At this rate...

...I should be counted on to contribute about twice a year.

So it's Black Friday, and I'm happy to say that I never left the house. I went out and tried to shop once on Black Friday....once. Even the promise of a $300 laptop wasn't enough to get me out. My wife, her sister, and their mother braved the crowds, but I stayed home with my son, which rocked. He's 18 months now, and this will be the first Christmas where he might have an inkling of what's going on. Last year he was a bit overwhelmed. It was his first Christmas, and while all of the gifts were cool (he made out like a freakin' bandit), the attention lavished on him got to be a bit much. This year he still may be too young to grasp the concept of Santa, but I still can't wait to see his eyes on the morning of Dec. 25.
Thanksgiving is also a holiday he hasn't quite gotten the hang of yet. At yesterday's feast my son, who is normally a voracious eater, consumed only a small serving of rice. As it turned out later he was feeling a bit under the weather, so his lack of appetite was justified.
We had dinner at my sister-in-law's, and invited my father and his wife to join in, since they live alone and had not made plans. My father's wife is a bit eccentric. No, check that - the woman is a freakin' loon. In addition to drinking in front of my dad, a recovering alcoholic, this woman demands to be the center of attention at all times. You can imagine how an event such as the birth of a grandson put a crimp in her "me, me, me" style. When we talk about the kid with my dad, she actually sits and pouts.
Anyhow, when my dad and this lady arrived at my sister-in-law's, she emerged from the car wearing a hat that (I swear I'm not making this up) looked as if someone had perched a fully cooked Thanksgiving turkey on her head. She proudly walked into the house sporting the headdress, much to the silent amazement of my sister-in-law, her husband, their kids, and her husband's parents. My sister-in-law's mother-in-law had a look on her face that was beyond priceless. This woman has led a pretty sheltered home life, and I'm thinking that a woman with a turkey on her head was quite possibly the most wacky sight this woman had ever seen. I swear I thought I heard the audible sound of the woman's mind being blown. I unfortunately do not have a photo of my father's wife with the turkey hat on, but a little later on in the evening my son's curiosity got the better of him:



Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!