thanksgiving, foster style

traditionally, thanksgiving has been hailed as a time of thankful reflection, a moment to count one's blessings, sip some boiled custard, and share a norman rockwell inspired meal with rosy-cheeked relatives. the time of year to dig that snowflake pattern sweater out of the closet and resurrect those seasonal corduroy britches.

we foster children, however, do not exactly follow traditional inclinations... oh yes, there was food. lots of food; but let's talk volleyball. and i don't mean some mamsi pansy, polite patty cake game either. i'm talking ruthless, fingernail breaking, grandma spiking, game-on volleyball. yes, grandma reminded us that age is not a relevant factor and at any moment she can, and will, step up and re-establish the family pecking order. card games, you ask? oh yeah. but not bridge while nibbling triskits. that's not our style. it was a free-for-all, punch and gouge your way to the middle of the table game of Spoons. in the end, jodi owned the table with her calculated, two-handed dealing strategy, while aunt niki simply manhandled us guys into submission. not even isaac's kung fu reflexes could stand up to her lightning fast spoon grab. at one point, i remember a disheveled jodi, standing on the table, shaking a spoon at us, taunting, "who's your daddy now!?" all we could do was cower in the corner, and listen to our male egos deflate.

doubles ping pong was a hoot while shae and i doled out a couple smack downs to isaac and 'secret weapon' bill; but quickly became unpleasant when adam joined the fray with his funky top spin serve and answered with a definitive 2-0 victory over us.

by saturday night, i was aching like an old man (actually, the old men weren't complaining) and had chewed my way to the bottom of a new bottle of ibuprofen. but man did we have a lot of fun.

so, keep your egg nog induced holiday songs around the baby grand, and don't bother dragging the special silverware and china out. just give me some sweaty volleyball, an obnoxiously loud game of cards with family, and aunt carol's pumpkin pie with a plastic fork.. that's what i'm thankful for..

happy holidays everybody