My mom did a fantastic job, especially considering her health of late. We had an amazing turkey dinner with all the trimmings. She was proud of the veggies.

'You've had brocoflower, right?', she asked. The hybrid combo of broccoli and cauliflower tastes good but still makes one wonder what went into changing it.

'Well, tonight we get ORANGE brocoflower'. It tasted good, looked a little bizarre and just proves we're not on that whole organic bandwagon thing.


Alex gets his first turkey bone to chew on. Although he was much more interested in using it as a drumstick.


We all went around the table mentioning one thing we were thankful for. There is something about being surrounded by family though, that just makes us more appreciative for the every day. With my parents and my aunt in their 70s now, we know we are on precious time. None are in great health and it seems to get worse every day. My Mom's emphysema has worsened significantly this year, along with her osteoporosis. Her sister - my aunt - was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica this week. It's an arthritic condition that affects the muscles, rather than the bones. Aunt J had a stroke last November, and living alone, she seems to be affected mentally as well as physically. I am going to work on getting her a computer, but I am a little concerned that I might have bitten off more than I can chew on that one.


Unfortunately, our dinner didn't end so well. My Dad, who is our stalwart family patriarch and the one who never complains took sick during the meal. He suddenly went very grey and excused himself to bed.

Upon checking on him, he was very irritable and argumentative. I took my Aunt home soon after (being a retired nurse, she has the ingrained response to hover and think the worst when someone's ill) but came back to stay with my Mom.

He tried to get up later, but was unsteady on his feet and just really not himself. I asked him if he would like to go to the hospital but he refused for the moment. Just after midnight, he seemed to drift off into a more restful sleep and my Mom had settled enough that I went home. Haven't slept much and am very concerned this morning, but nothing has changed. He hasn't gotten worse, nor better but is still not wanting any more fuss. It's hard to explain - but this is entirely out of character for my father.

So today, I will stay close to the phone and hope that this is just a one-off odd occurrence.