I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack....

So....all of my loyal blog readers thought I died from the flu. Nope.

Still here.

Let's see....what have we missed talking about......St. Patrick's Day, the baseball season, Sarah's Birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day. Tracy's Birthday, our trip to NY, my annual battle with my stepmother during my trip to NY, Sarah learning about Central Park and John Lennon (hey, some people take their kids to DC to learn history), our anniversary, the beginning of the football season, the Braves season going in the toilet, my birthday, the Panthers season going in the toilet, Halloween, and now Thanksgiving.




EXCELLENT...we're all caught up, loyal blog readers! Which brings me to the point of today's diatribe.

It's Thanksgiving.....a day where most people get together with their extended family, eat a lot, drink a lot, watch football, and fall asleep on the couch with the top button of their pants undone to allow their girth to have room to breathe.

We have no extended family. OK....that's not 100% true. I have 4 living relatives besides my wife and kids. My father, his wife, my sister and brother. Tracy has 3 living relatives. Her mother, and two sisters.

I haven't spoken to my brother or sister in a few years. We annoy the hell out of each other and so a simple email is NOT HAPPENING, let alone extended "family time" on a holiday.

Part of me thinks Sarah is missing something. I have great memories of hanging out in the kitchen watching my Mother cook, all of the relatives coming over, my father carving the turkey like it was some sort of religous ritual.

It wasn't until I was 19 that I realized the drumstick is NOT the best part of the turkey. As a kid, it was the first thing my father cut from the turkey so I wanted it on my plate so I could stare at it for the duration of the ceremony.

In college I cooked my own turkey for a girlfriend in my bachelor pad. I was suave, debonair, and hammered by the time she got there and the turkey was cooked. (Later in life I learned that you can, in fact, baste the turkey without getting a beer.)

Sorry... I digressed. Sarah is missing that "family thing" for better or worse. It seems kind of ironic in this age of ultra communications...telephone, cell phone, instant messaging, and email that the family I grew up with has grown to live as far apart from each other as physically and emotionally possible.

But....we did have a nice meal and a nice day....without discussing politics or religion or battling over how gravy should be made. Instead we ate, went for a walk and are now enjoying an Eric Clapton DVD.

In a way I'm jealous of all of the happy families who look forward to the big Thanksgiving dinner with 17 relatives in the house.

To me, a grouchy old curmudgeon, it seems kind of like a pain in the ass.

In a way, I'm really glad to just have my wife and kids, a nice meal, a few days off from the rat race, and some good music to just sit and enjoy.

When I think about the Thanksgiving that the men and women serving in our military are having, it really seems kind of lame to even be pondering the negative parts of my day. Thanks to them, I can sit here and open a button......it's almost time for another slice of pie.