Thanksgiving Thoughts

I don't celebrate in the idealic way of pilgrims sharing food with the Indians and happy dancing turkeys and all that.  We all know that is a false version of what really happened.

My Thanksgiving is a day given to thankfulness. I'm thankful to have four healthy beautiful children. I'm thankful for a loving, caring, generous husband. I'm thankful for a mostly okay extended family. I'm thankful for a roof over our heads, property to call our own, food to fill our bellies.  I cook a large meal every fourth Thursday in November in celebration for all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for. Also to show my love for family through good food.

Americans have gotten away from Thanksgiving. We are letting the corporate world encroach and destroy a great holiday. Instead of relaxing with family, enjoying company and food, we are tramping around stores trying to score a big deal on an object we will probably replace or not use in a few months.  It's all about the money, family does not exist as it should. This year we have pre-black Friday sales. So now you can leave your family at home and get your lonely, greedy self to your local big box store to save a few bucks (that you probably spent in filling the gas tank for this event) and buy that item that the store only carries a few of and so will probably not even be there anyway.  Of course you also get to enjoy the madness of standing room only, people pushing and shoving and just being discourteous, stores.  Sounds like a grand time all on Thanksgiving night before the turkey is even cold.

I also hear now you can celebrate Thanksgiving on whatever day you feel like it.  Saturday work better for you? Have it then, who cares.  How about celebrating it on the first of November. It doesn't matter that the actual holiday is three weeks away as long as it's convienent for everyone. I didn't realize life was suppose to be convienent. How did I miss that memo?

I love Christmas. I love watching the Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music(which I've been doing for more than a week already). I have already begun Christmas shopping. However, I love Thanksgiving as well. The excitement of planning out a big meal and hoping the timing works so everything is done at the same time. Making my house smell of pumpkin pie, fresh bread and roasting turkey.  Seeing the drool dripping from the chins of my loved ones as I pull one yummy dish after another out of the oven. Listening and trying to watch the Macy's Day parade on t.v. as my kids and hubby wrestle and I try to get those eggs to whip to a meringue.

Then, we all set down to a table loaded down with delicious sights and smells. We say what we are most thankful for this year. Next we bow heads and give a moment of praise to God for without Him nothing is possible.

After everyone has an overfull tummy and buttons are loosened, we gather around the xbox to play games as a family. We laugh, tease, and love each other. Let the world outside our front door scurry from store to store, aimously hoping to obtain that next material good. We KNOW what the true meaning of Thanksgiving should be and it doesn't end in -mart.

Happy Birthday Once Again

I made it through another year. Is it just me or do the years seem to go by faster and faster as we get a bit older. It seems as I was just writing a post on my 33rd birthday and here it is my 34th already. I've officially left my early thirties and now entering my mid-thirties. 

So what has the past year brought me? Well there have been two 5k races, a 16th wedding anniversary for Hubby and I, I gained another teenager (thankfully I have two years before youngest son becomes one), I lost a step-grandma, grandmother-in-law, and a great grandmother. I've nearly finished two more semesters of college (only about 2 more to go before I finish my undergrad). I've not really lost any weight but I believe I've gained in my fitness goals.

This time next year I'll, hopefully, be planning my graduation and getting ready to experience the joys of having a 16 year old daughter.