Holiday

Thanksgiving was surprisingly normal. An 800+ mile drive there in surprisingly good weather, with two four year asking continuously "when will we be at the ho-tel?" or "when will we be at Grandpa's?" was balanced with the 800+ mile drive back in crappy weather with two four year olds asking "when will we be home?" only sporadically.

In between, we had the usual tension between siblings. The fight between Dr. H's brother and sister had a familiar refrain, with only slight changes in verse. She was critical of how he was running his life (in this case how he is parenting his stepdaughters); he was critical about her apparent resentment of their father's partner. He was critical of her criticism; she accused him of avoiding interacting and not meeting her gaze. The sister's husband and Dr. H played their usual roles, allowing each to vent, being supportive, trying not to take sides.

Accidentally trapped in the room next to a particularly long skirmish, Dr. H and I discussed whether we should leave and walk briefly into the fray to hand the sister's husband a beer or if we should simply stay put and have really loud sex. Sadly, we did neither of those things.

There's always next year.