Thanksgiving in the desert.

The Thanksgiving holiday started when my brother and his family picked me up in Las Vegas Wednesday morning for the four and a half hour ride to Phoenix for Thanksgiving with the parents. On the way down we played catch up - "How has Las Vegas been since the massacre? Did they ever figure out any sort of motive?" My younger brother Jamie was driving and his wife Cathy and my youngest niece Makaila were riding in back - "Nothing is clear on the motive as far as I have heard. You are starting to hear one conspiracy theory after another." I then ask how things are in Kansas, "Same shit different day," is his answer.

We arrive at the parents and settle down for a drink. I tell dad the stuff I am seeing in Las Vegas and where I think the Trump presidency is leading it towards - "I can tell you this unequivocally, most Asians are fans of Trump. And the reason is they feel he is a business man and that's what Asians are all about. Chinatown is booming and all the restaurants I told you about have only multiplied." Chinatown and all the possibilities are not one of his favorite things to discuss - "Remember when you were there last time. It cost you money and you didn't get anything out of it. I don't want to see that happen again." The failures have been many in my life, but still I must keep trying. Chinatown is an easy fix given the right support - "Last time I let go of the restaurants without a solid deal for me on the back end. This time will be much more different. I will shoot for fifty of them under my umbrella. Once that happens I will find a suitable platform for them with a square deal for us. I killed it once down there and didn't know what I was doing. Just imagine what could happen now that I know how things work."

We spend the Thanksgiving Day devouring everything in sight and watching football. The next day Jamie, Cathy & the kids head to a relatives wedding on the other side of town. I ask dad & Sharon if they want to go see a movie. They politely decline so I head to Daddy's Home 2 all by my lonesome. The movie was funny. You can't go wrong with Mark Wahlberg has always been my thought. When I get back from the movie he asks how it was - "I don't think Daddy's Home 2 is going to win any Oscar's, but it was funny and I enjoyed it." He asks who all was in it - "Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson & John Lithgow were the main stars. I tell you this much anytime Mark Wahlberg is in a movie you know it is going to be good." My dad is not familiar with Mark Wahlberg's history so I tell him how he once the leader of Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch and now he is the biggest movie star there is. He asks what my favorite movie of his is - "Oh, that is an easy one," I then add - "Boogie Night's is the greatest film of all time."

Saturday afternoon we settle around the television to watch my fathers alumni (Kansas State) play their season finale against Iowa State - "Jesus, I swear I am going to have a heart attack watching this game," I say to the rest of the family. The final play of the game will live in Wildcat lore forever - "Yes!" Jamie yells as Thompson tosses the winning pass with no time on the clock - "Way to go K-State!" Dad yells with a smile. Everyone stood up and started high fivin' each other after the Wildcat victory. It was a moment I will not soon forget.

Sunday comes and it is time to say goodbye to the parents and make my way back home. Jamie and his family were flying out of Vegas as well. So I caught another ride home with them. On the way back we discuss the Chiefs and what they should do to break away from their slump - "Bench Alex is the first thing I think Andy should do. Give the kid his spot now. There is other stuff to be done as well but start with a change at QB1 and go from there." Jamie adds - "The offensive line isn't playing all that well and their defense is suspect as hell. How do they go from playing as well as I have ever seen them to playing as bad? All in six weeks. What a sham!"

I would like to end the post by telling everyone how grateful I am to have such swell family and friends. I hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday as well. Oh, one more thing, my friends Junior & Brenda were in town for the holiday weekend and I ended up having dinner with them Monday night. What an awesome way to end the holiday.