Thanksgiving 2010

Last Thanksgiving I woke up with the flu.  This Thanksgiving started out in a very similar manner, although luckily it didn’t leave me bedridden for a week like last year.

I woke up with a headache, which happens when I sleep in a funny position – usually because there’s a small person sleeping next to me.  We were headed to my brother & sister-in-law’s in Maine, so I got up early to whip up the dessert I had promised to bring and procrastinated on making.  By 7:30 a.m. the kids were already fighting over what movie they were going to watch on the way to Maine, and that continued for the next 3 hours.  Add in the multiple times I asked them to do each task (get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, pick up crap), and my headache turned into a whopper.

At 10:15 the kids were in the car and we were packing up the last few things, and they started physically beating each other, crying, screeching, and whining.  What about?  About which F-ing movie they were going to watch!  AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

By then  my head was absolutely KILLING me, but we got in the car anyway.  I put in my earplugs and tried to will the headache away, but it got worse and I started feeling nauseous – it had become a migraine.  I was really in a bad way but nobody in the car was taking me seriously until I puked into a zip-lock bag.  While I was yakking, it vaguely registered that Aliya was alarmed, Norah was covering her ears, and Adlani was yelling, “YEAH!  I TRANSFORMED INTO ANOTHER POKEMON!” while playing Nintendo DS.

We stopped at a rest area and I staggered inside, and then we continued on our merry way.  I dozed off and woke up ready for more action – luckily there was an empty cracker box and a leaky bag handy.  Then more dozing and finally we arrived at Josh & Rachael’s, where I stayed in the (cold) car and slept the migraine away until it was time to eat. Amazingly, I felt almost back to normal when Aliya woke me up – I think I had slept for an hour and a half or so.

From then on, it was a great day.  The food was unbelievable, the baby was adorable, and the kids didn’t break anything.  I’m sure it was a loud and hectic afternoon for our hosts and Grandma Katie and Papa John, but I had a lovely time.  The kids passed out almost as soon as we got in the car to come home, and they successfully transferred to bed without getting a second wind.

Ben is headed out early tomorrow morning for a few Black Friday deals…we drove through Shoppers World to see what the lines were like, and at 9 p.m. there were people lined up at Best Buy and Toys-R-Us, including a woman with a very unhappy baby.  I can’t imagine what deal would be good enough for me to sit on the freezing cold sidewalk with my screaming 1-year-old, but to each his (her) own.

Here are some photos from today…please note that the baby did not actually ingest any beer, even though she really wanted to.  I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!