Happy Thanksgiving

It sounds pretty un-American (and very cynical) of me to say that I've never really been a huge fan of Thanksgiving, and not just in a hey-I'm-a-kid-it's-cold-out-I-have-no-school-all-these-people-are-here-so-why-aren't-there-presents? kind of way. More like in a good-God-look-at-all-these-dishes-where-can-I-hide-to-get-out-of-doing-them? kind of way. Plus I don't really like turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce... for the first few years I had a piece of bologna for my Thanksgiving meal.

Some people really like the holiday, and I'll give them that. Even around our house there were all kinds of snacks to be had pre-dinner, and everyone was home from college (the older half of my family always felt more like cousins to me than siblings, back then. When you are the youngest of ten kids, that big gap between oldest and youngest means the oldest aren't around as much as the other guys so when they show up on holidays you don't really have anything to say to them), and there was that holiday feeling in the air, but the underlying stress to me (at, you know, five and six) was trying to figure out how to make myself scarce immediately after dinner, hoping nobody (Shelia) would notice that I wasn't around to help with the dishes and then yell at me for it. I didn't like getting yelled at AT ALL back then. Seriously, when you're six this stuff is pretty stressful.

Anyway, those days are long past and you'd think I'd come around to like the holiday, but really, not so much. Nobody has actually cooked (in my immediate family) in a long while, instead I will be swinging by the Haggens at 4pm to pick up the food, so it's not like there will be china, silver and a roaster to wash afterward. I guess it just boils down to having to go somewhere for a few hours when I'd just rather not. It could be worse. So I'm not really complaining.

But it is a four-day weekend, and that's good. I have agreed to do the Black Friday thing with those Timm girls. I've never done it before. I can't say that I will do it again. But a girl needs socks and frankly it wouldn't kill me to get out there and get festive with a family that actually digs this kind of stuff.

So shit, I'm just going to wrap up this mish-mash of early morning thoughts and say that though I may not be a big fan of the holiday, I AM thankful that I have the life that I have, the opportunities I have been given, the personality to make it all work, the kitties, the ability to pay for a big meal today, the great friends that make me a better person, and the resources to take a trip to Mexico one week from today. Who cares if I don't like turkey? It's not about that anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving!