A Gainesville Thanksgiving Reality Check

So I'm in Gainesville for Thanksgiving. It's good to see my family again.

I got to my parents' house around 11 P.M. on Wednesday. I was pretty tired and so were they so we went to bed soon after I arrived.

Today was eventful. This morning we went to the John Paul II Mission off of Atlanta Highway in Gainesville. The mission is in the middle of the Hispanic part of town. This area is a very poor area, with run down houses and trailers everywhere. Anyway we brought food and drinks to the mission and helped serve the needy folks who otherwise would not have had a Thanksgiving meal. It was pretty gratifying and it helped realign my perspective. You don't know how good you have it until you see people who don't have much at all. I'm glad I decided to go and help. There were many smiling faces when we left.

We ate our own Thanksgiving meal when we got back to the house. My mom had to work today so we ate early. The meal was excellent as usual. Afterwards my Dad and I tried to watch the Lions-Titans game, but it was such a blowout that we decided to play dominoes instead. I put some music on and rolled the bones onto the floor. Midway through our game my grandfather shows up unannounced. I've never been close to him but it was good to see him. Unfortunately my mom wasn't here to see him. He didn't stay very long since he's been feeling bad lately.

After he left my dad and I finished our game. He ended up winning this round. I then took Mona for a walk and decided to call Casey. I talked with her for a while then hit the baseball with my brother and sister. They were amazed at how far I could hit the ball. It's nice to be the big brother that can impress them. Honestly, I had fun playing with them.

I've got to change the brakes on my car tomorrow. I may have to get one of the rotors turned since the metal from the brake calipers has been scraping on it. Hopefully it won't need to be replaced. Tomorrow night I'm heading to Athens to see the crew and go to the Tech game. Hopefully the winning streak will continue.

I'm listening to Because of the Times by Kings of Leon. I would say it's their best album. Then again, they haven't made a poor album to date.