A Little Epiphany - (and a newbie delurking)

[Dia]

So here's how Thanksgiving shook out...

Thurs morning before 8 am, we hit the road for the 200 mile drive to my folks place in the desert. Kidlet and I were upbeat, H was tense, both about the impending visit and a bit about the weather. I was driving and heavy winds were blowing the car around.

Once at my folks' place, however, things seemed fine. Not amazingly wonderful, but ok - ya know? My folks were welcoming, H was accomodating and helpful and I didn't feel any uncomfortable moments. He may have, but if he did, he didn't say so.

We stayed in a hotel instead of in the overcrowded condo, so that helped, too. It's nice to have a way out of the pressure cooker - makes everything a bit more bearable. With three young boys (Kidlet plus cousins ages 4 and 6), the television going and people trying to talk over it, my family can get quite loud. It's hard on us introverts who are susceptible to overstimulation. The hotel allowed us to retreat to some peace and quiet and then not go back over until we were braced for the sonic onslaught.

The 2nd day was my youngest nephew's birthday. That went well, too. We went to Chuck E. Cheese, which was less hellish than it could have been as it was Black Friday and most people were out shopping. We left at about 5:30 that night for a weekend to ourselves at home. H is napping while I cook supper, and kidlet is playing on his computer. H and I have a 'date' scheduled for tonight. We'll be watching The Libertine, with Johnny Depp. (We don't do that 'list' thing, but if we did, he'd be on it.)

H and I are very, VERY close and affectionate. This is very nice. My Mom and I are still guarded around one another but things seem fine with the rest of my family.

H's family made noise about having an extended family Thanksgiving dinner up in Ojai but plans never materialized. His sis and bro-in-law went to the husband's parernts' for dinner, which was a good thing as they experienced a major plumbing disaster, a turkey explosion and the FIL fell and broke an arm.

MIL and FIL went to Santa Monica, and as far as I know, didn't do anything at all Thanksgiving-ish. A small, niggling part of me wonders if I'm being blamed for their not having a proper Thanksgiving, but I told that part to go play in traffic.