First of all, I’ll say it again: My idea of Hell IS a cold day. Bah, humbug to your snow — all 6 to 8 inches of it — and the ice that fell last night.

Thanksgiving went inexplicably well. No major drama, no major trauma, but a definite underlying tension. I come from a family of porcupines — all bristly and unable to get too close to each other for fear of getting poked with something sharp.

Conversation around the Thanksgiving dinner table was rather… odd. In a discussion of Sister #2’s pregnancy, Mom mentioned that I was supposed to have been male twins named Bill and Bob. I reassured the family that I’m definitely not male, but I AM my own evil twin.

We did find out recently that my 12-year-old niece has inherited the family curse — an autoimmune disorder. She’s been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, just like me, but has a second condition complicating the situation. Fortunately, she’ll get good treatment early enough to make a difference. If my arthritis had been properly diagnosed and treated 30 years ago, I may have been able to delay or avoid joint damage. At the very least, I wouldn’t have spent 30 years being told that it was all in my head.

Many thanks to dragonet2 for entertaining the Trouble Twins while we were traveling. Sounds like they had grand time together!