Expressions of Gratitude

We've had one insane holiday weekend. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I am grateful, grateful to the depths of my soul, that I don't have to be anywhere except mass. In addition to logging almost 400 miles in driving to and fro, we stuffed/roasted a turkey, baked two casseroles, a cake, and three batches of cookies.

Many, many thanks to E, who hosted us for Thanksgiving dinner and let me bring along a stack of favorites to ease The Oracle's finicky pallette.

Many thanks to Hon and Pop who fed us a maaahvelous dinner on Friday night during our long-overdue visit. The kids hadn't seen them since summertime. The Oracle was going into meatball withdrawal.

Many thanks to my sister, V, and her husband R, who invited us to a lovely Christmas party this evening. The Oracle had to work and couldn't go, so I got to drive the kids up there on my own.

Thank you, God, that the traffic jam on the way to V&R's was civilized. Normally, we can cover the 80-mile trip in roughly one-and-a-half hours, but it took a smidge over three. The other drivers were surprisingly well behaved.

Thank you, Precious Daughter and Mighty B, for keeping the atmosphere inside the car a pleasant one despite being trapped in it for so long. They kept their good behavior working through V&R's party, too, despite the fact that they ate nothing besides a couple of cocktail weenies, two cookies each, and a stalk of celery.

Thank you, House Fairy, for detouring your route to Thanksgiving Dinner to check on my idiot German Shedder when I called you in a panic. I - horrors! - discarded my turkey carcass and failed to put the trash out of reach of the dippy dog and didn't discover my error until we were almost at E's. The House Fairy very graciously stopped by our house to check on Knucklehead and to put whatever was left out of her reach.

Thank you, Knucklehead, for starting in on nothing more than the stupid parchment paper. Why you bypassed the carcass for a piece of greasy parchment I'll never know, but I'm glad I didn't have to deal with the havoc those bones, skin, and meaty bits would have wrought on your digestive tract.

Thank you, Mom, for not coming back to haunt me when I discarded that turkey carcass. Mom never let it go to waste, using it to prepare gallons of turkey stock. I had this same ambition in mind, but I knew full well that the thing would have ended up shoved in a back corner of the fridge until it grew new legs and walked out on its own.

Thank you, Oracle, for not berating me as harshly as I deserved for neglecting to shut off the oven before departing for Hon & Pop's on Friday, and you can bet I'm thankful that it's an electric oven and that it didn't start a fire.

Thank you, Pearle Vision, for the 30% coupon we needed when Mighty B. unexpectedly destroyed The Oracle's glasses on Friday night. What should have been a $600 tab for new specs ran roughly $400.

Thank you, Oracle for driving home Friday night when I found your spare glasses conveniently stashed in the car's center console. I offered to drive, I know. You worked during the day and you had to work on Saturday as well, but I'm a chickenshit when it comes to driving the interstate around the stadium, and I also knew I'd face a harrowing drive to V&R's the next day.

Certainly not least, thank you to all of my friends who take the time to throw an email or a phone call my way despite the antisocial tendencies I've developed recently. I do love to hear from you, and I hope you don't lose patience with me.