  A busy week stops short on Wednesday... and how nice it felt to take a long nap yesterday afternoon! Today, life gets more busy as Dave and I drive north to his family's holiday gathering. I'm already thinking about the food.
But I might need something early... like one of those solid breakfasts of eggs and potatoes that I can eat just about any time of the day. What's open today? Geesh... probably nothing but McDonalds and Burger King, with their fake sausage and trans-fatty biscuits. Oh well... hope springs eternal. I've had several emails asking if our family gathering will include Green Bean Casserole.
I've not checked with Dave to be certain, but something tells me that a Mexican family with a tradition of well-produced and authentic foods won't be eating Green Bean Casserole. I might be surprised. This will be my first Mexican Thanksgiving... after having enjoyed Italian Thanksgiving for the previous two years. Not that there's that much difference in the traditional Thanksgiving meal. But I guess it's more the fact that these families love good food. Every meal has something about it that's memorable. They're great cooks and lively families... really, what more could one ask for.
It's different from what I grew up with... not that my childhood experience was terrible. It just wasn't the same. But Thanksgiving doesn't seem to be the kind of holiday that provokes a lot of distant memories. Christmas does that. And maybe that's the quintessential "memory" holiday because of gifts, Santa, etc. But Thanksgiving is more about... well, what is it about? Obviously, giving thanks. But for most people it doesn't really have any meaning anymore except for a couple days off from work, a big meal and football.
I'm not going to moralize about that. Everyone else does, so I'll just leave it there. Dave and I are planning a post-Christmas trip to San Diego once again. We went for a week last year and had a great time. This year it's likely to be a shorter trip, since Dave is planning a week in Mexico, hiking among the Mayan ruins. How cool is that, huh? Anyway... San Diego should be a restful and relaxing time for us. It was last year, even though we were right in the middle of a relationship transition-- specifically, breaking up. Needless to say, this put a damper on what was going to be our first trip somewhere together. It makes me laugh even now.
But when you're friends first, you can work through a lot of things and we worked through that. Don't get me wrong... there are scars that remain. The challenge for me has been to continue our friendship and on-again romantic relationship while trying to purge myself of those feelings of anger and injustice. Those feelings are largely uncalled for, but they exist and pushing them under the surface only makes them resurface in some other way.
So what was I talking about? :) Oh yes! San Diego. If any of you live in San Diego... or if you've visited frequently, we'd love to hear your suggestions for hotels, places to eat and things to do. Dave and I assembled quite a list of favorites on our last trip... but we can always use new ideas. We'll be there in early January. 
