Tomorrow we do the whole Thanksgiving deal at my in-law’s. This means great food and conversation as well as lots of laughs. This is a pretty lively and camera-happy crew. You will frequently bear witness to a person taking a photo of a person taking a photo of the food or of some family member’s antics. And sometimes there are some “dueling cameras” moments as well — digitally captured by a third, fourth, and fifth party of course. This is all highly entertaining to watch. But at the same time it is sort of a mixed bag for me.

My father-in-law’s siblings, spouses, and their families, (who are now scattered across the US) are some very intelligent, energetic and overachieving people. One person taught physics at Georgia Tech. My father-in-law is a retired Chemistry professor…. Another is a bankruptcy attorney. Two people used to bowl professionally…. Another was a professional dancer…. Another person runs his own, very large and successful company. One of Marc’s cousins is in Italy working on superconductors and stuff like that. Another is in the CIA…. Another is in the FBI…. Shall I go on?

I come from a long line of German Catholic farmers who were very devout, uneducated and dangerously fertile. I always feel like instead of addressing me as “Lisa”, Marc’s family should just address me as what I REALLY am. “The one who will seriously dumb down their family gene pool.”

I think they are cautiously optimistic Seth has been “spared” and have adopted a “wait and see” plan. If he proves to have the intelligence, creativity, or ambition — I’m in the clear. If not, then I’ll probably just stick to the backyard and lick the leftovers off of the plates at future gatherings.

If you’ve read my previously posted entry, you will see that I should probably resign myself to a spot next to Buddy (the dog) in my in-law’s back yard.