Sing to The Go-Go's Vacation:

Thanksgiving, all I ever wanted, Thanksgiving, have to get away…..

I can't wait for Christmas; I'll get two weeks off then. Lately, it's all about the time off with wife and child.

I left work early on Wednesday as Jes had called me to report her fever of 103. It turns out she'd gotten mastitis (sp?) – an infection in a milk duct. Don't worry, she and the baby are both fine. Her temperature is now normal – the fever broke Thursday at around 5:30 a.m. She's going to be on antibiotics for five days, but should be none the worse for wear.

Thanksgiving is in part about football, and I had the fun of watching my Packers beat the Lions. It's actually Friday now and I am at Mira & David's watching the Texas/ Texas A & M game. Texas still hasn't scored going into the half. I don't have a horse in the race, so I am only watching with one eye. We've now switched to the LSU / Arkansas game and are for Arkansas on the family (Mira) connection.

We spent yesterday doing the relative panorama, hitting Jack & Bonnie's (Jes' Stepmother's Stepmother) in Pontoon Beach Illinois for my first experience with a deep fried turkey. Jes' stepbrother Chris did an excellent job as chef. After our first full meal we headed back to St. Louis for an evening version of the same – except David did his turkey on the grill. Mira & David had neighbors Mack & Ann over, as well as Sharron, another David and Sarah.

Sharron has much to be thankful for, as she has been raising her granddaughter Sarah since Sarah was eighteen months old (she's nine now). Sharron was just recently able to formally adopt Sarah, after several years of trying. Also, Sharon's David is recovering well from the removal of a tumor from his tongue. Under doctor's orders, he had to eat as much as humanly possible to get his weight back up; a fun assignment with such a good spread.

I spent the morning today with Elliot, trying to let Jes get caught up on sleep. I've also been taking a stab at my home owner's to do list. I finally got the upstairs air conditioner in and stored for the winter. I am occasionally reminded as I type for this blog, that I don't really generate interesting stories like I once did. I was thinking about posting a picture of our pool table piled high with laundry to emphasize my surrender to domesticity.

I clean things. I fix things. I'm in bed before ten and out the door before six a.m. I get a few hours to be a husband every evening, but my life is mostly my work. Work is fine, but it's work. Maybe I'll have better classes next year. Maybe if I got more exercise, I'd have more energy. Maybe I'll win the lottery. I keep telling myself that the first year of teaching is the hardest, but this is my second year of teaching high school. True, I am at a new school with new classes, but even still - I am working way too hard. One should work to live, not the reverse. More than eighty percent of my time and energy goes to work. If we didn't get summers off, no one would do this job. I suppose the long dark night of the soul is typical at this time of year. Still, if I won the lottery and could stay home and write full time… how do I make that fantasy a reality?

One good thing about having a few so-so classes is that you get to start over. I only have three weeks left with two of my sets of students. The rest will have me for five more months and then it'll be summer.

Elliot is doing well, he's gotten much fussier then he was for the first few weeks, but he's still an angel compared with some other children of his age that I've known. We have a great deal to be thankful for this year. Being a father, having a home, and being a husband are all going well. Maybe I should throw a party. That always makes me feel better. New Year's Eve anyone?