Rules of Engagement--Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving horror stories--we've all got one or two or three disastrous family-gathering stories we could share with others.  Why is that the holidays tend to bring out the best and worst in people, especially among our loved ones? 

 

If you're the one hosting this year's dinner (lucky you) then it's important to set the ground rules and let your family and friends know you're the captain of the ship and they'd better follow your command at the dinner table. I know, easier said than done.  This year if I was hosting the dinner I'd tell everyone that before they came to my house they had to read my latest release, because we'd be discussing story structure, plot and characterization over the turkey dinner.  But that's not the case, we're heading to my sister-in-law's home.

 

Beau: Cowboy Protector

November 2012

 

 

Buy!

 Linda Lewis Griffith is a marriage and family therapist www.lindalewisgriffith.com who recommends the following... 

Rules of Engagement

Be pleasant at all times.

Do not bring up hurtful issues from the past.

Engage in appropriate dialogue.

Discuss only mutually safe topics.  

Avoid possibly contentious subjects.

Show up on time.

Be helpful.

Monitor your own consumption of alcohol.

Do your best to get along with everyone at the gathering.

Encourage children to play outside if the weather permits.

Be attentive to your own children’s needs and actions.

 

 

 ***

If you believe your family is incapable of following your rules or someone always sabotages your good intentions (you know your cousin Claire was jealous that you got asked to the junior prom and she didn't) then you may want to consider the following

 

Spend the holiday in a public place. (Wishful thinking, I know)

 

If you are the host, don't exhaust yourself before Thanksgiving dinner.
Right before the holidays, furniture and rug sales always go up. Many family members, especially siblings, are in competition over issues like who has the best and cleanest house, who is the best cook, etc. If you are hosting Thanksgiving, don't get into this kind of competitiveness: it will only exhaust you and ruin your holiday. It is okay to cut corners. Include ready-made foods along with homemade ones, close off messy rooms, and accept help in the kitchen. Your relaxed mood will set the tone of the gathering.

Spend time and energy on planning entertainment.
Thanksgiving is the slowest afternoon of the year, says Dr. William Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota. The parade, the turkey, the football games and lethargy caused by overeating make it a long boring time, especially for children. Families get "cabin fever" and tensions arise. Let the dinner end by early afternoon so that people can go to a movie or take a walk, if they desire. Give children the freedom to play outside; allow teenagers to go out by themselves. Bundle up and go look at store windows together. Have board games and other entertainment available.

 

Have a clever seating arrangement.
Try using place cards to assign seats so that you can separate people who do not get along. Although you may be tempted to, don't seat family members who have been feuding for years next to each other. 

 

***

 

Depending on the "Host Home" our family can have a very eclectic group gathering each Thanksgiving--family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and possibly even a divorced spouse or two.  A few Taboo Topics at our family gathering: Climate Change, Politics, Body Piercings, Body Weight, Hair Styles & Religion. 

Now for the fun part...what topics are taboo at your Thanksgiving Table?

 

 

Beau: Cowboy Protector November 2012

No Ordinary Cowboy *Rodeo Rebels* April 2013

The Cowboy Next Door *The Cash Brothers* July 2013

www.marinthomas.com

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Holiday Cheer...or Not

This begins the season of holiday parties, and you know all the good things they include.  I'll steer away from the dangerous topics of casseroles and desserts and chocolate—although really, those are some of my favorite subjects for discussion at any time of the year!

Instead, let's talk about gifts. 

Not the kind you love to give.  The kind you love to give away.  You know, in those grab bags and games you play where everyone receives a gift from an anonymous giver.

One year I participated in a "Silly Santa" grab bag and received a pair of fuzzy animal slippers.  Envision this:  they were purple, with red eyes and long black claws, and—I'm not kidding—from front to back, they were two feet long.

Let's just say I found them...

Umm...

Spectacular! 

The slippers received a lot of attention at that particular Christmas party.  And you'd better believe they went right into the very next grab bag I could find.  (grin)  The winner absolutely loved them and wore them the rest of the night. 

Obviously, one person's "umm...spectacular" is another person's favorite gift.

To be fair, these games—and gifts—aren't all bad.  I'll admit I've been lucky, too.  At another party, I received a pair of holiday earrings that I still wear during the Christmas season every year.

Got any grab-bag stories, either for the best or worst gift ever?

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who will celebrate it later this week!

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille

http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille

August 2012

BRING ON THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Fun, family and eating. It can’t get any better than that. The only stress is hours of planning and cooking, but I like the scents and the warmth of a kitchen bubbling with tasty foods. I seem to wait all year for turkey and dressing with cranberry sauce. And pumpkin pie! We never have that any other time of the year and I always look forward to it. That day I don’t think about diet, fats or carbs. I just enjoy the food and it’s probably the only day of the year I do that. Bring on Thanksgiving!

We all have favorite foods. During the holidays my mom always made black cherry Jell-O salad. No one liked it but her. She made it because it was something she liked and she was the cook. I’m making a grocery list and I thought about her salad. I have her recipes in a box, those she had recipes for. I might dig it out and give it a try. I’m older and I might like it now. That’s one thing about getting older you’re willing to compromise and try new things. But the old staples will always be my favorite.

What are your favorite foods at Thanksgiving?

Don’t miss the Harts of the Rodeo series. The books make a great Christmas gift.

Happy Thanksgiving, all.

Linda

Tomas: Cowboy Homecoming - Dec ‘13
www.LindaWarren.net
https://www.facebook.com/authorlindawarren
https://twitter.com/texauthor

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

One of my favorite things about holidays is that every year, even though it’s a day steeped in tradition, a fresh new memory is made.

I live in Canada where we celebrate Thanksgiving in early October, so I thought I’d share something new I tried this year. First I should tell you that I love to set the dining room table for a special occasion so I tend to go all out with the china, crystal, candles, linens and fresh flowers.

This year I decided it might be fun to add placecards. I started by searching online for “vintage Thanksgiving graphics” and this one caught my eye.

I printed the image on white cardstock, trimmed it to size, glued it on a piece of gold paper, and added the names by hand. Then, at each place setting, I propped the card on tiny white pumpkins I found at a local farmers' market.

My pink-and-white china doesn’t lend itself to traditional fall colors, so the gold and white worked well with my color scheme. Best of all it was easy and inexpensive!

Now I’m planning my Christmas tablescape. I think moose placecards will be fun because I have a lot of moose-themed holiday ornaments. What do you think of this?

Or this?

I haven't decided how to display them, but I might use pinecones. If you can think of a better idea, please let me know!

For now I’m wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving filled with everyone and everything you love.

Happy holidays!

Until next time,
Lee
http://www.leemckenzie.com/
The Christmas Secret (available now!)
The Daddy Project (TBA)
Daddy Unexpectedly (TBA)

The thing about technology...

Technology is a beautiful thing. I love my computer, couldn't live without the word processing program I use to do my writing, and—as my husband would no doubt be very quick to tell you—I am...oh, let's say...just a teeny bit captivated by e-mail. LOL

When you're a writer on a deadline, technology can be a wonderful thing. Or not.

Recently, I was plugging away at the work-in-progress when a new program I'd installed on the computer began acting up and my screen froze—and proceeded to freeze every ten minutes.

As I continued to plug away, the program began to spontaneously combust and shut itself down every five minutes.

Then, even though I had set the backup feature to do its thing every two minutes, I discovered it had decided not to do its thing at all. So I lost countless pages of writing.

And this program's designed to help make the writing process go smoothly! Grr...

But wait, there's more.

A few days later, I was deep into the best part of drafting a story, the part where thoughts burst into your brain so quickly, you can barely type fast enough to get them down before you lose them, and...and... The keyboard died. (sigh)

The computer settled down, finally, and that seemed the end of the catastrophes.

Although, today—I suppose just to make sure I didn't get too complacent—this blog post refused to go live....

Yes, technology is a beautiful thing, isn't it? When it works. LOL

Well, despite all the recent frustrations, the good news is that being on deadline means I'm due to have a new book out. (smile) That's just one of the many things I have to be thankful for in this week before Thanksgiving.

Another of them is you.

Thanks so much for stopping by. And, if you celebrate it, I hope you have a wonderful turkey day filled with family and friends and good food.

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

Thankful

I have a lot to be thankful for this and every year. Most immediately--because I'm writing this the morning after Thanksgiving--I'm grateful for the wonderful food and hours of laughter shared with my friends yesterday. Here are some other things I'm thankful for:

1. Having a husband who is also my best friend. He supports, encourages and pushes me and somehow knows exactly when to offer just what I need.

2. Having a good sense of humor. Most of what life throws at me is funny, even if I don't think so at the time.

3. Having a good imagination. Even though this gets me into trouble at times (I hate to fly, because I can always come up with the worst-cast scenario for every bump, jostle and shimmy that plane makes), it has led me into writing and opened up worlds.

4. Having a great family. No matter what, they're there. How cool is that?

5. Having fabulous friends. We laugh, cry and sometimes even scream together. I couldn't get through life without them and they know it.

6. Having good health. So far, so good, but I don't take it for granted and I exercise every day. (Even though I hate it, lol.)

I'm sure there are a hundred other small things to be thankful for, among them would be caffeine, chocolate and wine.

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving

Yesterday, dear hubby and I braved five hours’ worth of heavy traffic in our trek north to Tallahassee for a weekend of family, food, and football. Because it’s Thanksgiving weekend in the United States. Officially established as a national holiday by President Lincoln in 1863, it’s a day when we remember the first thanksgiving of 1621. That year, after a brutal winter, the Pilgrims threw a feast to give thanks for their survival. Nearly four centuries later, the day before Thanksgiving has become the busiest travel day of the year as families across this country gather together.

Today, there will be parades to watch, turkeys to roast, the laughter of family and good friends. We’ll give thanks for those who are with us, say a prayer for those who are not, eat, catch up on one another’s lives. And, after the dishes are cleared and the leftovers are stored, someone will break out a guitar, another will reach for a fiddle. My sister will pick up her mountain dulcimer, and there will be music.

Happy Thanksgiving.

What I love most about the holidays is...

ETA: The winner is...

Virginia C

Congratulations, Virginia! Please email me via my website and send your mailing address!

***

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love everything about the holidays. I've also had a lot of wonderful things happen in the past month and have much to be thankful for, so it already feels a lot like Christmas. So I hope you'll help me celebrate by posting a comment here, because I have stuff to give away.

What exactly am I celebrating?

First there was the fabulous cover for The Wedding Bargain (January 2011).

Then I learned that my December 2007 American Romance, With This Ring, is being reissued next month, along with Michele Dunaway's Bachelor CEO, as a Mills & Boon Desire in Australia and New Zealand. Here's the cover.

This is my first foreign sale and I'm very excited!

And then RT Book Reviews gave The Wedding Bargain a fabulous 4-star review. Here's what they said:

"McKenzie's tale evolves with sincerity and sizzling passion as two wary individuals fall hard in this touching story."

Color me happy, happy, happy!

Okay, so enough about me.

What's in this for you?

Well, for starters I'm giving away a copy of Firefighter Daddy (July 2010).

The book will be personalized for the winner to keep, or simply autographed so it can be re-gifted. This is one of those times when I am totally cool with re-gifting.

The winner will also receive a festive, handmade polka dot garland. How fun is this?

I do have a thing for polka dots, but this was not made by me. It's from Love Monkey.

In addition to these two prizes, I reserve the right to throw in a few other goodies, at my discretion.

Now for the big question...what do you have to do for a chance to win?

Simply post a comment that finishes this sentence:

What I love most about the holidays is...

The name of one commenter will be drawn from my hat and posted here...at the end of THIS post...on Friday...the day after Thanksgiving. Check back then!

Happy reading! Happy Thanksgiving! Happy holidays!

Until next time,
Lee
LeeMcKenzie.com

The Best Thanksgivings

A week from today we’ll be gathering around the table with our family and friends, stuffing ourselves like the turkeys we’ll be enjoying. But there’s nothing like a holiday to bring back memories of the past.


Each year when I was a young girl, one of the aunts (my great aunts) or cousins would host Thanksgiving, then another would host Christmas. Those were the two times a year I could count on seeing all my cousins. Sometimes it was our turn, but I liked it best when we went to Aunt Dorothy's house. She and her husband lived on the farm in the big house near Clearwater where Uncle Milt had been born in 1900. For many of those years, it seemed to me that it took most of the day to drive there from our house in Wichita, although it's only about twenty-five miles.

My mom was the designated turkey roaster, and I would awaken on Thanksgiving morning surround by the aroma of turkey. I doubt we ever missed the Macy's Christmas Parade back then, even as we packed up the turkey and other delights to head down the road to our holiday destination. Everyone brought something to eat. Aunt Dorothy's chocolate pie was always in high demand. At her house, there was a huge, solid wood table where the grown ups all sat. There were always at least a dozen of them, laughing and talking as they passed around the food. Kids sat at card tables, sometimes on Sears catalogs to boost us to the right height.

When dinner was over and the women had cleaned up, while the men--mostly farmers--sat in the living room, talking throughout the football games, the decks of cards were pulled out of the drawer in the buffet and the rousing games of pitch began. The games lasted throughout most of the afternoon and into the late evening, long past dark, and I can still hear the sounds of their voices, whooping and hollering at each other over each hand dealt and each card played.

But it was later in the evening that became my favorite as we grew a little older. My three female cousins and I made the table talk. Some call it table knocking, others call it table rapping, but whatever it’s called, the use and purpose is the same. One person on each side, if possible, hands flat on the table top and concentrating so hard that the house should've rocked, we mentally lifted the table on one side/two legs. Questions asked were usually yes or no, or sometimes involved counting. One knock for yes, two knocks for no. The adults eventually grew quiet, ending their last game of pitch to watch us. Uncle Sterl (Aunt Lucy's husband) would hoot and boo at us, convinced that one of us had to be tilting the table. We weren't. "How can we?" we'd ask and show him that the table could rise several inches...with no legs touching the floor. He never did believe us. One of my cousins reminded me recently that one year the table talking was so rambunctious, one of the legs broke!

I miss those holidays, and especially the talking table. We kids grew up and had kids of our own, who now have kids of their own. We made new traditions. My great-aunts, great-uncles, parents, and even a few of the older cousins are gone, but those Thanksgiving and Christmas memories will always be my favorite. If, like Emily in Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, I could choose a time to revisit the past when I'm gone, it would be a holiday at Aunt Dorothy's house.

Have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving Dessert

My husband and I have moved around a lot throughout our twenty-four years of marriage and many times during the holidays we were without family. That's both good and bad. I enjoy being with family but it's a lot more stressful than just spending the day with your husband and kids. When it's just "us" for the holiday I don’t have to clean the house. I don't feel pressured to go all-out on the decorations. And for fun we've been known to have a "non-traditional" meal on occasion. If it were up to our kids we'd have pizza all the time, so they no longer get a vote.

The one thing I've done through the years whether we eat alone or with family is to prepare a special dessert. I love to watch the food network when I can and Paula Deen's show is one of my favorites. Because of Paula I now have a favorite Thanksgiving dessert. If you're looking for a twist on the traditional pumpkin pie you must try Paula's recipe for Pumpkin cheesecake. It's to- die-for. You can find more of Paula's recipes at www.foodnetwork.com

No matter who or how you celebrate Thanksgiving this month, I wish you and yours a blessed holiday.

Paula Deen's Pumpkin Cheesecake



Ingredients
Crust:
• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 stick melted salted butter

Filling:
• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
• 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press down flat into a 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

For filling:Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Enjoy!

Marin
Roughneck Cowboy (Feb 2011)
Rodeo Daddy (April 2011)
www.marinthomas.com

Thanks

My mother has a tradition at Thanksgiving. We all hold hands, the meal spread before us on the table, and tell everyone assembled what we’re thankful for this year. When I was a kid, this made me cringe. First, the tradition made sure everyone was staring at me—horrifying when I was a self-conscious teenager. Second, what the heck was I going to say? I would obsess for days ahead of time to come up with the perfect short, thoughtful phrase. Inevitably, I would flub it and a slight titter (or out-right guffaw from my brother) would circle the table. Eventually, as I matured, I learned to play to the crowd, keep it simple and the moments eased on by.

These days, it’s so easy to focus on the worst. Crisis after crisis hits the headlines and pops out of every mouth, TV, blog or tweet. The stories are frightening and devastating. Every-day life is full of small calamities, too: the car breaks down, the toilet backs up, the cat throws up on the new sofa, bad hair, really bad dust-bunnies. Sometimes it seems like there’s nothing to be grateful for. Then Thanksgiving arrives and I remember my mother’s tradition. I spend a few days thinking about all the great things in my life and I re-focus on what’s important: family, love, laughter.

This Thanksgiving, I won’t be sharing a meal with my family, but maybe that’s a good thing. The turkey would need a sweater to keep from catching a chill while I list all the things I’m thankful for this year. I have a wonderful husband. I have terrific friends, some of whom just helped us move. You have to be grateful for people who help you haul an eight-foot sofa up five flights of stairs. I get to write every day. I have romance readers who enjoy my stories. The list goes on and on.

Now I’m going to pass this wonderful tradition on to you. Join hands, everyone. What are you thankful for this year?

Thanksgiving Meal: Gravy Woes

The success of my Thanksgiving meal is a crap shoot every year. I freely admit--don’t even pretend to be--could care less that I'm not--a great cook. I know--only a person who would be just as happy if meals came in little white pills would think this way. I have no idea where I acquired this attitude about food. I truly enjoy eating out at my favorite restaurants, but spending time in the kitchen... Nope, I'd rather be writing or gardening or just about anything else but slaving over a stove (except maybe cleaning). The only part of the Thanksgiving meal I never hear a complaint about at my house are the mashed potatoes--probably because I use real butter and heavy whipping cream.

So every November I spend countless hours surfing the web for no-fail recipes and helpful hints to make my Thanksgiving meal palatable--not delectable--I'm realistic about my abilities in the kitchen. I don't know about anyone else but I can never make good gravy. Usually it's tasteless and either too starchy or too runny. This year I came across a hand-written note in one of my mother's cookbooks. She must have gotten the tips from a women's magazine years ago. I've since stuck the note to my refrigerator hoping that come Thanksgiving Day I'll be able to make decent gravy.

Note: Use a wire whisk to stir the gravy to avoid lumps. Cook the flour in the fat (before adding liquid). Don't be stingy with the salt.

If the gravy tastes burnt add a little peanut butter to mask the taste.
If the gravy is too thick add chicken broth to desired consistency.
If the gravy is too thin dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in 1/4 cup water and add while boiling and stirring. Repeat if necessary.
If gravy is too bland add a bit of sherry, salt and pepper or poultry seasoning to enhance the flavor in the natural juices.

Feel free to jump in here with your own helpful tips for making a great Thanksgiving meal--my family will be forever grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Marin
A Cowboy Christmas 2 stories in 1 book! (Dec 09)
http://www.marinthomas.com/

November Memories

The crunch of leaves, the bite of the wind, the layering of clothes. Did you just turn on your heater, or has it been on for a few weeks? Is it still pouring rain? Are there mums blooming where you are? Are you counting the days till Christmas?

What does November mean? Simply put, it marks the eleventh month on our calendar. But I'm wondering what the word brings to mind to different people.

To a writer, November might mean participating in NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month, where the goal is to write 50,000 words, and not edit, not doubt. Turn off that internal voice that tells you you're doing it wrong. Dedicate yourself to turning out pages.

To a child, the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving counts off the days till the next break from classes. It might mean raking leaves at his/her home or for neighbors. Or shoveling snow! A high schooler might look forward to the Fall Dance. Or not. LOL In some areas, it's Girl Scout cookie time! Yum.

As a mom with little children, November meant visiting Santa, shopping for Christmas presents, and getting an annual picture taken, printed and stuffed in Christmas cards to mail on December 1st. It meant making sure my kids were wearing sufficient clothing--does every child fight putting on a jacket? Wearing a coat? Taking an umbrella? Okay, okay. I know. There's not enough room in the locker at school. It's bulky/hot/stupid looking. Don't get me started on hats and gloves!

Early in the month, I start planning holiday meals. First I have to think of Thanksgiving--what to take to each house I go to on Thanksgiving, when to shop, when to cook. Can I make anything ahead of time or will it just get eaten?

Thanksgiving was usually the first holiday when my mom would make noodles. Egg noodles in chicken or turkey broth. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. I remember sheets of waxed paper with rounds of uncut noodle "dough" drying. Mom taught me to roll the rounds, cut into thin noodles and unroll them to finish drying. The strips always stuck together, and the challenge was to unroll each without tearing it. In my own small house, I've had my dining table filled with drying noodles, plus a card table, plus several TV trays. (Did you guess I like noodles?) My husband asked how much of each ingredient I needed and I had to calculate--for my family of noodle-lovers or for his? How many leftovers did we want? For how long? For how many people who'd want to take home some noodles?

I've never cared for turkey. For me, a plate of noodles on top of mashed potatoes (yes, I said on top of, not instead of), with some buttery corn is sufficient.

Until it's time for chocolate pie!

I try to be thankful for the blessings in my life every day, not just on Thanksgiving. So, now it's your turn--what does November mean to you?

Megan Kelly
megankellybooks.com

Welcome to Mid-America

Hello and Happy Thanksgiving! I apologize for this late post. Since returning from our trip to Branson, I've been mixed up about the dates. This month is cruising by so fast. It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is less than a week away.

This is the first year in about 37 that I'm not fixing Thanksgiving dinner. My father-in-law doesn't drive or ride in a car any more (he's 90) and we have no other close relatives nearby except our daughter and son-in-law. And he's going hunting!

This month has been a huge culture shock for me. First Branson, then hunting. I'm a baby boom city girl. (Okay, I'm a grandmother in the real world, but in my heart, I'm still 19.) Have you been to Branson? I expected the retirees and the crowds, but still, seeing is different than imagining. Did you know it was filled with buses? Huge, fancy tour buses? They are everywhere. They take up all the spaces in restaurants and line up for what seems like hours coming out of shows. I can't even imagine what it's like in the summer, when there are also many families and bigger crowds. I'm not a country western fan, and I told my husband I wasn't going to any shows that my parents would have liked (Lawrence Welk, Perry Como, etc.) so I was rather limited. I know that's narrow minded of me, but I am a little hard headed at times.

Then my son-in-law announces that he's leaving for a hunting trip on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. We were all shocked. Thanksgiving is a big holiday for us. Elk hunting is a big event for him. There doesn't seem to be a compromise. My question is this: Which numbskull Arizona beaurocrat schedules hunting season for Thanksgiving? That's crazy! The elk will be there next week! I know, I'm ranting, but really, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and pumkin pie compared to staying outside in the cold and eating canned food or whatever over a campfire?

So, this month I was confronted with mid-America in the form of Branson culture and hunting on the holidays, and I got the impression maybe I don't know as much about small town life as I thought. But then again, I'm writing fiction, so perhaps in MY small towns no man would ever consider going hunting on a major holiday. Or, if he did, he'd immediately rethink his options and remember his wonderful wife. And maybe his mother-in-law! And there are no long lines, bad buffets and lumbering buses in my small towns. Or maybe the buses block the roads, and the hunters can't get out of town .... Hmm. Worth considering for a future plot.

In any case, we'll be thinking of him, sitting outside in the cold, as we go to a very nice restaurant for Thanksgiving this year. The food won't be the same, but I may like it so much that we'll go next year, too. Have a very nice Thanksgiving with your family and friends, if you're so lucky to be with them this year. Eat a piece of pumpkin pie for me! Happy holidays,
Victoria