There and back again {a Thanksgiving tale}

My Thanksgiving travels included:

catching my first glimpse of Fifth Avenue Christmas window displays (before leaving town),
hanging our stockings and setting out our nativity scene (also before leaving town),
enduring a harrowing bus ride to the airport (complete with motion sickness),
waiting out a delayed flight,
chatting with the physicist seated next to me on the plane,
falling asleep on the plane (again with motion sickness and apparently defunct sea-bands),
sleeping in every day,
shopping (last minute) for Thanksgiving dinner (or lunch, rather),
enjoying vases of fresh-cut flowers (compliments of my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law),
texting my siblings to remind them that they should not, under any circumstances, have fun without me,
sniffing 20+ seasonal candles at Bath and Body Works,
watching the family dogs alternate between playing together and competing for alpha status,
catching snippets of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade,
flipping through Black Friday ads,
whipping up some cranberry sauce,
playing house with my niece,
hanging out by the swing set and talking over life with my nephew,
taking photos (more on that soon, I hope),
sharing the Charlie Brown Christmas app with my niece and nephew,
enjoying smoked turkey (compliments my father-in-law),
smiling winningly as I ask my sister-in-law to make pumpkin cheesecake,
inhaling pumpkin cheesecake,
maintaining relatively healthy portions (amazingly),
watching The Muppets movie (and trying to stay dry-eyed during "Rainbow Connection"),
singing "Life's a Happy Song" compulsively,
throwing in songs from In the Heights,
reading/napping on the couch,
applauding myself on how well I packed,
fighting off a sore throat,
leaving the house at 10 am on Black Friday,
exploring the Space and Rocket Center with my niece and nephew,
grazing on homemade Chex mix (a family tradition, as is picking out your favorite bits),
and marveling at the city lights as we flew home.