Thankful for Thanksgiving Pt I - Casa Bonita

Sadly, the days off from work are nearly over.  It was a nice break after some really long days.  I still have a couple long days ahead, but at least I got to enjoy being thankful with Tom's family.   Wednesday: I cooked up a storm!  Tom was hosting his family from New Mexico, and he enlisted me to help with a few dishes.  I left work early to make mashed potato casserole, gravy, and the biscuit mix.  It took a lot longer than I expected, so I got stuck in horrendous traffic on the way to dinner.  Ahhh DINNER!  I finally got to find out what everyone was talking about when they said the food at Casa Bonita is awful.  The menu offered nothing vegetarian, though a few combo plates had single meatless items.  Lucky me, they offer a "cheese deluxe", similar to the chicken and beef "deluxes", which are all you can eat and come with sopapillas.  The "cheese deluxe" was three cheese enchiladas smothered in fake cheese.  There was guac and lettuce on one side and beans and rice on the other.  Since it was all you can eat, I asked for more...of the guac and lettuce.  Tom's brother and sister-in-law had also never been, so we reveled in the newness, and quickly learned to hope not to come back.  Well, maybe they liked it.    I took off with the kids to wander around, watch the "cliff divers", and head into the arcade (the kids got tokens free, I think).  I was ready to head back to the table, as the game room was too much excitement for me, but then it occurred to me that left at the table was Tom, his siblings, and his parents.  No spouses, girlfriends, kids...  I had no idea when the last time they were all together was, and I could only imagine what they might be talking about, so I let it alone.  Gratefully, we made our way back to Tom's for more merriment sooner than later, all the kids with their new prizes from the arcade.   What a full day!