I'm finishing up a two-week turn in St. Louis and will be taking most of Thanksgiving week off. In December, I have a couple of several-day trips scheduled, but nothing excessive. That's a good thing, because I haven't given Christmas preparation much of a thought. (This may not be a bad thing to some of you, but Mama-Teresa considered Thanksgiving the point at which the cards should be already addressed and the shopping all over but for the last-minute details. This is a tough act which I've never been much good at following. Then again, her approach to Christmas decorations was sometimes disparaged by us as being too faithful to the Early Pizzeria style of decor. I have never followed that act, either.)
However, the important parts of the holidays are in place -- and those are the parts that have to do with the people. My family will gather at my brother's in Grand Rapids for the traditional Thanksgiving Day feast. Christmas has taken a little more careful choreographing, but it looks like the kids and I will go to a church service or two early in the evening on Christmas Eve and have our family celebration together that night. (Our traditional meal is beef fondue, which creates its own fun all by itself.) The next day, all offspring are hopping in a car to go see the Canadian relatives for Christmas dinner and festivities. I will be on a flight to Boston to do the same at a friend's family home there.
Okay, now, what did I say I'd bring to Thanksgiving dinner . . . ?
