Back
when I was in Auckland (nearly 2 months ago! already?!), DP and Miss B went out
for lunch with one of his workmates and his family. They had a great time, and
afterwards DP opined that my opposite number in this family (RB) and I would
get along great and should make contact.
I’ve
been making an effort to be more proactive about widening my social circle here
in Canberra, so a couple of weeks ago I requested RB’s contact details via the
husband-conduit, and early this week I sent her an email suggesting we meet up
for coffee.
She
wrote back immediately to say that she was sorry, but she couldn’t do this week
– but that she had an alternative suggestion that I might find a bit “strange”,
but that she hoped I’d consider.
It
was this: one of the mums she is friendly with through her son’s school is also
American, and had invited her and the family over for Thanksgiving dinner.
Somehow we (and, I assume, our American-ness) had come up in the course of this
conversation…so she’d invited us too.
I
should probably note at this point that I had initially shelved the idea of
cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year, providing a number of justifications for
this decision: the weather’s wrong; I’ve got too much work on; I can’t get a
turkey home without a car (we won’t talk about how many times I did just that
in Oxford); yadda yadda yadda. But whatever rationalizations I was using, as
this week started I was having second thoughts. I was feeling bummed. Bummed
about missing out on Pie Day, bummed about missing out on the celebration of
possibly my favorite holiday, and bummed that I couldn’t seem to find the
motivation to make the day special somehow.
So
when this invitation arrived, completely out of the blue, it was as though the
clouds had parted and a ray of sunlight shone down on my path. I didn’t have to
start from zero! I could help someone else make a celebration! The fact that I had
never laid eyes on any of the people involved deterred me so briefly that I surprised
myself. Normally I consider myself much more cautious than that interpersonally,
but not this time. This time I plunged into the gamble.
And
it paid off! We had a great time – the kids rampaged happily, the food was
delicious, and I met some great people that I hope to see more of. And I learned
a rule of thumb I’ll remember for next time I‘m presented with an opportunity to
step outside my comfort zone – the applicability of this quote:
“Ever notice
how 'What the hell' is always the right answer?” (Marilyn Monroe)
Note: this is
never more true than when the question is, “Should I eat apple pie for
breakfast?”
Happy Day
After Thanksgiving. Or Friday, if that’s how you roll.
2 comments:
We loved our first Thanksgiving. Thanks for taking a risk! You can our me as suzy if you like. 😉
Thanks for making the risk available, and totally worth taking! Everyone else, meet RB - aka Suzy Hausfrau, of http://www.suzyhausfrau.com.au/. If you're in Australia and you like yarn, look no further!
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