I Should Have Known Better

For the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving I was positively giddy with excitement at the thought of the upcoming holiday. First, I was beside myself with the idea that I would have two, possibly three, days out of the office. Second, I was overcome with joy at the thought of Beajoulais Nouveau and turkey and, oh, whatever else I could find at a traditional Thanksgiving dinner like pecan pie or chocolate pie or cherry pie. Third, I was looking forward to spending the better part of 4 days playing with La Luz in Thibodaux where she spent so much of her early life during our evacuation without any of the distractions of home. Although the weekend was wonderful (with the exception of the mosquitos - why are there mosquitos in November?), it did not play out precisely as I had anticipated.

By Wednesday night I started feeling sick and by Thursday morning Christian had such a bad ear infection that his doctor finally called in a prescription for him. La Luz was feeling much better after three days on antibiotics but by Thursday night I would have offered up my left pinky toe for some relief from my sore throat. So, by Friday morning I was also on antibiotics. What a sorry lot we were - barely able to swallow that turkey I had been thinking about for so long and certainly not able to go anywhere near the wine. It isn't like I was going to behave like a glutton, I just wanted to indulge a bit.

We were lucky enough to have the family around so it made it easier for us to recover. Notwithstanding the awful colds, we still managed to carry-on and enjoy the incredible weather and scenery. (For more check out www.banosfamilia.blogspot.com) There is nothing like being out at there during the harvesting season. Yea, the fields on fire sometimes make it difficult to breathe but I love the smell. I also love the sound of the trucks loading the cane and the tractors rolling in and out of the fields like clockwork, all day long.

La Luz is so comfortable in Thibodaux. Watching her eating lunch on the porch while she watched the cane trucks come and go made me realize that the sounds and smells that I love are also special to her because of the time she spent in that exact same place last year. The flags, the birds, the windchimes, the horses - they are all things that she knows so well and loves. Here are some pictures of La Luz's Thanksgiving weekend: