In exactly one week, I will be venturing home for the first of the major holidays. It'll only be for a week and I won't be taking my daughter with me, but I'm still very much looking forward to it. Thanksgiving is about the only holiday that just about everyone in my family goes home for. In fact, this time of year provides some of the better material for this blog and stories to tell friends in general. There was last year's great turkey debacle, followed by the construction of the play kitchen from hell. And, I'm not sure if this one made it to my blog or not, one of my favorite conversations ever took place last year a few days before Turkey Day. When most of the fam, young and old, were watching an episode of 'Law & Order' and my uncle made a crack about handcuffs and whether or not they had a latch on the side or if there's a key (a dig at my alleged bedroom activities). Without missing a beat my female cousin answered the question in a very knowledgeable way, which mortified my uncle who raised her but made the rest of us laugh hysterically. Then we all launched into a conversation about bondage. So...yeah, not your traditional family, nor Thanksgiving. But it's fantastic. I love these people and the trouble than ensues when we're all in one place.
But this year I'm not really sure what to expect from the festivities. Same characters, but the plot has totally changed from a year ago at this time. I mean, do we talk about my brother's issues or do we ignore all that and move on? Does anybody say anything about my cousin's ex-girlfriend getting engaged to her boy toy of thirty seconds, five minutes after she broke up with my cousin? Is it rude to bring up my other cousin's decision to freeze her eggs before we have dessert? Since our great grandma is no longer around to ask, should someone else ask yet another cousin if he's 'still one of the gays'? These are the questions I go into the holiday with. I think we're all pretty much done with my brother's drama. Thankful that he's even around to celebrate another holiday but still pissed at what he's put his wife and kids through. So I guess it's a season of uncertainty for my fam. And that makes me a little uneasy. But I'm gonna go out to see everyone anyway and just try and enjoy the ride. And I'm definitely not building anymore play kitchens.
