Thankful in Ohio

For Thanksgiving this year, I ventured into the hometown of my "Canton-ese" boyfriend. Okay, he isn't Chinese, but he is from Canton, Ohio. My Aunt Susan loves to confuse other people by telling them that I am dating a Cantonese boy.

Canton's claim to fame is the Football Hall of Fame. Football is not my thing, but wacky midwesterners are, especially those who give me some insight into the mysteries of my boyfriend's mind.

Upon arriving to the family's house, we get out of their big shiny white bling-bling Escalade with gold trim (Later my boyfriend's mom laments how she doesn't have spinners on her hubcaps), to be greeted by three little happy-yappy dogs. All are hopping around sniffing and licking people's hands. The Yorkie (Lucy, pictured to the left) nearly pees on my shoes out of excitement.

The two other dogs are a mixed-breed, Lois (resembling "The Dog" stationery) and a Coton du Tulear, named Rosie, who looks like my old dog, the late Squeakers, but with straighter hair:

Squeakers (Poodle)	Rosie (Coton)	Lois (?)

This year, my bf's mom has gotten an early start on Christmas decorating, so I get a preview of the usual holiday glamour. The parents take me on a tour of the house, and every room is seriously decked out in red, green, gold, and snowy/ribbony/holly/glittery accents.

My bf's mom excitedly demonstrates an animatronic dog with a Santa hat who sings different carols if you yank his paw. Even a large bucket of dog toys are xmas-themed, and each dog has its designated xmas collar. The place was like a holiday showroom for decor. Looking at this, I realize how half-hearted my own family's Christmases were. (Then again, I was raised a Buddhist.)

I am beginning to understand my boyfriend's need for minimalism.

Despite any political or religious differences, I do like my boyfriend's family a lot. Here are my top 10 reasons, in no particular order:

I always wanted a younger sister. My bf has four of them. The dad indulges the mom in her obsessions (decorating, dogs), even if it kind of drives him crazy. They like to give each other compliments. Big T (oldest sister) got a lot for her baking (see chocolate cake, pumpkin cheesecake & pumpkin pie to the left). They even compliment themselves! They have very attractive genes. (One of the sisters was a Rockette and will star in the new musical, Good Vibrations.) They are lots of fun at Scrabble, even when they cheat. (My bf and I won anyway) They have funny little dogs that are clean and relatively well-behaved, despite the nervous peeing. They like to treat themselves, be it a Manhattan (the dad's drink), hot cocoa, an cute skirt, grasshoppers (mint shakes), cheesecake, or an Escalade. They are a warm and loving bunch that loves to laugh. They love cheesy-ass puns. My bf's dad is the master, and my bf is a Punster-in-training. They are pretty good at Karaoke!

That's right, they like to karaoke, thanks to me. After Thanksgiving dinner, I brought out my Karaoke Revolution games, volumes 2 & 3. My bf demonstrated a rendition of New York, New York, and when he offered his mom a turn, she said, "I want's something JAZZIER!" So she picked Oops, i did it Again.

She started swingin' the mic around, and boppin' to the music, but she was forgetting to sing!! Eventually we got her to remember, and the parents did a duet of I Got You, Babe, in which the mom flipped her hair, in a Cher impersonation! The dad sang Sweet Home Alabama, the two eldest sisters sang "Oh What a Feeling," and then we made the youngest to sing Oops with her boyfriend. My bf and I sang Take my Breath Away. Yay for new holiday traditions!




As for the Canton neighborhood, it reminded me of the the suburbs of Chicago, except for the occasional beer barn. Lots of cute big houses with big lawns and shopping malls, with larger stretches of land between them.