Almost done with the novel.

I planned to come home from up north after having Thanksgiving with the in-laws on Friday (which changed to Saturday, probably because I was Rice hungry), but then the plans changed again Saturday morning. A storm was coming through and it looked like it was best to stay off the roads if I wanted to get home not only in one piece but in a semi-timely manner.

I arrived in my driveway just as the sun was setting to find that a neighbor had cleared the driveway, shoveled the walk and the porch* and that J-Spot and K-Spot had beat me home. They were on their way through town and thought they'd stop by and get the wedding presents I still had here.

We decided to have dinner together, so J-Spot made a salad and I made alfredo and we made some garlic bread. Of course, I ate the gluten-free versions of these things. It was good and we had some nice conversation until after 1 a.m. when they made their way home, evidently quite safely.

So the kids and I are home. LD has a doc's appointment at 4, and I'm trying to put the house back together again so it's livable. Clothes are in the wash, dishes are washing, I'm showered and at some point I need to dress.

Writing needs to be done -- the novel and I have a short story due for one of my writing groups this Friday -- and I think Avadore and I may put up a Christmas tree. I'm still debating, though. When Avadore was about the age LD is now we skipping the tree so he didn't pull it down on himself.

Thanksgiving was nice. We ate with my parents Wednesday: turkey, sausage stuffing, oyster stuffing, potatoes and gravy, yams, eggplant lasagne, marinated mushrooms, cranberry relish, canned cranberries, green beans, and that may be all, except for the pie, which was fabulous. I was in the middle of eating my own dinner when I had to take care of LD, so my dinner got a little cold. My mother grabbed it, piled it up with food again and returned it. This wasn't good. The food was wonderful and I would have devoured it all if I could, but my stomach was so tight by the time she returned my plate that I just about fell over. For the first Thanksgiving ever, I didn't clean my plate.

We spent Thursday with the in-laws -- turkey, fried rice, pureed yams (who might have liked some butter and brown sugar, but they weren't bad), cranberries, fruit salad, and a green salad. And pumpkin pie. And it was wonderful, and this time no one helped me out by adding extra food when I wasn't looking.

I miss the pickles and olives and cream cheese stuffed celery from the Thanksgivings of my youth. At least there was the cranberries from a can. It's funny what nostalgia does to a person's appetite.

I didn't go shopping Friday because I prize my sanity. I mended pants, and napped, and other things. Saturday my MIL took me shopping because she'd held herself back too long and I had to go along. We bought stuff. I bought tooth cleanser and Carmex. MIL bought bags of stuff, mostly for Avadore. She seemed to think he needed to get out of her house, and that required cold weather clothing, so...

During this weekend, I also found a fine sale on my shampoo and condition (just about a buy one and get one free sale), so Rice went out and bought me shampoo and I went out and bought conditioner. Also, Rice procured me some chocolate in case I get snowed in. Sometimes he has moments of being good to me.