Hate on me, hater. Now or later, 'Cuz I'm gonna do me, you'll be mad baby.

A few thoughts for the week that will make no sense to anyone but me, mostly.

1. I think the quantities of Diet Coke I've been ingesting (in the lime twist and cherry varities) in the last few years have finally started to eat a hole in my stomach. There's a reason you can use it to clean the terminals on a car battery. UGH. Must chug antacid. Or, it could be turkey and stuffing overload. Ask again next week. I may need to switch to a high H2O intake for a while.

2. You shouldn't open Pandora's box unless you're 100% certain you can accept what's inside. Once it's open, it's impossible to close. Even the people who didn't have a choice in opening the box can't close it.

3. Wikipedia defines an ethical dilemma as: "a complex situation that will often involve an apparent mental conflict between moral imperatives, in which to obey one would result in transgressing another. This is also called an ethical paradox since in moral philosophy, paradox plays a central role in ethics debates." Some days I envy the dumb, pointless lumps of what could be considered humanity that stumble around without a conscious. But only a teeny tiny bit. Then I wake up and smell the reality.

4. Sometimes you love your relatives very, very much but you still wanna smack them upside the head in hopes that it gives them a a ride on the clue train. You can't help someone who doesn't help themselves. I struggle with trying to remember this - I care, but it's no my problem and I can't fix it. (and shouldn't - it's not really my job)

5. Can someone define normal for me? I think I've forgotten what it should look like.

6. I am still in the process of trying to make myself a better person inside and out. I doubt this process ever ends, but some quality milestones would be nice every now and then. One day at a time. One day at a time.

Hope everyone had a good Turkey Day. I played chef for my family and a few friends, and whipped up a turkey (which took 2 boxes of stock and 2 bottles of beer to make - lush turkey with a drinking problem, I tell ya!), ham, mashed taters, sweet tater casserole, green bean casserole (my own recipe) Michael Symon's fried brussel sprouts, homemade gravy, from-scratch cranberry sauce and lazy people's store bought rolls.

My grandmother, the queen of all pastry, made the pumpkin pies. And I visited my fave baker to pick up a dutch cherry pie. (Great Scott's stickers don't lie - it's bakery you'll dream of!)

It went really well and my house hasn't been this clean in ages.