Happy Thanksgiving!

better late than never

Wanted to give a belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there.

My day was really good. I slept in until about 11:30am got up, cleaned up and headed over to my aunt and uncle's house for our bi-annual gorge-fest of ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, stuffing, rolls, and various veggies.

I have a large extended family... so I have a lot of "little" cousins, which are turning out to be not quite so little anymore. I almost didn't recognize a couple of them since it's been almost a year (about 11 months) since I've seen most of them. Four of my older "little" cousins are really interesting to talk with now. I feel like I can relate to them a little bit more now, than the past couple of years. When they were all younger, we would play around and I would wrestle with them and stuff... even with four or five of them on me, they couldn't take me down. But now that they're older... they're a LOT bigger. My cousin A.J. alone is tough to take... and he's the second oldest.

It's always a lot of fun to see my family at this time of year, and kind of catch up on what's been going on. My oldest "little" cousin, Samantha, is getting her first job at a Marble Slab Creamery. She seems pretty excited about it. I've learned that Alison (her younger sister) plays hockey for school. Yep, she's a jock. A.J. and Josh (brothers to each other, but not to Sam and Ali) are growing up, too... A.J.'s talking about girlfriends and all that sort, and Josh is about to grow taller than his big brother. Of course then you have the plethora of smaller cousins, some of which aren't walking yet, and still love to be held, then the ones who are starting to travel on their own power and love to play, and then you've got the ones who are in that phase where they just don't want to be messed with at all, and kind of run away from you when you hold out your arms for a hug.

Family is the best thing about Thanksgiving. I just wish I could spend it with ALL of my family... and by that I mean the family that you get to choose, like your closest friends. I really wish it would be possible to have everyone I love and care for in the same room for Thanksgiving. That would be the best Thanksgiving ever.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. To all my family. The ones I get "stuck" with, the ones I've chosen, and the ones who have chosen me. I'm thankful for all of you.