For the Love of Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving.

I love that the weather gets colder and people seem friendlier. I love the commercials with perfectly set tables, perfectly groomed guests and perfectly cooked food.

I love that my family is nothing at all like that.

I love that every year we set a dinner time that no one adheres to. I love that by the end of the night my Uncle B will have taken out his teeth and put them in his pocket. I love that some years he doesn't bother to wear them at all. I love that every year during the blessing my Uncle C asks us to go around the table and state what we are thankful for. I love that every year we refuse.

I love that my Uncle G gets a kick out of lifting up his shirt to show us his overstuffed "yellow belly". I love that every year we watch the lighting of the Macy's tree together. And that every year there is a battle over which channel airs the program. "It's channel 2" "No! It's channel 5!" I love that every year the tree gets more crooked. I love that for weeks after the holiday we will eat turkey prepared in every conceiveable variation. Turkey sandwiches, turkey over rice, turkey hash, turkey soup, turkey salad...
I love that we draw names for Christmas gifts every year.

And that every year someone's name nearly gets left out.

Perfection.

Landing Zone

My sister's getting married. And for the first time in 29 years, she will belong to someone other than me.


Parents don't count. They just feed, shelter and clothe. They don't look alike, they don't share rooms and clothes and Barbies. They don't fight over who gets to sit in the front seat and who gets to go last at bathtime. They don't pull hair, poke eyes, pinch, or step on. They don't memorize movie lines, cartoon theme songs and commercial jingles. They don't tell you you're adopted or that sitting perfectly still in the backseat keeps the car from tipping over.

They don't know the song that's playing in your head before you sing it.

Parents prepare you to fly, siblings give you a place to land.

Congratulations to my sister. I'm the 3rd happiest person in the world tonight.

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

It's late. Or early. Mariah Carey's Christmas album is blasting through my earbuds, the radio is playing Christmas carols so the cat won't feel left out and I'm playing air percussion between sentences.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Inside Out is a tad more personal but no less Kilah. Encouraged by Lee. Repeatedly. The Taurus in me was resistant but she has yet to have a bad idea. And so the blog begins.

Well, sort of. This is just the intro. I'll be writing frequently. The everyday craziness, normalcy, mishaps, joys, pains... Life. With as much honesty as I can muster.

Here you'll get to see it all from the inside out.

So Happy Thanksgiving all. I'll be spending the day with my great family. Enjoying the insanity, wishing I was anywhere but and never wanting to leave.

We'll see what wonderful ridiculousness the day brings.

Last year, we dropped the turkey.