THANKSGIVING

I am looking forward to a six hour drive to the Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday. Once there, we will check into the Echo Hotel and Conference Center for the night. The next day, we travel to my brother's house for the cooking and the hanging out that happens before dinner.

I grew up in a house where Thanksgiving dinner took place at Midnight. My husband thinks this is wierd. I think his family is wierd for having Thanksgiving dinner at 11:00 in the morning (What?!?!). The idea is, he explains, we have time to digest our first attempt so we could hit the leftovers later. I am used to hanging out and dancing all day, cooking all afternoon, dancing some more, drinking some sangrias or some ollitas and then relaxing to a wonderful dinner late into the night. Then we stay up singing on the guitar and dancing some more, friends and family gathered all around. The girls in the kitchen cleaning and the guys in the living room trying to best each other on the guitar or the guys in the kitchen cleaning and girls in the living room watching them and laughing.

In any case, my brother, Fidel, has four kids, FOUR. There is Cesar Emanual, Lisa Marie, Felipe and Jason. They are all cute and adorable and WILD. My brother and his wife are wonderful happy people. His wife stays home and watches the kiddies and my brother works for the city. There is no way to describe their little house. It is CHOCK FULL of STUFF. I swear, they seem to collect everything. I remember at one point he had about three VCRs that he'd collected and fixed scattered about the house. Fidel has an incredible collection of matchbox cars. He has had them as far back as I remember. He also has a historic collection of record albums that are ancient and probably worth lots of money. I'm sure he has something in that house that is worth tons of money, but isn't even aware of it.

Anyway, the Chavez family will bring the Turkey and potatoes and cooking wine. The Singleterrys will join us there and they will bring desert. The Mercados will provide the sides. I figure we'll spend all day cooking and making a mess while the kids play with the mountain of toys Fidel has collected over the years and go wild with so many visitors. I'm sure there will be a crying or screeching kid at various points throughout the day. Lina will periodically go outside to bury potato skins or onion peelings under her garden patch and may come back inside with a papaya or melon or something. Fidel will inevitably be sent to the nearest HEB to pick up some last minute things, butter, vegetable oil, salt, at least three times. At some point, I will take the kiddies for a walk around the neighborhood but will hurry back when the neighbors rabid dogs threaten to jump out of their little yards and rip us to pieces. Then, afternoon will start to set in. The TV will be blaring some popular Disney movie in Spanish and the kids will been scolded many times throughout the day, Lina will have pulled out her big bib and will begin to give free haircuts all around. Her littlest will take the broom and sweep up the cut hair and the second to the littlest will get the dustpan. Lina will be angry at whoever tries to wash her dishes. You know, she will tell us in Spanish, you will keep me in the poor house for washing my dishes.

The early evening approaches, we are all hungry, we are all grabbing seats and food and eating and feeding our offspring as best we could. The house is still a mess from the cooking, but all that will be taken care of soon. Another movie is playing on the t.v., exhuastion sets in. Killy and I are the first to leave, we will be driving back home tomorrow. We hit the hotel and rest in preparation for another 6 hours on the road tomorrow.

That's that!