Thankful. Thankful. Thankful.

Here's my Thanksgiving post. Late. Like a lot of other things around here!
This year was a year for super thanks. I'm grateful and thankful each year, but this year with the addition of the tater tot, I'm really thankful. She has brought so much joy and contentment into our lives that I'm at the point where I can't imagine my life without her. I'll stop there. I could go on for days. And it's the same old, same old every proud parent says. Nauseating.

Unfortunately for The Chief's family, we go to Victoria every year for Thanksgiving. I didn't make this rule. It was just in place when we started dating, and I've never been approached about compromise or change. I have been 28 of the 29 years of my life. It's what we do. It's where my peeps are. And when I say peeps...39 to be exact when we're all there. It's fun. Ridiculous fun.

The Chief is a football watching, gambling, drinking man. Those are three major bullet points in this family. Wholesome, right? A bunch of Polish Catholics, that's all. The Chief calls it the Polish Mafia. And when my Grandpa Kalinowski was alive, I'm sure the poker table was much that way...Mafia style. The Chief digs it down there. He fits right in. I think there are some family members that enjoy his company more than mine. That makes my heart sing.

Lucky news for us, my closest cousin {also Julia's God Mother} and her husband live there. So we always have a landing spot and a place to plant when we arrive. They just bought a super cool, gorgeous, new pad. It's like the kind of place where you can envision lots of little feet running around. I kindly asked that they get on that sooner rather than later.

These two are trouble. This was back when Clint had what we call "The Larry David Glasses". Not sure that will make sense to everyone...but the good news those glasses are gone and the creepy tint when indoors is no longer.

Here's what happens after they're together all week.


I always hit depression mode when we get home. I'm sad it's over. This year was no different. We had way too many nights of staying up way too late. Drank too many bevies and spent too many hours laughing uncontrollably. It took me days to recover. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the food. I swore I was going to get a picture this year. Totally spaced. Let's say this, there are two fried turkeys, one baked, three cheesy casseroles, all the regular Thanksgiving trimmings and a roaster full of dressing like you've never seen. It's ridic. I have no idea how much wine I consumed, but by the size of my headache the next day at our bloody mary lunch I would say it was a lot. You gotta just plow through. Stay strong and keep on goin.

It's for sure a crazy family, but for that crazy bunch I am thankful. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving yourselves. Would love to know what traditions you and your family share.