Thanksgiving weekend

Sneaking away from everyone upstairs around the fire to write this. It has been a fantastic holiday weekend so far. Some highlights:

--Thank you to Anne, David and Grandma Jean for being so flexible on Wednesday and coming at 8 p.m. instead of 1:30 p.m. The extra time allowed me to finish cleaning the house, pay some bills and further de-clutter my mail. So I was completely ready for our guests.

--Thanksgiving Day was great. David and Grandma Jean took turns reading to and playing with Rachel while Drew and I busied ourselves with the turkey, the pumpkin cocoa cake (which I really should have made Wednesday night; I'll know better next year!) and the side dishes. We sat down to dinner at 5:30 and by 9 or so, had ripped through the lemon roasted turkey, bourbon spiked yams, stuffing, green bean casserole (Anne's specialty), cranberry relish (Amanda and Jenn, who arrived around 1:30 by train) and pumpkin pie (Jenn), plus the cake. I hereby give up any attempt to make pumpkin pie ever in my whole entire life because Jenn's is cleary so superior I will never be able to touch it. I did, however, make whipped cream with powdered sugar. Color me intimidated.

--On Friday Anne, Jean and David and Jenn & Amanda and I had a lazy breakfast of nut bread and cinnamon rolls (Grandma Jean -- thanks!), cereal and bacon. Then Jean, David and Anne went to visit Doug, Linda and the kids and Amanda, Jenn, Drew, Rachel and I took a walk in Tryon Creek State Park. Rachel stole Jenn's hat and had a great time clowning around in it. We ordered in pizza when we got back and I promised everyone popcorn and homemade hot chocolate. We ate and drank while watching Toy Story 2 (which Rachel stayed awake for about half before her lids grew heavy and it was really time to put her down to sleep) and then the grownups watched "The American" with George Clooney (terrible; don't rent it). Anne, David and Jean got back about 1/4 of the way through the movie.

--Today was great, too; we all went to Kenny & Zuke's, Portland's approximation of a NYC deli, for brunch. Rachel was wonderful and so well-behaved; she impressed everyone by artfully drinking from a full-to-the-brim glass of orange juice; half a bagel; most of Drew's challah French toast and a fruit cup. Halfway through the meal she wandered over to my end of the table and asked, "what did YOU order, Mommy?" much to the delight of another mommy waiting for a table nearby. Anne, David and Jean went to visit Doug and Linda again while Drew, Amanda, Jenn, Rachel and I went to the farmer's market. We took them to the train station, Rachel and I went down for naps, and then Anne, David and Jean came back. We lit a fire and sat in front of it with Rachel, savoring the darkness, until Drew picked up our Thai takeout. Rachel snuggled in my lap in front of the fire, then brought her soccer ball-shaped pillow from her bed and insisted I cover her with her argyle blanket. When it came time for bed, she insisted, "Uncle David books!" probably because David had been reading to her all day and showing her pictures on his iPhone. (He also was impressed with her grasp of an airplaine game on his iPod; she had a great time "flying" it while she snuggled on his lap on the couch. "See, this is what having a kid is like!" I said; he sighed and Drew piped up, "She's available for long-term rental!" Anne chimed in, "When she's old enough to come visit..." and I can see long weekends she'll spend up at the San Juans, sans Mommy and Daddy, hanging out with her cool aunt and uncle).

The most poignant thing so far: David saying to me, as he went into Rachel's room to read to her at bedtime, "remember your father took a liking to me because he never had a son; that's how I feel with Rachel because I don't have a kid." Part, if not all, of the reason that Thanksgiving with family is so important to me is because I want to build memories for Rachel so she'll always know that she's surrounded by people who love her, who will read to her and play with her and tuck her under a blanket in front of a roaring fire and give her three cookies for dessert when she really should have had only one. That's why she's such a happy kid.