awkward turtle!

Tim and I drove to Ohio for the long Thanksgiving weekend and I love seeing family even if that means I sleep on an air mattress in a house where the "heat" is set at 64 degrees when it's 30 outside. The trip was quiet and uneventful except for the traffic. We took Flash with us and he did so good on that long car drive. Unfortunately he's having a serious halitosis problem right now and whenever he yawned it smelled like he was farting through his mouth. We think it's his food. I picked up a different dog food during a quick and desperate trip to Walmart (it was Walmart which means it was desperate) made by Rachel Ray. It's all natural but if all natural is going to give him THAT breath, then fillers it is! Just kidding. I'm going back to the old food, Eukanoba, which is pricey and gave him gas but I'd rather him have gas than that awful breath.

Wow - I really got off subject! I was saying the trip was uneventful, but I forgot that we found an iPod Nano! One of our potty stops along the way we were walking the dog around and I saw the nano on the ground but ignored it. We were out there for awhile and nobody came by and I never said anything until right before we left and then I went ahead and picked it up. This person has some great music on their playlist and a fantastic mix. Tim and I understand we need to do everything possible to find the owner and we are taking the appropriate steps to do so but until then Tim is enjoying it.

I really do enjoy seeing my family at the holidays, but what I realized I don't enjoy is the drama. I don't need anymore drama in my life and Thursday turned out to be quite the Lifetime movie. Thanksgiving was at my grandma's like usual and the guests consisted of my grandma, uncle, cousin, mom, family friend, Flash, Tim and I. It was definitely small without my sisters and I really wish they had been there although I know they were okay with not being there, especially after this story! Everyone was there and then my uncle walked in who is a mailman. He sees Flash and before he even says hello he starts freaking out and asked if Flash was a pit bull. I affirmed. This prompted a five minute diatribe on how dangerous pit bulls are and he reports people with pit bulls because they are banned up in the unfriendly north. He also won't deliver mail to someone who has a pit in the front yard and had plenty of dog stories to tell. My uncle would absolutely not let up and it was making everyone very uncomfortable and me very angry. He made sure to let me know that he wasn't happy with Flash being there. I was sooo close to telling him that he is an angry old a*hole and that he could leave. I didn't want to make a bad situation worse so I kept my mouth shut and he finally shutup. The whole entire dinner turned out to be his own personal soapbox about some guy him and my cousin mutually know. This guy is in his Bible study and my cousin was telling him that he is a womanizer. This news made my uncle extremely upset and he wouldn't stop talking about it. Not to mention that he talked about JFK and how everyone idolized him but when he died they found out he was riddled with venereal disease. Who talks about venereal disease at the dinner table??? The whole dinner was one big awkward turtle.

That evening we headed to my aunt & uncle's house with the cousins, husbands/wives and kids. When Tim walked in the door he asked if this was Thanksgiving redo and it completely was. We all had such a great time. I can't remember the last time we were at my aunt & uncle's with so many of us there. I was able to talk to my cousin for awhile which we haven't done in forever and a bunch of us played Monopoly. Tim would want me to tell you that he schooled everyone going from "nothing to something". I definitely miss that part of my family :)

The remainder of the weekend consisted of helping my mom get ready for selling the house and visiting family and friends in Youngstown. Tim's grandma has alzheimers and it is so sad to see her that way. We realize we don't have very much time left with our grandparents so every trip matters. Tim's grandpa is still fit as a fiddle at 90 years old and can tell stories for hours on end without fail. After the family visit we headed to a friend's and went to dinner at a place called Upstairs and yes, it was actually upstairs. The wine was good and the food even better, plus our friend Courtney has a Canon Rebel XSI and let me fool around with it! See the pics below.

Sunday we left for home. The 9 hour trip took about 13 and it was horrendous. The details are pretty ugly so I will spare you. Needless to say we were very glad to get home and sleep in our warm house in our comfortable bed! *Sorry mom.

We will be flying next time!