Thanksgiving Recap (!!!)

We should have heeded our instincts from 2022 and skipped the family Thanksgiving dinner but felt it would be supportive of my brother and his family after a difficult year. (They would have been fine without us.) The house continues to devolve into a hoarder's dream - so much STUFF! I was surprise that Kattie was able to find the placemats my sister-in-law bought from me at the Augusta show. Again, no place to sit down in the living room as almost every seat is piled high with STUFF. Adding to the general chaos is the ever-present completely covered kitchen counters. No room to do anything in that kitchen for sure. Surprised it yeilded a dinner, although many of the vegetables were prepared by Fred and Betsy and brought in. (Still, we both experienced some intestinal upset the following day, not something I want to chance repeating.) And Kattie cannot seem to moderate her voice or tone at all so there is a constant noise over all the physical chaos. And I certainly will NOT be passing on any of Mom's treasures to her any time soon, until she can prove that she will honor them and not just let them collect dust. I'm really worried that should some medical emergency happen in that house there would be access issues. I'm pondering what/how to approach the issue. I'm worried about them all and I feel disrespected by their lack of concern for creating a welcoming atmosphere in their house. I don't know where the hoarding comes from - but it needs to stop. We will definitely NOT be joining them for Christmas as adding a tree and an over-abundance of gifts to that house would be unbearable for us. D. leaves today to spend the night in Portland before taking an early flight, starting his journey to Florida. Golf and lots of driving in his future. Limited time with his brother. He'll be back a week from Thursday. In the meantime, I have a 2 day show in Portland. I have finished the runner and one set of placemats, and started 2 holiday-themed wall hangings. Will work on those this week, repack the car on Friday and do the show. Next week will be stow everything away until next year, clean the house and decorate inside, and bake some cookies. We'll get our tree when D. returns. And look forward to a quiet Christmas Day. And as of Tuesday, I am no longer the vice-president of UMC, which means a much-reduced work load. I have offered to continue being the Facebook wrangler - (everyone seems to feel I did a great job this year) - and the offer has been accepted, so I can hopefully earn at least one free show space this coming year. There are some intriguing new shows on tap - we'll see if they actually come to fruition. I finished the 2 holiday wall hangings - cute stuff with button embellishments. And yesteday I signed up for the KVAA/Snow Pond show next May. Christa said she'd take care of me for a corner space - it pays to know people and have worked with them. And D. arrived in FL okay (5 hour layover in Baltimore!) and is currently on a golf course. He heads to Tarpon Springs tomorrow for a couple of days with his brother, then on to Carl's in Sun City Center.