We didn't have a turkey this year as it was just the three of us...we opted for a chicken and just a few side dishes. No fancy appetizers or centerpiece on the table. No guests or extended family to host. Just us.

The L O N G weekend wasn't going so well for me until tonight. Then I was able to take some time alone and dash off to my local caffeine purveyor (hint: rhymes with Car Pucks) for a post-dinner dessert drink. As I ambled down my bumpy gravel driveway in the Tortoise, I saw my neighbor loading the back of his pickup truck with furniture.

They have lived there for about 5 years now...and will be gone in a day or two. They owned the house originally, then fell on hard times, nearly went into foreclosure and were "bailed out" by one of these semi-scams where an investor buys the mortgage and then rents the house back to the bailout recipient. Well my neighbors were renting their former home for over a year and the landlord decided to sell the place. They are in their mid-50's with a daughter in junior high. They are moving to a 2-bedroom apartment in town so their daughter won't have to change schools. They told us they will likely never be able to own a home again.

It made me sad to see them packing - their situation seems so dire. And as my neighbor and I exchanged waves, I turned out of the drive and thought about our muddy torn-up lot and the demure 800 square feet of home that rests upon it. According the the taxman its 828 sq. ft to be exact. That's pretty darn dinky! But its ours. And for that, I am thankful.