Thanksgiving was had though not even a sliver of pumpkin pie crossed paths with my now salivating taste buds. Nor did any turkey get caught between my perfect chompers.

Instead, I had mom's mouth-watering Taiwanese rice vermicilli, savory sticky rice, aromatic pork chops, grilled cauliflowers, and lots a couple pieces of potato chips and chocolate covered almonds.

It's not that we didn't have any pumpkin pie. We did. In fact, two great ones from good 'ol Costco. I just forgot to cut myself a slice during the two days I was home with the folks. I meant to take a couple of slices back to LA with me, but somehow in the mad rush to get out of cow and old people land, I forgot. Now, I am craving for some pumpkin pie, 3 days too late.

I did end up scoring quite a few homemaking bits from the old lady. Mom gave me a couple of new pots and pans she'd been hoarding. Also, a mere mention of "how to sew" a particular piece of clothing led her to buy me a brand new spanking Singer sewing machine! Feeling like I'd been spoiled with all these domestic goodies, I volunteered that the sewing machine be a month early birthday present.

So what was this "how to sew" item that I mentioned to ma? It was the little bear's corduroy jacket that I'm making for boyfriend. Mom asked me why I would want to make a coat for a bear and not wanting to lie, I confessed it was a birthday gift for the beau. Her reaction? "You better not be stupid and get hooked on this boy. Did you find out if he's got any family history of genetic illnesses?"

Ha! Can you believe my mama? Already thinking so far ahead. See, it's cultural thing. The old school Taiwanese are a bit overly-cautious, always thinking of the worst. I chuckled silently and later muttered to my sister out of sarcasm, "Little does she know that boyfriend's family is on the heavy side." Sister just giggled. I think my mama's nutz. I told boyfriend just the other day that becomes a bit chunky. I can't see him that way, but I imagined real hard and came to the conclusion I'd like him just as much.

Why, just Thanksgiving morning he plucked me a flower from outside my building and presented it to me along with a "Happy Thanksgiving!" It so tickled me pink.

In fact, just a few hours prior to that incident, I had been quite upset, driving myself nutz worrying over nothing.

You see, Wednesday night, I went out with a girlfriend and met up with 3 of boyfriend's guy friends to watch friend's band play at the local Club Lingerie. Boyfriend had called earlier and said he was too tired and probably won't join us since he was going to spend part of it with the family. I had myself a good time without him, though.

So, after seeing the band, boyfriend's friends, my gfriend and I headed over to Cat & Fiddle for a few drinks and to unwind with good conversation. The place closed down and we were famished so we head to Tofu House in Korea Town. By the time we decided to call it a night, it was already 4 in the a.m. I decided to drive my and maybe stop by boyfriend's since I was missing him so much all night.

I drove down his street and didn't see his SUV anywhere. I thought perhaps I missed it and drove up the street AGAIN. Nope. Boyfriend's car was nowhere. I freaked, panicked and thought, "It's fucking 4am and where the heck is boyfriend's car?" I thought maybe it had broke down so it was at the mechanic so I drove on home wihtout stopping in for some reason. I got home and it bothered me more and more that his car was not at home. So, I called him at home and the machine picked up. I called a little later and same thing. This time, awful, bad thoughts crossed my mind...like could he be cheating on me? Afterall, he had told us he was too tired to come out and play that night and yet, I find him not even at home.

I decided to drive 6 minutes back to his house, where I actually parked, got out the car, and walked up to his bedroom window, knocked a few times and finally called again.

He wasn't there. I lost it right there! I decided to call his cell phone. Nothing. Just voicemail. Feeling cold, numb, and exhausted, I drove on home only to find myself calling the cell phone again. Still nothing.

I convinced myself that everything was ok. That he didn't get in an accident or that he was cheating on me. I set the alarm to wake me at 7:30 a.m. so I could call again. Sleep did not fall on me quickly as I was quite disturbed by all these awful thoughts. Finally, I fell asleep.

The alarm woke me and I made two more calls to no avail, not leaving any messages. In fact, I never once left a message all those times I called. I went back to sleep.

At 8:15 a.m., the phone rang. It was boyfriend. He wanted to know if I'd like to spend some time with him before I left for my folks place for a couple of days since his friend canceled on him. They were supposed to go body surfing but said friend was the same one I was hanging out with that night so I already knew he'd be too beat to wake up.

I was so relieved to hear his voice that I wasn't mad. In fact, I played it cool. I asked him how last night was with his family and he immediately told me that around 10:30pm, his good bud, whom I've met before had called him up and wanted him to hang out, go to a strip bar cuz the wifey was out of town.

Since boyfriend hadn't spent much time lately with this friend he decided to go over to the friend's place, where they fed him some vodka. Boyfriend had 3 shots before he fell asleep on them so they never even made it out of the house. He ended up sleeping over there. This I can believe. Boyfriend is like this when he's tired and has had some drinks.

So boyfriend asks me how my night was with his buddies and then I told him I had stopped by his place, only to not find him there, which sent me in a panick. He laughed as if he thought it was cute I was all worried.

We talked for awhile before we decided that he'd come over to my place. I was so happy that he wanted to spend time with him before I left for a few days. And so much happier when he plucked that flower for me. And even more so when he hugged and kissed me like he really missed me. It was nice. We walked down to the local Noah's Bagels for some breakfast to-go. He carried our food and held my hand in the early morning hours. I felt so relaxed unlike just a few hours prior that I had to laugh at myself for having panicked.

I've been learning that I have to continously trust my man. He's said from the very beginning that everything will be ok if we just trust one another. It's just that sometimes it's hard and for he most part I trust him more than anyone else I've ever been with. I suppose it's good to freak out and get scared every now and then. It keeps me on my toes and allows me to show him my weakness because I care. That sort of thing grows and with each successful passing, things just get better and stronger. I've learned from past experiences not to accuse without solid proof and that is exactly why I play it so cool with boyfriend. It seems to be working pretty well. Almost 30 years and still growing, learning, acquiring. It all makes sense. That's what life is about for me at the moment. Every relationship is practice for the real thing. Right now, I hope that boyfriend isn't just a practice mate.