Of all the holidays, Thanksgiving is my favorite. For one, I love the essence of Thanksgiving. Getting together with your family to celebrate your blessings. Laboring in the kitchen to make comfort food from the Harvest. It's an awesome holiday if you ask me.
But the real reason I love Thanksgiving is that is it the only holiday that we have at our house. With both of us having divorced parents and extended family who live locally, Christmas is a holiday filled with lots of carpooling. Easter is always with Nana and the Church of the Everlasting Egg Hunt. Mother's Day has yet to be the day where I get a day off and has morphed into just another Sunday.
So when we bought this little house three years ago, I put my foot down to travelling on Thanksgiving. Every year, we invite all of our family and some of our very special friends. Whoever can make it will come. There is no formality to the day other than the fact that I pull out my nicest china.
This year we played for hours on the Wii, watched Gunsmoke with my Uncle Jimmy, and had a heated game of Phase 10. There was lots of pie, a very delicious smoked turkey, and rolls made almost exclusively by Darius (mom just had to help with the oven part). I sat across the room watching Neville talk to my 87 year old Grandma. Every time she laughed, my heart overflowed with joy.
I stayed up until 1am with my mom, long after our guests had gone home. We shared another piece of pie and debated about shopping on Black Friday. It was a great day. It was a great night.
Then I woke up at 8am on Friday with the start of a cold. A first it was just a teeny tiny runny nose. Now it has morphed into a full blown head cold. I have a call into my doctor to get sinus medication because I can already tell that it's coming.
Even while I sit in bed, nursing myself back to health, I am thankful. Thankful for my crazy family and our abudance of happiness. I'm thankful for an understanding boss, a rewarding job, and the benefits that come with it. I'm thankful for Neville who bought hamburgers last night when I said I wasn't feeling good and got up with Darius this morning to get him ready for school. And I'm thankful that I had the foresight to order hot lunch for Darius this morning. And even while I sit here freezing cold, miserable, cough-y and only able to breathe through one nostril, I am thankful for my health.
