I like family holidays....

Predictions in the news say travel will be higher this year as folks head home for Thanksgiving.

I like family holidays. I know they're always the butt of jokes ... but I enjoy getting together with my sisters and parents and extended kin. No, we're not the Brady Bunch. But my family is, after all, my family.

My sisters and I have always been extremely close even though one sister lives in Texas. That doesn't matter. We keep in touch through phone calls and emails ... and when we actually physically get together - it's a blast! My middle sister is flying in from Austin with her family so we'll all be together on Thursday with my youngest sister and her family, my parents, my husband and kids, and my cousins.

Already the turkey is thawing and recipes have been selected through phone calls about who is bringing what. We'll cook and laugh, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and football, and play board games. At some point we'll gather around the piano for the first run through Christmas carols ... and we'll just enjoy the fun of all being together.

It's a chance to slow down ... and it offers a respite from politics even though politics will be discussed around the dining room table amongst my all-Republican family.

Yep. I like family holidays....