I'm Thankful...

...for the people who love me.  I don't always feel loveable.  Unfortunately, on my trip to the Atlantic coast, I wound up feeling not only unloved, but reviled.  It's a long story, and if I were still hurt and angry, I could share the three page list of my shortcomings I made on the flight home.  It was therapeutic.  And I'm healing - grateful for my poor memory.  Which reminds me of my favorite quote:  One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory.  - Rita Mae Brown

I cut my trip short.  Spent Thanksgiving night in a Marriott.  It was comfy, quiet, and peaceful.  In walking distance of the Shoney's.  I had the holiday buffet.  I was the youngest diner by a good 25 years.  I sat in my booth, gorged myself on surprisingly good turkey and dressing (I think they call it dressing there,) and worked crossword puzzles.  I ordered hot fudge cake for dessert - major calorie splurge.  Remember that?

I hoofed it back to the hotel, past the ToysRUs with a quarter mile, single file population of Black Friday Desperados.  I have a feeling the emergency room was flush with frostbite victims the next day.  Hopefully, they'd been fitted with prostheses beforehand (pardon the pun.)

Got to my room, ran a hot bath, fell asleep and consequently bathed my crossword puzzle book, too.  Woke up.  Dried off.  Laid puzzle pages on A/C fan.  Found remote control and turned off lights.

Spent a good 20 minutes trying to figure out why I couldn't get anything besides an error message on the TV.  Gave up and called the front desk.  It turned out that the cable was out and Antietam Cable was closed for the holiday.  It was no small consolation that I knew I could negotiate a discount on my room in the morning (it turned out to be $15 - $17.18 with tax.)

Strangely, after my Shoney's food orgy, I was hungry.  I went to the bogus bogeda and bought an exhorbitantly expensive bag of Cheez-Nips.  Fortunately, wireless internet was free (and worked), so I found comfort in I Heart Radio (crazy talk radio - the surefire solution for sleeplessness) on my Kindle Fire.  And fell asleep without brushing my teeth.  Not so smart after suffering, seven short days earlier, a root canal and filling replacement.

I woke up just in time for free breakfast.  A lovely angel of mercy (the waffle lady) gave me good advice about the best way to get home.  There's a long, long story about that, but it'll have to wait for another day.  Stay tuned - it involves a huge red Ford F-250 and a black, boozing, Baptist, drug-seeking preacher lady from Nashville.  I couldn't make this stuff up.  How many times have I said that?

Another teaser.  I fell through the ceiling last night.  While retrieving Christmas decorations from the attic.  I wound up with a cheap substitute of a multicolored, icicle lighted tomato cage (I blame Southern Living) in the living room.  Lucy has eaten every bulb below the second tier.  Thank god for complete circuits.  And circuit breakers.

Better run.  I've been invited to a Christmas Tree Decorating Pary.  I know.  Glutton for Punishment.  But I'll be appreciated, fed and hydrated.  And I'll be in close proximity of a steaming hot tub, my sweet surrogate daughter, and my house.  It's so sweet to be able to safely stagger home...