The turkey is sooo DONE

Sooooo overdue for a post here... but hey, hardly anyone ever leaves comments, so I guess no one's really waiting out there w/ bated anticipation, huh? Yes, it's for me, anyway, so I'll take the tip & "blog on". :)

Well, I suppose I could re-cap my Thanksgiving (sorry - boring, I know). There's really so, so, SO much I could write about it - but I think it might be better to keep some of it private, as it (of course) deals with family stresses. Maybe I'll get the nerve to write it all out someday soon, but it's a thin line between therapeutic catharsis (yes, I know that was a redundant phrase...) and offending or hurting a loved one. So, for their sake - as hilarious as I see a lot of what happens in my life - I'll refrain.

MONDAY:
I worked til 5, made it to 7:15 kickboxing, and picked my brother up from the airport. He suffered my slooooow dial-up internet connection & bad cell phone reception from the apt.

TUESDAY:
No work today. My brother & I went shopping at Whole Foods for all their special needs - organic, natural, expensive... Gave my brother directions to the airport, since 6 of us couldn't fit in the car (that is, not with each getting their own seatbelt - you know, the "safe, legal" way). He picked up his wife, 2 babies & our mom, who all flew in from my mom's place in Florida. They all made themselves at home in my apartment, and as the afternoon wore on & I started to feel overwhelmed (add on that I'm an admitted clean-freak - and clearly my sister-in-law is not), I was rescued by an incredible knight in shining armor, someone who knew exactly what to say & do. Thank you!

WEDNESDAY:
In the morning, met up briefly with my cousin visiting from Israel (in NYC on business) at Grand Central, along with all my houseguests. It must've been the coldest day yet, and the 1.5 mile walk to & from where I finally managed to find parking was an evil reminder of why I hate winters in the NE. My brother & his family tried catching a taxi uptown, but absolutely nothing was available (that's Park Avenue for you). So, I drove his wife & babies, along with my mom, up to her friend's apt in the Upper East Side, while my brother walked & caught a cab. Mom & I rushed back home so that I could make a 2pm personal training session - at 2:45pm. My trainer is soooo understanding!

My sister, her husband & toddler drove up from VA to a hotel near my uncle's house (where we'd have Thanksgiving dinner). They said the drive took an extra 3 hrs, 2 of which they spent walking around a mall b/c their boy went through 2 pairs of pants (diaper leaks) and needed to air-dry them. Egad! And people ask me why I only dream of having puppies.

THURSDAY:
We hang out at home until we're ready to drive out to my sister's hotel, so my nephews (both just over 2 yrs old) can play together. We manage to convince my sister-in-law to have all 6 of us drive together, with my mom on my brother's lap up front. Weee! That was fun. At the hotel, the guys got hungry. So we ended up feasting on delicious stuff from Whole Foods nearby, about 3 hrs before our Thanksgiving dinner feast. At my uncle's house, we had 25 adults and the 3 babies - plus my sister's announcement that she's expecting her 2nd. Woo-hoo! We had my 2nd-cousins from Boston, those from NJ, plus 1 cousin's in-laws, as they live nearby. It's always great to see everyone - at least once a year.

The drive home was memorable, to say the least. Again, 6 of us, but with my brother's wife on his lap & our mom in the back, responsible for amusing the babies. She didn't. The "I'm hungry!" screeching cry of a 7-month old, muddled with me singing "The Rainbow Connection", my brother whistling, sister-in-law cringing, the radio on low in the background, our mom 'shhhhh'ing, and the toddler giggling... left us all with a headache. Me personally? I think it was hilarious!

FRIDAY:
We stayed in mostly - yet another cold, windy day. We ordered in Indian food for lunch. As is our tradition for the last few years, we eat at a Mediterranean restaurant on the Friday after Turkey-Day, and it's always been at a place near my apt. But noooooooo, they had to pick somewhere new, in the middle of crappy-podunk-nowhere! (OK, it was Cresskill, up near Tenafly - which actually was quite charming! Will I ever be able to figure out how to get there again? Hell no!) So, we got there a full HOUR late. New Jersey highways & signs - what fool designed them? I mean, they may as well be written in crayon. They always appear way too late, U-turns are incorrectly labeled... And Mapquest gave me directions with over 15 turns on local streets (!), not to mention the fact that it never mentioned Local vs. Express lanes on I-95. Add to my stress that I had my sister's car following us. Like I had any clue where we were going! My cousins asked me to come out to NYC later for drinks - but no go. I was way too stressed & exhausted to enjoy anything at that point.

SATURDAY:
My sister's crew headed back home to VA. My brother & his family met up with friends in Hoboken for brunch. We all then took the bus into NYC - my brother's tribe heading back up to their friends in the Upper East Side, and my mom & I meeting up with a friend from Ohio in the Upper West Side. Poor girl was hungover from a late night out, and yakked twice while we lunched at a diner. Mom & I crossed the park to meet up with my brother, and we all had dinner at a quaint little restaurant. Bus, subway & another bus back home. Mom snored that night. Hate sharing the bed with snorers.

SUNDAY:
E-day! Day of the exodus. My brother dropped off his family & our mom at the airport, bound for Florida once again. I spent the afternoon cleaning - I mean, seriously bleaching my roommate's entire bathroom - floor, tub, tiles (more on that in a future post, I think...). I cooked us some steak for dinner, and spent much of the evening on the phone while he watched TV.

MONDAY:
Dropped my brother off at the airport at 9am. Our goodbye was lame, judging by our usual standards. Again - won't get too much into the personal stuff here. Let's just say the cosmos had shifted in our family. Usually, I'm the one everyone 'picks on' at Thanksgiving - my siblings are always trying to "fix" my life, everything I'm doing wrong or the potential I'm not fulfilling. And yes, mom chimes in too. Anyway, that didn't happen this time. My sister's family being at a hotel staved off their unsolicited input, and my brother being under enormous pressures due to uncontrollable circumstances made him primed as our estrogen-driven target. I think we'll go back to picking on me next year.

Thank God Thanksgiving comes but ONCE a year! And yeah, thank God we're Jewish - no more holiday get-togethers in my family until Passover! That should be just enough time to recover...