One word: family. That's why I'm not speaking to hardly anyone in my extended family, so I can enjoy my life without feeling guilt-ridden and miserable. A very drastic action to take, and not necessarily recommended, but when people don't listen to you when you say you're being hurt, what can you do?

Hi Barb,

Yep...bingo! Family...that's the issue.

The thing is, I love my immediate family and, even though they infuriate me sometimes, I am always there for them and they are always there for me. It's just that I never know how things are going to be. Will it be pleasant, or will there be some kind of drama going on?

We have been through some hard times and there aren't many of us left. My Dad and my brother are dead. Their absence is undeniably felt during every holiday. So what remains of my family has to stick together.

All I can do is hope that things are relatively peaceful.

Here's wishing both o' you lovely Lutheran ladies a Happy Thanksgiving with minimal stress. My wife always undergoes a lot of stress for the holidays due to the family factor, too. My side of the family drinks a lot more, so we're "relaxed on impact" w/ the holidays as it were.

OK - well, most people in my fam drink a moderate amount. May be some projection here....

But I try to do my part. This year I bought a pile of pumpkin pies at Walmart and said "Relax, baby, Uncle Wally's did the cooking." Probably shipped 'em from Thailand -- Thai-pies?

G-night

Thank you, Pauli...I wish you a very happy Thanksgiving as well. :-) I made my candied yams this evening and they turned out great. We ordered a fried turkey from Popeyes this year. (We've gotten them before -- they're really good.) Hopefully everything will turn out all right.

My brother-in-law would be furious if we had alcoholic beverages at a family function. He was crabby enough that we had drinks at my mother's 70th birthday party. Not that that stopped anybody else from drinking and having a good time. Too bad, a drink would probably mellow my bil good....

Hi Barb,

We don't really drink at family functions either. My sister and I might have a glass or two of champagne at Christmas or New Years, but that's it. My Mom is funny about alcohol at family functions because my Dad struggled with alcoholism the last twenty years of his life and it sort of ran in his side of the family. Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with alcohol as long as it's in moderation. I'm not really a drinker, though.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The food was great (my sister cooked a lot of the dishes and they were really good) and my sister and I watched the MST3K episode with Space Mutiny, which is hilarious. Then I took a long nap. ;-) I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, too. :-)