My sisters and I formed an isoceles triangle on my mother's bed; the dog, a one Ms. Babygirl, lay down to the left of Crystal's pajama-clad body. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television in that precarious, intimate position. I was content stroking Caryl's hair and massaging Crystal's calf muscles, tense from cheerleading practices.

Later, we headed to Southern Maryland to join my mother's lover's family for their festivities. The lover's nephew had made a sign reading The ________'s Family Thanksgiving Dinner which he posted at the top of the driveway to welcome us. We were greeted by a couple of chickens, one of which is a cyclops. The same nephew, "R" had made us each name tags; I liked this kid's spirit. We were quickly swept up into a game of 20th Anniversary Trivial Pursuit (but only after the family's Boston Terrier molested us all and snotted on Crystal's pants).

In addition to the coffee I was nursing when we arrived, I also enjoyed a brandy eggnogg and then some apple raspberry wine from Vermont. Things were pleasant enough until I started a political debate bruhaha with my mom and sisters which made Crystal so angry she went to sleep and didn't wake up for about 2 hours.

At some point in the evening, I had my typical holiday epiphany. I am here with my mother and family instead of being someplace with someone as their special guest. I get stuck on the fact that I am almost 30, and how pathetic it all is...

On Friday, as per tradition, my mother made her Thanksgiving dinner. In addition to the girls, Babygirl, and me, the lover was in attendance. I felt content and sassy like a cat with us all feasting, the lady dog at our feet, eating our turkey scraps, licking sweet potato pudding from our fingers. That morning the little girl and I went out for a walk and were nearly bested by an escaped-from-his-own-yard rottweiler. Luckily, his owner came bounding out to retrieve her antagonistic devil. Babygirl, I am proud to say, didn't let this beast intimidate her...even though at one point, I couldn't see her head, she did not back down from this big galoot of a dog. I was scared, I'll admit.

We made it back to the house in one piece, and she was charged up from the incident. She kept looking out the window for signs of the villain and wanted its blood!

Later the lover and mom brought me back to my place, about an hour north of my mom's place. I debriefed with my roommate, did some laundry, and listened to Christmas music, made my peace with the fact that everything is ambiguous, and not likely to be worked out before the new year.

Starting From Scratch

I managed to salvage the entries from my old blog (in Word), which I inadvertently deleted. I'm still in the game.