I did start off feeling really thankful. Seriously. I read Psalm 16 and just thanked God for friends, family, food, warmth, housing and all the other things I take for granted.
With cheese balls in hand, and an iced tea to go, I set out on my usual trek to central Massachusetts for Thanksgiving.
Well, this wasn't a usual day. I typically take Route 2 West to 190 East and end up at Lana and George's (or my sister's place) within one hour of departure. This wouldn't be the case today. Today was a day for being thankful, and this meant in spite of minor annoyances, such as traffic.
Whether it was the low price of gas, the high price of the economy keeping folks off planes or maybe even an accident, the road traveling west was absolutely the busiest I'd ever seen it. I only got to a few exits down on Route 2 before it all went very wrong. I screeched to a halt and literally drove 0-5 mph for about 30 minutes. With jersey barriers on my left side, and no exits approaching on my right side, here's what I saw in my rear view mirror:
And then, as I was able to move up a bit, I finally (after 40 min?) was able to make a U-turn off of route 2 west to go route 2 east to go to 128 south to go to I90 west to go to 495 north to go to 290/190 to Holden, Mass. (near Worcester).
The third traffic picture is what it looked like when I got to 128. Really, I couldn't catch a break. That is, until I landed on the Mass Turnpike and zoomed off.
OK. You get the idea. I was an hour late to my first stop, which made me an hour late to my second stop, and well....I really just wanted to cut open one of the cheese balls!! I did exercise self restraint, but had I to do it over again, I would absolutely nibble!
While the traffic was unexpected, it was wonderful to see my dear friend Lana who I have had in my life for more than 25 yrs....we are definitely forever friends, more like family, and I'm thankful to have been able to celebrate the holidays with her for so long.
It started off with just Lana and her family, turned to Lana, her husband and her family, and over the last 4+ yrs, it's included dear, sweet Isabella. And she is absolutely worth the drive and the traffic. 
Another young one who is 9 yrs old going on 29, and who is most definitely worth the drive, traffic and cheese ball self constraint is my niece, Katherine. We watched her Disney performance (dance group) and her starring role as a lady pirate in her theater camp. It's always awesome to see her, and she ended up teaching me how to swing dance. It was the first holiday since my father passed away, and it was really tough on mom. We had a nice talk and visit just the two of us after all the group visits were over, and it once again reminded me how blessed I am to have such a great mom.
Texts, calls, emails and two thanksgiving gatherings once again reminded me how absolutely spoiled I am to have so many loving friends and family in my life.
Thanksgiving Thursday. A day to be very thankful.
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