Well, today was the national US holiday set aside to celebrate turkey and football...er. I mean, to celebrate family, food and all things that we are thankful for.
In light of this, my parents and I got up early so we could drive to my little sister's place and then to my cousin's house for the traditional dinner.
Things were going well; I woke up around 8, instead of my usual 12 (thanks mom!), and since we weren't leaving until 9:00 I even had time for a shower! But then, at 8:47 there was an attack on dad's server! (something about ampersands?) and we couldn't possibly leave until after he blocked the hacker and made the world safe for mom's website once more. I am thankful for the internet.
Once that was cleared up and we were only 30 minutes late, the three of us piled into the car, where mom had her usual angry fit. I can't quite remember what set her off--I think we forgot to carry the pile of stuff to the car? even though she hadn't asked us to?--and she was much better than some years, but there was a bit of yelling. It just wouldn't be a holiday road-trip without mom going ballistic. I am thankful for family traditions.
We got on the road thereafter, and with only a short stop for gas and one closed exit ramp/wrong turn we made good time to my little sister's apartment. I called her cell to let her know we'd arrived, and she said she'd be down, but our parents were already out of the car because they wanted to use her bathroom, so she had to go down and let them in...and in the process she managed to lock herself out--without her shoes. Dad and Mom and Lydia eventually managed to get the door open with some odd tools from the car, and we were once again on the road half-an-hour late. I am thankful for spare keys and other tools.
Eventually we got to my cousin's house, which is...large and okay, although there were some very strange bits too it. And her closet is ENORMOUS; I've had bedrooms smaller than it. She let's her brother and her brother's girlfriend live there cheaply, but Cousin Wesley is...not the highest quality of housemate/human (in past years he's exuded a strong aura of 'slick used car salesman'). Wesley spent the whole time in his room with a friend (whose name I never did get), save for the dinner itself, where he actually ate the turkey. Apparently at 22 he's finally mature enough to do that. I am thankful that my family is the family that they are--and not a speck closer.
After the dinner we sat around hearing stories of my aunt, cousin and grandmother's recent trip to Israel and Egypt, the latter of which was apparently not what they expected. I think grandpa was on the trip, too, but for some reason he was never actually mentioned in any stories. I am thankful not to live under constant terrorist threat.
And then we got in the car and drove home, which was a sleepier drive than the one to my cousin's, so we put on the radio and listened to Christmas music. That's something to cross off my to-do List. I am thankful for the fact that I downloaded a bunch of good Christmas music from www.feelslikechristmas.com.
Now I'm going to go watch a Star Wars movie with my little sister and try not to fall asleep. I am thankful we don't have to do this again for another year--or at least a month.
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