Well, this Thursday is the Big Day . . . Thanksgiving plans this year are a little chaotic. We're planning to go down to Y'town tomorrow after I get done teaching; then on Thursday, I'm supposed to go over to The House and start the turkey. Kathy and Rich and Ben will arrive around 2:00; we're hoping to get the turkey on the table by about 3:00.

The Ann Arbor Baumans will come home Thursday night, and the Lansing contingent will stay until Friday. At least that's the current plan . . .

I'm feeling stressed. I don't mind cooking the turkey (and associated starches) but I'll be out of my own kitchen, without my own implements and stuff . . . and in a completely strange kitchen: someone else's kitchen, to boot. (If you don't cook I'm sure that makes no sense.) Traditionally, I don't begin to have fun on Thanksgiving until after we eat; until then I just rush around like a chicken with my head cut off. And this year, there will be proportionately very little after-dinner time.

On the bright side, my father-in-law seems to be really looking forward to the holiday. This makes me very happy; I think he really started liking the holiday when we started holding it at our house (about 20 years ago). I know I've always enjoyed Thanksgiving, and it's kinda magical to think that it has become a tradition that the whole family likes . . . Somehow, I feel responsible. It feels nice to think I managed to create something like that! (Well, a person can't create things like this all alone; I don't mean that; but Thanksgiving has always been My Thing, so it's neat to think that it's a shared thing . . . )

Ah, well, better get ready for class . . .