Oh my god is it ever Monday.

We got back into town at almost midnight last night which is about the same time we always get back into town when we go somewhere.  It's never intentional, it just seems to happen.  The worst part is having to send everyone out the door knowing how tired they'll be.  I'll apologize to B's teacher in person, if she survives.

Our Thanksgiving and holiday weekend went  by without too many bumps, and I'm pretty happy about that.  Dinner at the sister's was a success, and she only "almost" fainted when I suggested we do it there again next year.  We'll see.

She had written a prayer of thanks which she read before dinner began.  Over the past couple of years, we've had several critical illnesses within our family circle which you all know about if you've been here a while.  To sum it up, in two years we've seen three people, my mother, brother, and brother-in-law all been given very slim chances of even surviving heart attacks and lung diseases.  So the fact that they were all with us was something to be very thankful for.

After the dinner we hit the road to Georgia to spend the weekend with my in-laws.  That isn't nearly as painful as it may sound as I truly adore most of my husband's family.  His mother is an amazing woman with a heart that would Mother Teresa to shame.  She gives and gives and gives and never asks for anything in return. 

The two people I almost despise weren't present for the weekend festivities, so it was a positive trip.  Positive, but exhausting. 

I did have to spend the weekend listening to a house filled with full grown boys whine and cry over Georgia getting their asses kicked by Georgia Tech, and I had to listen to them make fun of UK getting handed their own butts by UT.  Football in high-def was created by someone dark and evil.  I'm sure of it.

It's sort of doing this sleet/snow/rain thing outside right now.  I'm not looking forward to driving in it, but it's time to begin my day, whether I like it or not.

I have about five hours to finish two pumpkin pies, a cheesecake, a red velvet cake, stuffing, and yams.  And you know what, I'm not even worried.  I'm not worried because this whole fiasco isn't happening at my house for the first time since I moved back home!  Somehow, even though Thanksgiving dinner is at my little sister's this year, she still got out of doing most of the cooking!  The little shit.  I had originally intended to make the pies and cake last night, but the kids and I goofed off all evening making gingerbread men and sugar cookies.  It took only ten times longer than I had planned, of course.

So now I'm sitting here at this little booth in my kitchen, looking out the window, waiting for the oven to pre-heat, drinking coffee, and trying not to have a meltdown over the mess that surrounds me.  Everybody swears I'll look back on these days as fond memories when they're older and gone from my home.  I know I will.  After all, I did laugh until I almost peed last night when the teen queen made a gingerbread man dressed as Cartman from "South Park".  (The man came out of the oven a bit...well, as she put it, he wasn't fat, he was big-doughed!)

Right now the only things keeping me from balling up in a corner somewhere and rocking inchoherently while I cry hysterically is good coffee, better drugs, and the fact that deep deep deep down inside somewhere hidden from all light I know I'm the luckiest woman alive.

I have friends and family who love me.  I have a roof over my head and food in my belly.  I have all the comforts life can bring and I have the best people to share them with.  So much to be thankful for, it would be impossible to list it all. 

I hope everyone that celebrates this holiday has a wonderful Thanksgiving today.  And even if you don't actually eat turkey today, take the time remember what you should be thankful for... even if you have to dig deep deep deep to remember it. ;)

I spent some time at my mother's this past weekend.  She has been depressed since her latest medical procedure.  The fact is, she doesn't take care of herself, and her heart is beginning to show it.  This last episode has depressed her a great deal and also really frightened her.  She's gone a bit overboard now with monitoring everything around her.  Like eating almost nothing but she can't find anything "healthy" enough.  She has hit her seasonal depression at full force thanks to this.

So while I was there, I went through some of her old photo albums.  She has old pictures scattered everywhere.  My mother isn't a sentimental person.  When I started tracing my family tree, she couldn't tell me anything about her mother's family beyond her grandmother's name.  When we take her new pictures of us or the kids, they don't get put away or displayed until we do it.  But try not taking her one... she bitches for months.

Anyway, I found some pictures I'd forgotten about and some I'd never seen before.  I brought several of them home with me.  She put up a great fight pretending they were precious to her and I couldn't take them.  I lied and said I was taking them to make copies and that I'd get them right back to her.  Whatever.  She'll forget I have them in a few days.  The ones I took were just crammed into boxes and chests likely to get torn or destroyed, so it isn't like it matters!

I've noticed that occasionally bloggers will take these walks down memory lane the way I've been doing for the past week.  This morning I've decided to take you even further back to a happier, simplier time in my life.  I was the only grandchild for a couple Christmases, and from the look on my face and the gifts underneath my grandparents' tree, I soooo knew it.

I don't mean to brag, but just how cute was I, huh?!