It's cold and windy in New York City, but after earlier fears about the weather, the balloons at the Thanksgiving Day parade are already flying.

[Vernita Gray, left, and Patricia Ewert hold their Illinois marriage license after they were married in Chicago on Wednesday. While the state's gay marriage law takes effect in June 2014, the couple was granted an expedited marriage license because Gray is terminally ill. Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast via AP]

According to research from the Calorie Control Council, the typical Thanksgiving meal weighs in at about 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat. Might as well add a few more glasses of wine to make it an even 5,000 calories.

How do you propose to someone who knows the question is coming? Step one, at least in 2013, always involves procuring high-end video equipment. But step two includes setting up as many near-proposals as possible, making it seem as though the question could come at any second. And while I might have declared proposal videos over, this one is just charming enough to make me reconsider.

Retail employees won't be able to spend Thanksgiving with their families, but the perks of working on the holiday are too good to pass up. For instance, Kohl's will make the day "fun for associates," Old Navy's atmosphere will be as "familial as possible," and Toys R Us is allowing employees to wear jeans and sneakers.

Samuel See, 34, an assistant professor of English and American studies at Yale University, was pronounced dead after he was found unresponsive in his cell at a New Haven detention center on Sunday. See had been arrested Saturday for violating a protective order and fighting with police officers when they were called to his home on a domestic dispute complaint.

According to the Misery Map, a live map that combines real-time weather and flight data, the most miserable airport in the country is currently Charlotte, followed closely by all New York area airports. Feel free to share your Thanksgiving travel misery with all of us.

[Balloons will not fly at the 87^th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York if sustained winds exceed 23 mph and gusts top 34 mph. Snoopy's inflation will be decided early Thursday morning by the NYPD, the National Weather Service, and Macy's. Photo by Bebeto Matthews via AP]

Authorities in Tennessee say a 15-year-old high school student set his teacher's hair and clothes on fire during class earlier this week.

It turns out the New Jersey waitress who lied about getting an anti-gay insult in lieu of a tip was also lying about a whole bunch of other stuff, including her military service.

We are a nation divided, and we are antsy about inviting those divisions into our homes, on the nuclear level, as we connect with our families for holiday feasts.

The head of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania's third largest county was forced to resign earlier this month after allegations surfaced that he had drugged and raped a female coworker.

It's that time of the year again. Time to gather your loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving's most time-honored tradition.

Thanksgiving Eve had come again,
Outside a blustery chill.
A tiny boy of six years old,
Came crashing down the hill.
The leaves did scatter, brown and orange.
How fearsome was the sight:
Of Franklin Tom, the Turkey Beast,
Screeching in the night.

Five years ago, then-Gov. Sarah Palin pardoned a turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving at a farm in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. She then chatted with reporters as a cascade of turkeys was slaughtered just over her shoulder. Our great-great-grandchildren will reenact this interview inside vast underground cities each November.

A significant portion of the stadium meant to house the World Cup's opening match in Sao Paulo next year was destroyed in a crane collapse today, killing three people. Brazil is hastily attempting to complete its 12 World Cup venues by FIFA's end-of-year deadline. Six stadiums reportedly remain unfinished.

If you take a good, hard look at a vulva, you realize it's just a bit of a body. There's nothing that is shocking or scary, you know, nothing that is gonna run out and eat you up.

An important part of being a father is knowing when to teach your child a lesson and when to let him learn that lesson on his own.

It's not often that I post two videos from the same series, but, then again, it's not often that not posting a video could be considered a crime against humanity.