We drove 6+ hours each way for Thanksgiving this year and it was all that an annual family Thanksgiving Hell weekend should be: A late start, Farting dogs, forgotten items, foul weather, snarled traffic, booze, weird family drama, unhappy wife, alcohol, some yelling, miscommunicated plans, mountains of guilt, one dog escape, unmedicated crazy, some tears, no turkey, more alcohol, slamming doors, heartburn, someone that showed up super-high, fits thrown, 1 minor meltdown, fitful dreams… You know, the usual stuff.  It is going to take a week and a cleanse to get my liver and mood back to a moderately-normal functionality.

After we got home LATE Sunday night, I started a fire in the living room stove insert, fed the puppies, we ate a little something, unpacked, and said a little prayer of thanks that no one went full-postal.

“Next Year” we are doing something different. Seriously. Like a cruise or our own private affair with a fried turkey, soft white rolls, butter, cranberry & pine nut stuffing, corn on the cob, more butter, apple pie, peach cobbler, expensive/tasty booze and ZERO drama.