"the Laying of Mrs. Clause"

Uh, hmmm, wondering about the title?

Well, see, many years we've gone to my mom's for Thanksgiving, about 3-4 of the last 6 years. And we have dinner with the neighbors and friends, it's a really good time. The neighborhood I grew up in is one of the last ones like it, or so it seems. You know, where you spend holidays together, go to each others weddings, play together, stay in touch for a lifetime... So going home is special to me, though we definitely miss being able to share it with both of our families, maybe some day.

So back to the "Annual" gathering of the loonies and the looniers. We stuff ourselves like everyone else, talk politics, families, religion, oh and GW Bush has been a never ending source of amusement, with both die hard REpublicans (in spite of the current Bush) and democrats, jewish and catholic backgrounds, young, not so young, conservative and liberal alike. It's a gathering that truly welcomes everyone, regardless of beliefs, backgrounds, upbringing, traditions, etc. Eric and I even managed to get Joan a perfect hostess gift... the GW Bush countdown calender... each month filled with tons of famous and not so famous quotes. It's hilarious...

It's quite a comedic event. This year was special though, for my friend Susan, her husband, mom and dad all asked TONS of questions on the adoption. It was way beyond the routine questions we get, you know the drill... 'so how's it going'... 'any news'... 'when will you travel'... that level of questioning normally requires saying no more than ... ok... nothing new... sometime between next fall and just prior to the olympics.

But, it was incredible, they asked everything, from cultural issues, to how we travel, where we'll go, what our extra days ahead of the adoption in Beijing will be like, on what day during the trip we meet our child, why it takes 2 weeks in country, what attachment disorders there might be (over attachment, attachment to only one parent, no attachment), what we'll do for maternity/paternity leave, what types of expenses are involved, the talk went on for several hours. It was fantastic, one I wish we had more often, people who really really want to know. It's a great feeling and even Eric opened up and talked about it all, not just on the surface either.

We also got to meet Ashlyn, Susan/Mark's daughter, she has her own very special story about making it into this world, we were thrilled to meet her finally. She was born last November and was a pleasure to spend time with!

After dinner, desserts (trust me, this is an orgy of food from appetizers to dessert) we usually go outdoors for the "Laying of Mrs. Clause". Do I have your interest now? Though we sacked out long before the 'festivities', what happens is Susan's mom takes Mrs Clause out on the porch, occasionally having to shove aside the Halloween or Thanksgiving decorations, puts her on the chair and then Mr. Clause arrives... need I say more.

Yeah, Thanksgiving's at the old homestead tend to be zany, crazy, warm, loving and this year, we felt wrapped in love and overwhelmed with interest. Thanks everyone!