No matter what I cook, whether it's chicken, ham, pork, beef, or muffins, it smells as if I were roasting a turkey. My best friend Jessica came by with her nose up and sniffed the air.

      Turkey Again?" she asked. The question hit me like a slap. I felt my face start to burn.

      "No, I'm roasting a beef roast for dinner." I stammered. "Honest." Jessica smiled and shook her head in disbelief.     

      The turkey smell may be due to the fact I haven't had the time to clean my oven after last year's huge Thanksgiving feast. My parents visited me one weekend to celebrate my father’s birthday. My mother and I woke up early and baked a cake for him. My father entered and sniffed the room.

      "Turkey for dinner?" His thin lips turned into a frown. 

      The frown quickly disappeared when we told him we were baking a birthday cake. That weekend my mother and I awoke to the smell of roasted turkey with stuffing. We sprang out of bed and ran to the kitchen. My father stood next to the oven his thin lips curled up into a huge smile.  

      "I made bran muffins with raisins," he announced.

      My mother ate my father’s bran muffins with the raisins. Depressed, I pouted, and shuffled my way back to my room and back to bed. I woke up later and made myself scrambled eggs for lunch and didn't talk to my father for the rest of the day.

      It’s become so bad that I come home late from work hoping to smell turkey when I open the door. That’s when I know that my roommate had taken upon herself to cook dinner for us.   

      The solution to this problem is clear, of course. Break down and clean my oven. But not today, it’s warm the sun is calling my name and I have a date.

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