Had a nice long conversation with TheCalifornian yesterday afternoon (while I was cooking our family Thanksgiving), and with Rice last evening where much was discussed.

Basically the best answer I have is to lay low for a while, past Christmas, certainly. I suspect this may cause some familial irritations in some ways, but will save much irritations in others.

After that, if a conversation needs do occur, it will. But hopefully things will mellow out.

I particularly appreciated TheCalifornian's insight. He's got the low down on the family's childhood history and past behavior. (E.g. The sort of stuff I'm dealing with now isn't new, but it had reduced significantly a couple of years ago.) It's good to have friends.

And though his mom is driving him nuts, Rice is trying to make the best of it and take care of his mother. He told her he'd take her to dinner this week, just let him know when and where. She seemed to appreciate that.

I think the particularly hard part of all this is that things were going so well for the past two years. The relationships involved were difficult for nine years, sometimes so difficult I almost broke up with Rice several times while we were dating. And then, suddenly, things got really, really good. And now it's verging on where it used to be. It's not there yet, thank goodness, but it's so close, and that's not a comforting feeling at all. At least I think I have some understanding as to why this could be -- so many factors are at play. And there's nothing I can do to relieve any of it, except for lay really way down low for a while, with the children.

***

Avadore is an introvert. There is no doubt about this. I will remember this for the future. This is good information to have.

***

So I made our own Thankgiving dinner, mostly for the leftovers. Is there anything better on earth this time of year than leftover yams, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cranberries? Complete and utter comfort food. The only way it could be better was if I had some macaroni and cheese.

I made a lemon merangue pie for Rice last night; he's pretty pumpkined out. We have dug into it yet, but it looks awful, I tell you. I'm not sure how we're ever going to eat it :).

***

I'm a thinkin' I wish JournalScape had a friends lock. May have to put a password together. Let me know if you want it.

And thanks for reading. It helps to have a place to put all this stuff, where I know feedback will come.