Backtracking Just a Wee Bit

Frequent readers get points for being polite and not inquiring as to why no Thanksgiving post on Texas2Tennessee. Not a single mention of turkey, travel, antics or family hoo-hah.

Yes, it was intentional and until now, I couldn't make the Thanksgiving 2008 experience real by writing about it. In a word...Thanksgiving BLEW. Yes, it blew and there are two empty boxes of kleenex, several trash bags full of snot-filled tissue, an empty Robitussin bottle on the counter and cough drop wrappers strewn on the floor to document that indeed I had the FLU.

It's been about 20 years since I've had the flu, so figured I was coming down with a bad cold. What I thought was a hot flash, while driving from Tennessee to South Carolina, was the onset of the flu. Yes I was burning up, but not due to fluctuating hormones. Forty-nine is a very confusing age.

For the next five days, I stayed in my pajamas curled up in the fetal position beneath a down comforter. The Lovely Linda took such good care of me. If love and empathy could cure the flu, I'd have been up and bouncing around in 20 minutes. Unfortunately, we discovered the flu scoffed at love and empathy not with a raised eyebrow, but with chills and fever. Charming.

Since lounging in the recliner was the only way I could rest, there I found myself on Thanksgiving morning, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! This has been a ritual since childhood for my mom and me. Linda rolled her eyes from the safety of the kitchen as she prepared fruit salad for the family festivities. The squealing and clapping at the television put the cat and dogs in festive moods as they bounced around the recliner. Sorry guys, it's just a marching band, but here's a treat for playing along.

Speaking of dogs, Miss Mocha felt she needed to be near her momma as she hacked and wheezed. Next to the recliner is a donut shaped cat bed large enough for Persia, the Calico beauty who rules the house of Edwards. Persia weighs about 16 pounds, Mocha weighs 50 pounds. Are you getting the picture? No need to strain your brain...Linda got a few shots of the brown one curled up into the smallest dog ball you've ever seen.

Okay, so I can't get this one leg to fit. You can still applaud the effort!

They're both pretending this is not happening,

but for different reasons.

"So Kenzie, did you see Mocha curled up in Persia's bed?", Zoe asks. "Shhhhhh, just sit here and be cute. Maybe momma will give us a treat!" quips Kenzie.

After 5 days, I was well enough to drive home and within 2 days Linda came down with it too. Not a nice thing for a house guest to do. Did I mention that it was not only Thanksgiving weekend, but her birthday as well?

Here, in the presence of the entire Blogosphere, I apologize for giving you the flu. So sorry honey.

So...that was Thanksgiving 2008. Aren't you glad you didn't ask?