Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all

Dear god, nearly a month since I last wrote here! Bad, bad girl. Well, everything's done in the kitchen for now, until the turkey comes out, I've showered and dressed, and it's time I tried to catch you guys up a little, assuming anyone is still reading. I still read what you post and I follow on FaceBook, although I rarely write there. For today, I've got some stuff that I don't want to put on FaceBook because I don't want feedback from everyone I ever knew, but I'll get to that.

First, the newlyweds. They're back from two weeks in Hawaii, back at work, settling in, all is well with them. I just love my boy, E. He is as good as gold, as sweet as pie.

My K is happily teaching along, burdened with work and planning and papers to grade, as most teachers are, but especially as all first-year teachers are. Her little baby cat, Otto, is the cutest cat ever, and still very kittenish, running around like a mad man.

My in-laws did indeed sell their house and they moved up closer to us last week. They're about 20 minutes away, so, YAY, no more holidays spent on the Garden State Parkway. Moving was quite a traumatic experience for everyone involved, which I may get back to another time, but they're in, they still have boxes to unpack and always will. The downside of having them close is that apparently they think they can call on their children -- the Hubs' sister is 20 minutes away in the other direction -- for ridiculous little things, like to come over and look through all the boxes for something stupid, like a particular screwdriver that no one needs now, the FIL just wants to know where it is. *sigh*

Next Thanksgiving, we will have a little one at the table -- AT LAST! -- as my Good Guy nephew and his lovely wife are expecting in the spring. Baby Jacob is to be named after my father, who preferred to go by Jack, but Jacob was his actual given name. First baby in the family on both sides, so this little guy probably won't touch ground until he's three. Want to bet his first word is going to be "Down!"?

As for me, in the neverending saga of new doctors to see and rare conditions to have, I have a tumor in my stomach that is "carcinoid" which possibly means "cancer-like" but isn't cancer. (Not too clear on that part.) It's a particular type of cancer tumor that occurs in the stomach but doesn't behave like cancer: it doesn't spread and it doesn't grow. (Although I suppose it grew somehow to what it is now.) The doctors, and there are three in on this case, are adamant this is NOT stomach cancer, although it is a cancer (-like) tumor in my stomach. ? Anyway, I have no symptoms of anything, I feel fine, and I'll be having it removed on January 3, when my surgeon comes back after teaching his technique around the world. I'm having robotic surgery -- another time for more on that -- and a partial gastrectomy, which means they don't so much remove the tumor as they remove the part of the stomach that has the tumor on it. I've been assured that if I don't live to a ripe old age, this won't be the cause; they're getting it out and I'll be fine. So that's that.

However, on Monday, the day before my wonderful Dr. Resnick, clarified all of this, I figured I'd be having traditional surgery (lousy, long recuperation) and it would probably turn out to be cancer, so I got myself a present -- as I do for big life challenges -- and now I'll be fine and all, but I'm keeping the iPad.

Excuse me a moment -- first basting of the turkey.

I've been oddly laid-back about Thanksgiving this year, although I did finally get a farm-raised fresh turkey, as the kids have been asking me to do for years and years. Usually, I have everything we need laid out on the table so it's right at hand, but this year I've been going down to the basement for pots and serving pieces as we need them. This is always a day of continuous dish washing and drying for us, so I just worked that in. (And the drainboard is clear now, as it should be.) We're off to Wonderful Niece's later on, all of us meeting there, since she has the biggest dining room. (She also has doggies for me to play with, although her cats stay in hiding the whole time.)

I still don't have much better wedding pictures, but any that I have are at FaceBook, so if you know me there, you can take a look.

I'll keep in touch.