We had 9 people, and the full spread included a butternut squash galette, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, a cheesy potato dish, roasted Brussels sprouts, kale salad, rolls, a cheese plate, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and a raisin custard pie. Of which Jane ate the rolls and the pumpkin pie.

I'm impressed they let you have the Black Friday deals!

It's ridiculous. Our big sale day is supposed to be Boxing Day. And the sales go all week, Black Friday Preview, Black Friday Sneak Peek, Black Friday Weekend.

Tomorrow, I'll atone for my big store shopping by going to a craft show.

My brother, who spent a good portion of his childhood eating only hamburgers and frozen pizza, cooked a turkey today. I didn't believe it until he sent me a picture. I don't know what to believe anymore.

And the sales go all week, Black Friday Preview, Black Friday Sneak Peek, Black Friday Weekend.

Yeah, all of that is ridiculous now. "Black Friday" deals last week? Yeah, no.

I just finished putting the last of the leftovers in containers in the fridge. And rinsed ALL the dishes, bowls, pans, and so forth. The tables still have random glasses and stuff on them, but nothing that will attract critters. Yikes. Tired now with glass of wine at hand.

Besides the fun of seeing beloved family and eating great food it was cool letting my relatives test drive my car. Unfortunately my #1 son blew up at my 5 year old nephew because he kept throwing a basketball at him out on the court. He hit him the first time and son told him not to do that, which nephew of course took as the start of a new fun game. Son is normally great with kids, but he just starting yelling at him, totally out of emotional control. I wasn't there, which probably would have defused it quicker. Anyway his dad and aunt sent him away and he came inside and called a friend to give him a ride. He never told me about the issue.

So, no political arguments or anything like that, but still the asshole relative, who is my son. Sigh.

But with that exception the entire day went very well.

Sometimes being nosy yet polite is hard! My cousin's cousin has brought a friend to Thanksgiving for the last few years. I think he's from New Jersey, so not an insurmountable trip for the holiday. I also think they are just friends (cousin is also a man). Why is he with us? Bad family? Not actually just friends? THERE IS NO GOOD WAY TO ASK.

Ha, I had a friend who always came to our family holiday meals every year before she moved to Vegas this year. Mostly because she had a horrible family, and didn't cook herself. I invited her the first year because she had just moved to town and her son was in 2nd grade with mine, and it just became a tradition. She's Jewish so we would go to her house for her holiday meals too.

I don't even know what he does for a living, so maybe he just has to work tomorrow. I'm literally just nosy.

You'll have to strike up a conversation with him next time. Talk about work, ask him about his. Google stalk him!

Yeah, I'll work my way over next time!