The following was written on Friday but internet connectivity issues delayed posting this:Traditions and schedules will be maintained if one is to retain one’s sanity.Yesterday I enjoyed my first non-writing day in a month. I started catching up on Veronica Mars, a show I enjoy which Deb is fine with skipping. Then, as we got ready to leave, we watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade, something never missed in our household.With the rain and Long Island traffic awaiting us, though, we did make some sacrifices and hit the road before Santa arrived in Herald Square.The traffic was horrendous, incredible volume all through Connecticut and much of Westchester right to the Throg’s Neck Bridge. It could be that many got the same early start or the thick rain or more likely both, but the trip was slow and tedious. We of course listened to Arlo sing “Alice’s Restaurant” as tradition insists. We then heard about half of it again as WFUV was just minutes behind us. No matter, we had plenty of time to kill.We did arrive at Chez Rozakis after two and a half hours, making us about an hour late. Still, we visited with our adoptive family and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Robbie gobbled the olives Laurie stocks mainly just for him. They saved us pigs and blankets from the appetizer spread which was thoughtful. The dinner itself, served just the 14 of us (down from the usual 20+) but there was enough for twice that number. And it was all quite tasty.Dessert was even better.We stayed and chatted until about 10 and then we tried the return trip, hoping against hope that the traffic crunch would have ended by then. Ha. Neither the rain nor the volume let up and we got home just after midnight.Today, as is our wont, we largely stayed home to avoid Black Friday. Our only journey away from home was to tend to some banking. Deb had homework, Robbie had friends to see and me, I had a book to finish.And around 3:15 this afternoon, the first draft of Predator: Flesh & Blood was completed. Weighing in around 66,500 words, it’s fine for a first draft length. On Sunday I shall begin a light review before turning the whole thing over to Mike Friedman and moving on to the next project.Yes, even more to be thankful for.