I hope everyone had as wonderful of a Thanksgiving as I did. My holiday adventure began on Tuesday. I was NOT feeling very well, was very tired and missing my purse, wallet, keys, iPod and half of my brain apparently. Thankfully angels surrounded the faithful XTerra and we made it safely to North Carolina to celebrate Turkey Day with my family. My parents recently moved into their dream home, a gargantuan log cabin perched high above the Pisgah National Forest. No joke. Here’s the view from my bedroom window. Be jealous.

Thanksgiving began on Wednesday. My mother cooked ALL day for dinner to be gobbled up in just 15 minutes. There was a rant at the table over cell phones and texting that escalated into a wrestling match and my dad throwing my Treo across the living room at the Christmas tree. Thankfully, no cell phones were harmed in the making of this blog. We ended the evening with our ritual game of Hand and Foot, an ultra long card game that you must use 19 decks of cards to play. Dad suggested we play strip poker which is still causing me indigestion. Cough… Cough….

The actual day of Thanksgiving couldn’t have been more perfect. Just after noon, I cracked open Twilight, uncorked a bottle of vino and climbed into the hot tub with my mom and sister. Nothing like a spectacular mountain view, a wine buzz and fantasies of vampires to feel all thankful inside!

On a more serious note, I didn’t have much of a choice but to zone out yesterday. I woke up feeling more alone than I have in many months. It’s been six months almost to the day of Robert’s death and there was no way that I was going to make it through the day without feeling the sting of him not being here. We all felt it. When we went around the family circle naming off the things we were thankful for, my kids chimed in at the same time and said “My Dad” as if on cue. Mom even omitted the making of a household staple, hash brown casserole, because it was my husband’s favorite. No joke, he ate the WHOLE casserole last Christmas. Thanksgiving will never be the same without him, so why celebrate it the same? I spent hours in the hot tub. Robert understands. J

In less than ten hours I finished Twilight and began my search for a copy of the sequel. Not a bad book at all, might I add.

Today, my best friends in all of Nashville are headed this way and I’m sure many more adventures will be had before we journey home on Sunday. I don’t really have anything overly important to say, just wanted you to know that I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Please drop me a line, I’d love to hear all about it!

Much love…. eL.