And like that, Thanksgiving happened

So here we are, Tuesday after Thanksgiving. December already. Having a hard time wrapping my head around this. I'm out of sorts a little, because Thanksgiving and Hanukkah happened at the same time instead of Hanukkah happening closer to Christmas. I feel my Away in a Manger has been robbed of its Baruch ata Adonai, eloheinu melech a o'lam as it were.

It is so weird.

We spent Thanksgiving with my parents, and it was a really nice time. Mom ordered everything out from Stop n Shop, which was very unlike her, but I guess I should get used to her wanting to scale back the hosting and entertaining portion of things since they are getting on. My dad's health issues this past year have put a toll on them, and it was great to be hosted. My dad didn't feel like coming up here, and they had an offer to go to my great uncle's down the Cape, but they passed on it because even though it is just 10 miles from their house, my dad just felt it was too much.

We had a lovely visit. Some great laughs. I microwaved all the side dishes. I incorrectly loaded the dishwasher and my mom reloaded it when she thought I was not looking.

I wonder where we will be this time next year and I shudder to think.

So, rather than think about that, we went to the New England Aquarium on Saturday. You may remember I gave a woman 13 bucks for her groceries, and she gave me four passes to the Aquarium. I had wanted to go the weekend before my birthday, but it didn't work out. Mostly because I slept that Saturday until 10:30am.

But beside that.

The passes expired on the 30th, which was this Saturday and damnit, the hell I was gonna lose out on that 13 dollars worth of nice that I gave out! That lady gave me passes to the Aquarium and even if I had to take three strangers I was gonna go to the freaking Aquarium.

On Thanksgiving when I told Geoff that's what we were gonna do he said "The Aquarium is for little kids and slow adults." It took me a minute or five to realize he was insulting my enthusiasm for the institution, and we all had one of those good laughs but I told myself that he'd enjoy himself. Oh yes. He would.

Shakes fist softly at The Boy.

We all were up and out the door, ready to go at like 11 am which is pretty damn good for the four of us. I made bacon and omelets for everyone. It was a great way to start the day!

The passes were accepted (to be honest, in the back of my mind I was scared that they wouldn't be, but all went well) and we made our way in. The seals outside were adorable as always. And the trek up around the giant central tank was lovely. It was nice to watch all the people silhouetted against the gorgeous blue of the tank.

And most notably, my son.

Who is the little kid or slow adult now, eh?

Before I left I mentioned on FB that we were headed that way and our "son" Byron's girlfriend squeed with delight that they were also headed there.

For those who remember, Byron was in "Hamlet" with Jess (Byron, Jess and Nick were the kids from her HS who did Hamlet that year and I think it was a wonderful experience for the three of them together... I know it was for me, and I'll never forget the time I spent with them being Mamma G to that cast).

We were there for quite a while and I was worried that we wouldn't connect with B and his girlfriend M but they found us. It was a joyous reunion next to the penguins.

Several extra visits to the Skate and Shark petting tank later and we were on our way home.

I don't think we'd been to the Aquarium since Geoff was in diapers, so this was a lot of fun.

For thankfulness, Thanksgiving time a lot of people talk about what they are thankful for. Some folks did 30 days of Thankfulness on their blogs or on their FB statuses.

I didn't participate in that. I've had a shit year. I recognize and embrace that. But even in the middle of a year that is "all a lot of oysters but no pearls," I need to pause and stop and be thankful.

So.

I'm thankful that my kids have some friends, and that we have time continued with my dad after the shenanigans of health he's perpetuated on us over the past several months. I'm thankful that I got called out of nowhere to this temporary gig at the beginning of October that is running through at least the end of January and hopefully will turn into a real job. I'm so thankful for my Girl C for her kindness to me and for someone to always talk to and walk with when I have the time. I'm thankful for my dear friend Beth who now is my across the street neighbor, and gives me free chicken eggs. I'm thankful for my church, even with the flaws of the people within. I'm thankful for Guster. No seriously, I am. I think their music gets me through so very much.

And I am thankful for Jellyfish. Because they are bad ass ...