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Well the big St. Louis Thanksgiving/Baby Shower trip is over. In some ways it was more fun than I anticipated (mainly the shower - more details coming plus pictures) but in other regards I was bitterly disappointed (my mother changed her pecan pie recipe and I almost couldn't take it). Mostly I realized how much I do not like travelling for Thanksgiving. It's one of the few holidays Shannon and I have no trouble enthusiastically celebrating, probably due to the lack of Christianity and the abundance of food. It's during a great time of year, as fall turns into winter. But when we have to travel, the shortness of the holiday becomes magnified. I realize how much I hate the 10 hour drive all the way down to St. Louis and back. Everyday we have to cram in the requisite family time, making sure to be fair to both sides. Since my mom no longer lives in the city, there's just so much more driving. Ok, so maybe it's visiting my family that really does me in. I love them, but they are not a relaxing bunch.

I do have to say though, regardless of the family, I look forward to keeping Thanksgiving for ourselves. Even though I was a big wet blanket about cooking, I loved having a nice four day weekend at home last year. As we were still driving at 8pm on Sunday, I realized just how awesome last year was.

I don't know what having a baby will do to our holidays. This year is the last for the Thanksgiving/Christmas flip flop I think. Next year, we'll stay home in November and then try to do a big circuit for Christmas (since it'll be baby's first and all that brouhaha). After that, we'll be much farther away from the midwest. Shannon thinks we can leverage the grandchild into making the family come to us. I think I can be persuaded to follow that line of thought.