whole day with snacks and reality TV; for TCs, we should just lie on the couch the rest of the day with snacks and "the other kind" of reality TV (Lions v. Packers).

****

Speaking of PMSW, I came across this comment at Salon.com:

"The film clip made special mention that men feel happier at 'family gatherings' than women. Well, DUH! If those parties are still on the order of what they were when I was growing up, OF COURSE the men are happier! They're in the rec. room drinking beer and watching the game (and of course engaging in parent-child bonding with their pop-drinking sons and nephews)...while the ladies and their daughters are cleaning dishes, tossing garbage, packing up the leftovers, minding the babies, etc."

I've been thinking a lot about happiness lately.

In 2004, researchers developed a survey tool that measures people's quality of daily lives. Then they asked 909 employed women to record the previous day's activities and their feelings toward them.

And that's what I'm going to do. I'm writing down all my activities today, and tonight, before turning off the light, I'm going to rate them and determine what throughout my day made me happy. It's a perfect day to judge: a half-work day, some family, some homekeeping, some company. I'll let you know my results. I can tell you when I dug up the above Thanksgiving photo from my archive, this one of my son with his older cousin, that made me happy.