Thanksgiving went off without a hitch.
We began the day enjoying our newly fixed fireplace. Jay cooked our turkey, bought a paper so Josie could color in the turkey, although I noticed this morning that she didn't. Jay just likes to read Pat Reusse's Turkey of the Year sports column. I'm glad he bought one because it turned out that my sister in law, ViAnne Hubbell, authored the
lead story on the opinion page .
I'm really glad she wrote this piece before she and I had a chance to discuss the issue. Vi is wonderful, smart, funny and I love her but if she knew ahead of time that I agree with her 100% on this issue, she probably would have rethought it.
I'm just sayin'.
Around noon, we packed up our car, threw our turkey in the fridge and headed to Steve and Pam's where about ninety (that's an exaggeration) family members were gathered for jello shots and pie. The big story of the day; Ellie and Mike are engaged! Finally. We've (I've) been nagging these two for years to get hitched. They're great and we all love Mike and want him officially in the fam. He's always there so why not marry him
what the hell are you waiting for, Ellie???
Now that Mike has put a ring on it, he may think we'll (I'll) get off his back but he's wrong. Marry her and start having babies because it's the most fun you can have in life. All Ellie's sisters have babies so they know.
There were little kids at the holiday for the first time in years. For the longest time, we had hordes of children at the P. family gatherings but after Josie (who is 15. That's FIFTEEN.) We hit a dry spell. Yes, there are many, many great grand kids but they're all in AZ, where their parents (the traitors) moved. Pat and Frank have 11 or 12 great grand kids living in the Phoenix area. What good do they do us, up here in the frozen north? they aren't here to get underfoot during dinner or make a lot of noise. it's like they don't even exist. But this year we had Sophie, Marcus, Graydon and Coby! Three of those are little boys hovering around the age of two. So cute you need an insulin shot just to be in the same room. It was GREAT.
The food was plentiful and delicious and we all ate too much. Before I could pass out on the dining room table, Jay, Zack and I left Josie behind and went down to my folks who fortunately only live a mile away. We got there just in time to eat again. Good thing, as it had been an hour! A whole hour! since I stuffed my face.
As usual, Josie stayed with Carolyn and the super shoppers. Their plan was to stay up all night and hit all the Black Friday specials. To me, that sounds like a thousand years in purgatory but they love it.
At my folks, I got to see Katelyn and Chad from Chicago, which is always fun. Mike and Woody were there but the gorgeous Kathy was at home, zonked by pain meds from the hideous surgery she underwent on her wrist a week or two ago. Apparently Kath isn't much fun when she's on fire with pain. What a baby.
Kent, MJ and their babies were there. Jay was playing with Punkin and he sat her up. she's never done that before and she sat there for about three minutes before toppling over, chuckling. Her chuckle is indistinguishable from a growl so it's even cuter than most baby chuckles. Bananas pretty much ignored me, as she always does when her 'brothers' Johnny and Charlie are around. They are a lot more fun than I am, I admit.
There were more little kids at my folks house but it was still a lot quieter than Steve and Pam's because so many of the kids go downstairs to get away from the old farts. It was fun but soon enough, Jay and I looked at each other and realized if we didn't hit the road soon, we'd never make it home before we passed out. Zack was ready, too.
I was home in my pjs half in a coma by 8:30 watching the Shield.
It was a great day.
