We're heading back to Michigan over the holidays. Tomorrow, in fact. Going to spend the celebrated Turkey Day with my parents and brother, who will be flying up from Texas. We will have single-handedly doubled the population of Port Hope upon our arrival. The girls will be staying here at a canine "hotel" (we just tell them it's a hotel - better than letting them know they're going to the kennel) and having their feast with about 20 other friends. Echo will be telling everyone about the good old days back in Chi town, when food was scarce and she ran the joint. She'll then try to stage a revolt, egging the other dogs on and telling them they're too pampered and soft. It will come to an abrupt end at meal time, though, when she gets distracted by the food. Sarah will be staying here, and enjoying visits from the feline cuddle specialist, and has put in a special request for beef-fish for the holiday.

Anyway, thinking about them enjoying the holiday makes me less guilty about leaving them here, but there was nothing for it. The holidays are all about spending time with family, and bonding, but we didn't have the time to drive to MI, and we're not about to put them through the rigors of air travel just so we can be selfish and have them with us. Besides, it would cost too much, which, when all is said and done, is the real decider.

My mom and I will be getting the dinner ready on Wednesday, as much as possible. Which basically means that I'll be making pie, and she'll do everything else. I've volunteered to help because a) she'll need it, and b) what better way to bond with your mother than in the kitchen, right?

She said that she has an order in for a fresh turkey (not frozen), which gives me pause...how long does a turkey stay 'fresh' after killing it? A couple days? A day? So that means that the bird we'll be eating on Thursday is alive right now??? Oh, God - my cooking habits (if you can call what I do cooking) are so far removed from the food 'processing' chain that I've never really had to think about the fact that the animals I eat have at one time been living and breathing. I prefer it that way. Frozen/prepared meals are great for perpetuating that remoteness. But I can't escape it this time. It doesn't bother me enough to become a vegetarian...tried that once and failed miserably. (as a college student, I once found myself in the meat isle of Meijers, looking for ground beef, and came face to face with a saran-wrapped cow's tongue, which grossed me out enough to quit meat for about 2 months...but being a vegetarian is especially hard when you're too lazy to make even cous cous...so I gave up and went back to meat). I just hope my mom doesn't want me to stuff the bird or tie its legs or anything like that, because I don't like touching corpses. Somehow it doesn't bother me after it's cooked, but before hand, when the skin is all white and loose and slippery and the thing flops all over the place, that bothers me. Please, mom - we can bond some other way...like getting pissed at the men folk for not helping with anything. I'm good at that.

Hope everyone gets the opportunity to spend some time with their loved ones this Turkey Day.