the rest of the world is gearing up, or unwinding, for a big thanksgiving tomorrow, but we've already had ours. last night we had our kids and grandkids over, an unruly mob, and had a huge thanksgiving party. there were about twenty, i think, counting my daughter's boyfriend and his younger brother, and my son-in-law's mother, and her dog, which she keeps with her at all times. our dogs were very interested in her dog - hers was a girl dog, actually smaller than my little feather, a yappy young feller who falls in love with every dog he meets. so that was one of the dramas. feather was trying to get to know this annabelle, and she was a little bit shy.

one son came down from chicago; another had flown in from new mexico and is still here. the two daughters live in brimfield, only twenty miles away, and their five girls were all here, as were our three children. lots of turkey, lots of other food, lots of noise. in general i liked it.

now of course we still have the warm glow of too much turkey, the tendency to want to nap and take it easy, a quiet kind of sloth. the dog is parked on my lap, having given up on annabelle. the weather is warmer, mild, nice outside, so really i should be giving dogs walks again, but when sloth overtakes me, mostly what i do is reading other indie books to help on my own averages - i read theirs, they read mine, sometimes reviews are involved, and it all works out pretty well. i've done a lot of reading, learned a lot, and come out with much better ratings.

my latest project, a kindle vella project, is slowly but surely turning into a novel. i have the impulse to document my eighteen years or part of it at southern illinois, at the same time i want to tell a gripping story and just have a good time writing a book. there's lots to put in there! lots happened. i have the same impulse to get it all in writing, make people know what it was like. quick before the memories start to escape me.

with a son still here, i feel the need to talk to him. but, he lived with us for years, and i rarely talked to him. he's not so much anti-social, as just easily entertained personally, without any interaction whatsoever. he does fine. i'm sure he's not mad at me for ignoring him. it's a calm afternoon, and with the weather being somewhat pleasant, i feel no need to change anything.

there will be more, though, not only tonight but also tomorrow. one never gets through the holidays without plenty of family, and i kind of like that; i get along well with the ones i have around, and they are at least comfortable coming here, soaking in the ambiance of grandma & grandpa's house. in that regard i'm lucky. i have seen lots of different arrangements, and this really is one of the best.