Turkey Debriefing

Thanksgiving was, for a delightful change, delightful. No chilly silences at the dinner table, no preponderance of inebriated relatives -- what a difference a different venue and cast of characters makes. This year we spent Thanksgiving with Jeff's family in Virginia.

I'm not actually a big consumer of traditional Thanksgiving fare, and if I ever wondered if my two apples had fallen very far from the tree (I haven't), the fact that my kids ate rolls for Thanksgiving dinner would have proven the point nicely.

The kids also experienced their first taste of DC tourism: Arlington National Cemetary and a few monuments. They were remarkably well behaved despite the lack of anything resembling fun or relevance for them: "Look, here's a big statue of a president you've never heard of, and yes, I know you're still unclear on what a president is, exactly, but hey, isn't it big?" And so forth.

If we were sad to leave everyone yesterday, at least we had something to look forward to upon our return home: my sister and her kids are visiting us from Massaschusetts for a few days. I'm feeling very blessed to be surrounded by a terrific family on both sides.

Now that Thanksgiving is done, I know I'm supposed to rush straight into the sparkly embrace of Christmas preparation. Umm, no. Don't even TALK to me about Christmas. I just can't face it yet.