Birthdays and Thanksgiving

So this year Thanksgiving fell on my birthday.  I actually like when this happens because I get to see the people I love.

My present to myself was sleeping in.  The last 1.5 hours of that I wasn't really sleeping.  I stayed buried in my covers with my eyes closed and stayed on the edges of sleep and consciousness. Lovely.

I came downstairs to coffee, donuts and the Macy's day parade.  I stayed in my jammies and peeled 9 lbs of potatoes with giant balloons and bad lip syncing in the background.  I happily opened a new pair of running shoes, the new barefoot contessa cookbook and Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling.  M made me a cute card on the computer with pictures of all the things I love.  The last page was a picture of all of us in Hilton Head. Very sweet.

Around 2 we headed over to K's folks to hang out a bit with his siblings.  His Uncle Philip was visiting from England and it's always nice to see him.  It was a fun afternoon and all the kids had a blast playing with the cousins.

We headed over to my parents in time for the start of the Skins game.  Again, the cousins all had fun running around outside together while the adults watched the game and got dinner ready.  My 96 year old grandfather was there so we all took turns sitting next to him and keeping him company.  Dinner was good and and my 9 lbs of mashed potatoes were well received.

The weather on "black Friday" was absolutely lovely and we spent the morning raking leaves together as a family.  I dropped A off at a skate park in the afternoon while I got my hair cut and colored.  My sisters S and C brought me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday that night and surprised me with some lovely presents.

We also celebrated K's father's 70th birthday this weekend with the whole family.  We had an adult-only dinner in Georgetown Saturday night and a family brunch with all the kids after mass on Sunday.

Yes, we had our normal kid drama.  Yes, there were annoying political conversations (arguments) among K's siblings.  Yes, my sister-in-law with marital problems was a mess.  Yes, CA and KM were absolutely annoying and hard to deal with on Thanksgiving.

But, yes it was a wonderful 4 days of family, love and fun.  A nice little respite from the normal crazy.

Yes!