Holiday weekend potpourri

What an action-packed weekend. In a nutshell, was surrounded by family on Thanksgiving, then did the insane but fun Black Friday shopping trip with my sister and her friends, met a childhood friend of my mother's on Saturday and spent today getting back into my home routine (gym, church, writing my book).

Random thoughts from the four-day span:

-- My train ride with a fresh issue of O magazine was delightful Wednesday night.
-- I missed my blog.
-- My mother's stuffing is a little piece of heaven.
-- I taught my 3-year-old nephew to say, "Bonjour, Aunt Nancy" and "Merci beaucoup." He is a riot.
-- My 2-year-old niece took me by the index finger into my parents' bedroom so I would wind up my mother's music box over and over again. She is such a fun combination of angelic and assertive.
-- Saturday I saw a side of each of my parents that was new to me. Sometimes it takes a while for us to figure out our parents are people capable of an array of behaviors and emotions. It was illuminating, positive.
-- I am so, so thankful for my friends.
-- The sermon at church this morning was about how our bodies are central to our spirituality. How our "good" qualities and our "bad" qualities are central to our spirituality. How so many of us must undo the thinking of childhood religions that said otherwise.
-- I've been talking about how Desperate Housewives isn't as good this season as it was last. Tonight it was phenomenal. You have to love when Gabrielle takes on a bitchy nun, Bree finds out her husband was murdered and Lynette gets her boss fired after seeing her in a compromising position with the help. And, to boot, the wrap-up by the narrator had the same message on "good" and "bad" as the church sermon this morning.

That's all, folks.