Applying the Good/Bad/Strange Ratings to. . . Thanksgiving

I hope it doesn't sound like gloating when I say it felt really good to be able to sleep in (minus elderly-feline-obligations) this morning.  It has felt like going non-stop for over two weeks, with work and home duties, so to "press the pause button" on life today was more of a necessity than a luxury.

So, how was Thanksgiving, you ask? (And by the way, thank you for asking!) 

The Good:

--"Calvin" (my almost-8-year-old nephew) loved the sweet potatoes I made.  I mean, he was even evangelizing to his siblings (all sweets-haters) about them.  "You gotta try one!"  Bless his heart.  It was the first time they were my responsibility to make and Wednesday night I thought they looked really awful as I baked them.  Calvin might be getting something extra in his birthday card next week.

--Niece and I hung out for a while thumbing through American Girl and Target toy catalogs together.  Very interesting what third-graders are into nowadays. Her second younger brother "Blarney" periodically demanded my attention to his Lego-building feats, quite proud of himself.

--My uncle's (girl)friend played the piano for us and did a spectacular rendition of "Linus and Lucy" and the other compositions from "A Charlie Brown Christmas."  She even can tell you what was going on in the program while said songs were playing (Snoopy ice skating, Lucy's "I don't eat December snow," etc.).

--It was a good meal.  My sister did this asparagus and mushroom side dish that was delicious, and of course my mom did wonderful stuff with turkey, chicken, stuffing (dairy-free for me).  Even better, My Maiden Aunt didn't say a negative word about what I wore/weighed/cooked that night. (I'll admit, I'd been a little apprehensive the days before, especially because the non-family guests my parents had invited, canceled, so there was no incentive for manners.)  

The Bad:

--Injuries.  Normally, I attend pilates class on Wednesdays, but there wasn't a class scheduled for this past Wednesday.  On top of that, I was owed a makeup class because I couldn't go earlier in the month as I had a school event.  So I went to the "boot camp" on Monday not knowing what to expect, except that we'd be doing exercises requiring me to wear sneakers.  
And then I fell during warm-up.  Stupid uneven floor (fake cheap wood laminate) and side-steps I didn't take my time on because I was trying to keep up with the class.  I banged my left knee first, and then my hip, knocking my low back completely out of line.

--Rain and bad traffic.  Even though I didn't have to travel for Thanksgiving, I had to sit in terrible traffic Wednesday night, on my way to the chiropractor in NJ.  I had planned to go first thing in the morning, but things were a mess, and there'd been a terrible accident.  It took a long time to get to NJ, especially because I was hurting, but I made it there and back.  I just had to ice my back and my shoulder in between checking on the sweet potatoes.  

--My nephew Bunny's whacked-out behavior.  Man, he was an unholy terror in the full throes of the Terrible Twos, further amplified, as I found out in a casual comment from my SIL to Older Brother, by the fact that he hadn't napped.  (We'd been led to believe they were late for dinner because they were waiting for him to wake up. Must be the default excuse.)  I know, he's just a little boy, but my gosh, the word "No" meant nothing to him even if it came right from his mama.  At least he didn't hurt himself, even if he came close a couple times (kitchen floor, cellar steps).

--I only got one day with Younger Sister.  Not even, actually.  She and YSF drove up early to my parents' Thanksgiving morning, but I had the worst time getting out the door before noon.  There was "cupcake suicide attempt" even as I was heading to the car--meaning, the cupcake carrier broke open and the cupcakes nearly hit the floor, saved only by the lid of the stupid (now trashed) container.  So I had to go back inside, take off my coat, and scrape/re-frost my formerly perfectly piped cupcakes.  But anyway, YS and YSF were only staying the night and left this morning to go visit our grandfather in north Jersey, and then they were going back to DC. It's just never enough time.  

The Strange:

--On Monday, when I was driving home from grocery-shopping after school, the guy in the very nice Mercedes in front of me decided to get out of his car while we were stopped at a red light.  To give me TWO MIDDLE FINGERS.  I don't know what he thought I'd done that offended him so--in fact, he had been driving practically on the edge of the road, under the speed limit, and I'd been trying hard not to get too close or follow him over that far right--so between that and the fact that he'd gotten out of his car on a 33-degree night in what looked like his boxer shorts just made me crack up laughing.
I guess if I'd given it more serious thought, I should be grateful he didn't do more than that dumb gesture.  Road rage isn't just an urban thing.  How sad to see the holiday spirit alive and well in the fancy 'burbs where my school resides.


And how was your Thanksgiving, if you celebrated?