What a fabulous weekend I had. Sunday morning I got up and caught a plane out to Midland, TX and then drove about 45 minutes to Big Spring for a Saint Andrews’ celebration at a friend’s church. The big draw for me was the presence of Randy Wothke, EJ Jones, and Richard Kean at the celebration. This is the second year that I’ve gone to Big Spring for the celebration. It’s nice to be able to have a little time with them without huge crowds, and in a setting other than faire, a festival, or a pub. Since I woke up at 4:21 Sunday morning and didn’t get back to bed until around 11:30, it was a very long day for me, and the alarm going off at 5 Monday morning so I could catch my 7:30 flight back to Dallas did not make for a restful night, that’s for sure! Tomorrow I head for a tiny little town in west TX to spend Thanksgiving with Darla, Rick and the boys. I have the car packed, save for the ice chest, which I won’t pack until in the morning, when I’ll fill it with the stuff I’ve prepared for us to eat over the next few days. I try to ensure that I don’t create any extra work or expense for them while I am there, so I’ve pre-cooked a couple of turkey breasts and several turkey legs (our traditional holiday eats, because it’s easier not to have to deal with the whole turkey and carcass), a couple of pans of potato casserole, a couple of meat loaves, a big batch of soup, and another casserole, that are all frozen and ready to be heated. It is probably more than we will eat while I am there, but whatever is left can stay in the freezer and will be there sometime when Darla comes home from a 15 hour day at work and doesn’t want to think about dinner. It’s a 6 hour drive from southwest Fort Worth, according to the mapping programs, so from work it’s about 7 hours. The good news is, I’m stopping for lunch in FW, so I can spend a few minutes with a special someone before we can't see each other for a week. That will give me a short break before I am back on the road for awhile. The only drawback to the weekend is that Darla’s sister and niece are coming out as well. Nobody invited them, they just decided that they were coming. We do ok, with small doses of them, but prefer those doses to be less than 24 hours. L is just an annoying, know-it-all, pushy, bossy, I-have-class-but-none-of-you-even-know-what-it-is, well, BITCH. K, the niece, is about 7 or 8, I think, and VERY bright, however she’s a spoiled heathen brat. She LOVES to start shit with Nathan and when he tries to defend himself, she cries that he started it or hurt her. She truly believes that the sun rises and sets on her, and her mother lets her do pretty much whatever the hell she wants to do. She is allergic to more things than I can begin to remember or name, including dogs (there are 2 that live INSIDE Darla’s house). They tend to come with 2 air purifiers just for the tiny room she sleeps in, food that nobody is allowed to touch because it’s prepared specifically with her allergies in mind, and in general, a “we are the princesses, you will bow to us and let us have our way” attitude. Now, last week, L called Darla and said “I have a 12 lb turkey that I’m bringing.” Darla told her that we don’t cook a whole turkey, we do the boneless, skinless breasts and a couple of legs for Rick & Nathan, and that I have that covered already, as well as the potato casserole and a few other things. Now, they were there for Christmas last year, so L is experienced with the potato casserole, and knows what it is, and ate plenty of it herself, thankyouverymuch. Well, she called Darla yesterday and announced that not only is she bringing the fucking turkey, she’s bringing mashed potatos, stuffing and god knows what else. HELLO???!!!! What part of WE DON’T DO A WHOLE TURKEY was she not clear on? What part of potato casserole was she not clear on???? The good news is that Darla & Rick have 2 deep freezers, in addition to the freezer that’s on top of the fridge, so there’s plenty of space to put the leftovers. It is my plan to stay pretty well pickled as long as she’s around, because I deal much better with her when I’m drunk and just don’t give a damn! Yep, there’s 2 boxes of booze in the car, and if things were different, I would be there before she was and could have a good buzz going before she arrives, but alas, I can’t leave until 10, and she’ll be long gone by then, I’m sure, so I’ll just have to take a good strong shot of something when I pull up in the driveway!