The Thanksgiving holiday started around noon last Wednesday, at which point it was decided no more work was possible for a tired brain, and I was looking forward to some mental recovery.

I spent the afternoon with Sean as he ran some errands before his trip to Hong Kong. He was required to purchase a round-trip ticket, so he’s scheduled to return in a month. However, if he end up with a job there, we’ll have to save some money to visit if we want to see him again. Sean’s Thanksgiving involved 14 or 16 hours on a plane, which has got to be torture, though I’m sure his visit will be worth it.

This year, instead of the typical drive to the Chicago suburbs for Thanksgiving with my mom’s family, we stayed in-town to join Kelly’s parents, and officially began the new tradition of alternating locations. I can’t remember the last time I stayed in town over this holiday, it’s possible I never have — spending time travelling by car is part of Thanksgiving memory. It’s hard to interrupt tradition, and I’d be lying if I said I did not miss the annual trip to visit extended family, but marriage has added more family to St. Louis that I also want to spend time with.

Thanksgiving dinner was of course tasty and filling, and a good time was had, but I was happy to go home with Kelly and relax in our own, less crowded, space.

The remainder of the holiday and weekend we visited The Couch with Final Fantasy X-2, the laptop, two cats, and a few blankets to keep warm. Occasionally we departed for nourishment, but were soon back to continue.

We could have gone outside for get some fresh air and exercise, but not this vacation. This year was for taking advantage of no required activity. Nothing was planned, and we were pretty intent on keeping it that way. Relaxation was the only goal, and the unknown away from The Couch threatened that. I think together we put in a total of 36 hours into FFX2. We’ve both got separate games going on, so while one was using the PS2 the other had the laptop for Internet and GunBound

Before the holiday I had speculated all the things I could accomplish with the Thanksgiving free time: read Quicksilver or Angels & Demons, watch a few movies, exercise (maybe), …sleep… all had low priority next to The Couch’s offerings.

Maybe I’ll do that stuff while we’re in town over the Christmas holiday. Hopefully I’ll have reset my sleep schedule before then so I can get some work done in the meantime.