Tanksgibbin

It was actually Thanksgiving, of course, but we've always given Trap the greyhound his own voice, and in Trap-speak, it's Tanksgibbin.

Thank God it's over. I mean, I love my family but seriously. Do we really need to eat that much food?

Ok. It's my fault since I'm the "cooker" for every holiday. But there's guilt about not having enough food so I cook more than we need.

Trap LOVES any holiday that has turkey attached to it as he's the receiver of the prized "turkey neck". He grabs it and high tails it to the back door waiting to be let out because he knows he's not allowed to mow down on it anywhere inside the house. Outside is the appropriate place for the slobber-fest that's going to take place.

Now, before anyone tells me that dogs shouldn't eat raw stuff, keep in mind that Trap is a greyhound of the racing variety, although retired, and has eaten a healthy supply of raw food since day 1. There's a huge population of greyhounds that eat nothing but a raw diet, and they're happy and healthy - usually more so than the kibble-fed greyhound population.

Anyway.

My aunt and uncle came from Timmins and it's always great to see them. I don't get to see them very often and I really enjoy their company. My uncle had a stroke a few years back so he's not 100% clear all the time, but he's still got his great personality.

My mother came with the beast from hell. That would be Ginny, her Yorkshire Terrier. I am NOT a little dog person. Ginny has bottom teeth that stick out, so her two bottom canines protrude giving her this demonic look. She used to run up behind Trap and chew his back legs until Trap finally stepped on her trying to get away. She's hasn't done it since. Instead she runs around the house, vaulting herself onto furniture regardless of whether someone happens to be occupying it or not.

My in-laws came too. They don't exactly fit in with my family. We are loud, outspoken, hand-waving, politic-talking, religion-bashing (at times) people who quite often debate issues in a heated manner. My in-laws are extremely quiet, simple people. They're not up-to-date on politics or world events. Their lives pretty much revolve around who won the hockey game, who's playing in the CFL (that would be the Canadian Football League - the Hamilton Ti-Cats are our contribution to the league here in Hamilton), who died, old cars, and their walk to Herbie's (the local grocery/drug/dollar/parephenalia store).

So while my family is trash-talking the political leaders, debating religious views (my family are Anglicans [praticing and not], in-laws are Catholic [devout]), screaming over wars and news stories, these two meak, not very informed people sit and stare at us like we've just landed our little spaceships on the front lawn and are in the process of speaking in beeps and blips.

Makes for kind of an uncomfortable evening at times. Why? Because I have guilt that they're not "getting" what we're talking about. And they rarely do. My husband will have quiet side conversations with them keeping them entertained while the rest of us carry on. To explain things simply, they just haven't had the experiences in their lives that afford them knowledge. They never travelled, never changed jobs, never got involved in anything besides card games. They've been rather uninformed their entire lives, and prefer to gossip about people they know and try to out-do their own family members. Who has the most expensive car, who has the newest dish-washer.. well, you get the point.

Anyway. One of my cousins came as well which was great. We don't see him very often even though he only lives about 30 minutes away. And, he brought a bottle of red wine. Need I say more?

So after the turkey, the roast, mashed potatoes, baby carrots, roasted asparagus, candied sweet potatoes, spinach au gratin, perogies, dessert and a few bottles of wine were gone, it was over again until Christmas. Trap can't wait!