Plenty to give thanks for!!!

Back again so soon, you ask? Well, it is Thanksgiving week which allows me to get some much needed rest from work and also to catch up on things like family and my blog.

I had two Thanksgiving dinners this year, one here at my temporary home(Granny's) and also one at my Grandma and Pappaw's farm. I am tired of eating =).

The festivities started out on Thursday with a traditional feast of Turkey and dressing and all of your other favorite foods for the holiday. Granny went out of her way to make a great dinner, as usual. We(Granny, Dad, Justin, and I) ate dinner and caught the occasion on video tape for future viewing. Afterwards I caught some football and pretty much chilled the rest of the day.

Friday afternoon, it was off to the farm to see my other grandparents and also Mom. It was good to be back there, as I had not been up in quite a while. It was also the first time that I had seen my Pappaw since he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

The meal was lacking the traditional turkey and dressing but not in flavor. Lasagna and fried chicken highlighted things. Another piece of pumpkin pie rounded things out, along with a piece of poundcake. I also had several glasses of sweet tea.

During the course of our visit, Justin and I went out into the woods and shot my cousin Nathaniel's(who is now 12!) paintball gun. I have to get one of those. I had forgotten how much fun that they could be. Here is a picture of Justin sizing up an old rusted trash can that was in a junk pile in the woods. We had a ball shooting 500 paintballs at various targets in the woods.

We returned to the house and visited a while longer with some of my family that was in town from places like Charlotte(my uncle Bruce and family), Huntsville(my Scott and family), and Dallas(my Uncle Bryan and Natalie). Bryan is my unlce and less than a year older than me! All of my cousins are growing quickly and are smart. I look forward to seeing them again soon, more than likely at Christmas. I also got an invite from Bruce to visit Charlotte anytime. I may just take him up on that offer.

Pappaw seemed tired but was in good spirits and did not look all that bad physically. He will find out Tuesday about some tumors in his leg(via MRI). I will pray that everything comes out OK. I have fond memories of him taking us to the Mid-South Coliseum to Monday Night Wrestling, back when Memphis wrestling was the equivalent to the WWE now. I am going back to see him on Christmas, and hope to do better in visiting him. I am going to take my camera next time, with a better battery to get more pictures.

You can see that I have much to be thankful for. I am thankful that I have a job, no matter how much I want another. I am thankful that I have a place to sleep, no matter how uncomfortable. I am thankful that I have a family that loves me, and that I made it through the last 2 1/2 or so years without killing myself or going crazy. The next 6 months are going to be a fork in the road for me, in the positive.

Nucksy