A Visit Of Biblical Proportions

I just got back from making the final airport run to take the last of our Thanksgiving holiday guests home. It was a fine four days - a good time was had by all - but certain aspects of it reminded me of stories from the Bible.

The most obvious parallel is to the plaque of locusts that Moses visited upon Egypt. We had four high-school boys here, and they consumed food like the government consumes taxes. There was no satisfying them, no end to their insatiable appetite, and you got near their flashing silverware or chomping teeth at your own risk. It was like watching branches disappear into a wood chipper.  

A representative breakfast (and another Biblical parallel - take note of how everything goes by twos):
2 pounds of bacon
2 dozen eggs
2 tubes of biscuits
2 quarts of orange juice
2 jars of salsa

I got tired of standing at the stove and cooking, so the next day I whipped up a quick breakfast casserole - 2 pounds of pork sausage, 4 pounds of hash browns, 2 onions, 2 cups of shredded cheese, 2 cups of milk, and 6 eggs. There were actually leftovers, although that might have had something to do with the two tubes of biscuits and 1 pound of sweet rolls that were served along with the casserole.

Thanksgiving dinner consisted of an 18 pound turkey and a 6 pound turkey breast, along with a 4 pound baked ham and a multitude of side dishes. Dessert was 5 pies and a chocolate cake. We actually had enough leftovers for two more meals ... barely.

But all in all it was a good holiday. We enjoy each others company. The kids are good kids. There was a nice mix of shopping for the gals, football for the guys, outdoor activities for everyone (the weather was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous), and they left before we got tired of them (and visa versa). Even the dogs behaved themselves.

Now it's back to the grind. One more week of classes, then finals. Of course, the administrators have crammed all the meetings they blew off earlier in the year into the next week, but I can tolerate them because in 10 short days it'll be the between-semester break for me. Thirty days of no students, no classes, and no administrators. Of course, I have some research projects to work on and a couple of conferences to attend, but that's okay. It beats the regular routine.

It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it...