The Problem With Family Gatherings ....

Most people that I know, get along with their extended families pretty well. By extended, I mean, more than just the immediate family. If you're married with kids, I refer to your parents, siblings and their families, maybe even go so far as uncles,aunts, and cousins, too. But for a few holidays of the year, getting the family together is expected. Well, I say most, though I could be statistically wrong, I don't know. Either way, I am referencing my family for the most part, because, as a compliment to them, we're pretty normal I think.

So the family all gets together at one family's house, in our case it was Sis', and proceed to have little kids running and screaming throughout, the teenagers avoiding the adults, and the adults sitting around watching TV. Yeah, matches what happened yesterday pretty much. For us, it was a normal gathering. Don't get me wrong, there was maybe a bit of 'catching up' between some people. I think most of us know what is going on with the others enough that there usually isn't much else to catch up on. Maybe just little snippets they want to share.

But what I hate about family gatherings of this sort, is the food. Granted, I don't put much say-so into what is being fixed, or how, and I don't eagerly offer to fix and bring as much as possible. Shrug. I'm a guy that doesn't care to be cooking all that. Sis and Rev. Mom do a good job of it all, organizing and deciding who is bringing what. I offered to bring something this time around, but I guess it wasn't needed. It was said that maybe Memorial Day I can bring the dessert - or part of it anyways. I haven't committed to it yet. The food was great: deviled eggs, salad, ham, yams, green bean casserole, strawberries, chips, and for dessert, key lime and vanilla pudding pies. I forgot to mention, the Olive Garden dressing for the salad - I love that stuff.

I ate too much.

I know, you're supposed to pack it in, so no one has to fight over what leftovers to take home, et cetera, et cetera. I am not putting all the blame on just Sunday though. Saturday like I said the Wife and I had Souper Salad. But I packed away quite a bit of salad yesterday, and quite a few slices of ham. The remaining salad, some ham, and the deviled eggs were sent home with us, and I finished off the rest of the salad last night for supper.

Weighed myself at the gym this morning. Gained four pounds since last Tuesday. Sigh. This week, we have a "bye" for pool league, so I get an extra week on the bet between my buddy and I, but still means extra working out at the gym, and being careful of what I eat just a bit more.

... and that is the problem with family gatherings.

PeacE