Thanks for giving

and all that happy crappy
but really, Thanksgiving at my mom's house yesterday was surprisingly painless and far less dysfunctional than usual. I got there early enough that my mom was surprised by my punctuality. I got up that morning at 7:30 am, just so I could be there before noon and bring a ray of sunshine into my mom's existence (or at least not annoy her by being what she considers late). My niece was there and for those of you who read my blog you may remember last year when all the crap hit the fan with her, I was supposed to have her come live with me, she ran away after I went thru a bunch of crap to get permission to have her come, went to court, set up her school, etc. I hadn't seen her since then except for once and didn't speak to her that time and she had never apologized to me. So I walked in to find her sitting at the kitchen table and she didn't say anything to me, but then again she's a little afraid of me and probably didn't know if I would be talking to her. So I said hello, she did too and then I talked to my mom for a while. But by the end of the day I had spoken to her a bit more, she finally apologized for her actions (I think my mother suggested she do so which sort of negates it, but whatever). My sister got along with everyone, that was nice, and my weird ass drunk uncle didn't get too drunk and sniff my hair or say anything to piss me off. My mom was in a good mood all day, didn't let any small stuff make her all crazy. All in all it was one of the nicest, most mellow family holiday celebrations in a long time. I thought for sure I'd have to leave halfway thru the day but I stayed from 11-8:30 pm. Talked to my mom today and told her what a nice day it was, she thought so too. After I left there I went to my friend Natalie's, she was at her mom's house and they are all so nice, I love her family. Not that they aren't demented like every other family but they are always so welcoming. And the food there is the bomb, I had pumpkin flan, yummy, and pecan sweet potato pie, also yummy and her brother sells wine so there's always a nice red to try. I intended to stay for about an hour but somehow when I left it was 12:15 am. So I'm flying home down the 101, luckily really no cops out and I got home in 2 hours, 10 minutes (it's 160 miles), went to bed at 2:45 and came into work today at 11. I am very tired and can't wait for the end of the day.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that life isn't too hectic or crazy as we head into the end of the year.