Saturday, November 6, 2010

Thanksgiving?

Last week was full of shopping and decorating and getting ready for our 1st annual Scarecrow Making party. It was great fun, well worth all the effort and I promise to post pics on that and Halloween trick or treating fun on another post. This one is about Thanksgiving!

I staggered through a T@rget, a Wallyworld and a grocery store this week, getting medicine for my child, orange juice and a few other necessities. As I trolloped up and down the aisle, I begin to notice all of the Halloween things gone and suddenly it was Christmas...everywhere I went! I had to stop and think...did I become Rip Van Winkle and skip Thanksgiving this year? I mean, there was not a turkey or pilgrim in sight! I was so sad. I had hoped to be purchasing some cool turkey napkins for our Thanksgiving feast, a candle or two and maybe even a new Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim figurine. I love Thanksgiving. I love Christmas too, don't get me wrong...but they are apples and oranges in my fruit bowl. I love them both the same.

Growing up as an only child turkey day was usually just my parents and I. As I got older, I began to watch soap operas and live vicariously through the big Hughes or Bauer family Thanksgiving dinner complete with silver and china and flower arrangements and servants serving the golden brown turkey. Now, don't get me wrong, I had wonderful Thanksgivings...my mom is an awesome cook and she always decorated our home beautifully. There was just something about the drama or ten or twelve people sitting around a table that appealed to me. Later in my young adulthood, I was able to experience a large family Thanksgiving a few times and even though now, my family is just three, when we are together with my parents and in-laws we get up to seven. It would be wonderful if my child had her cousins for the holiday, but they live far away and sadly we don't get to have those big family holidays like I always dreamed of with them.

I love the traditions of the holiday, preparing every one's favorite dish, the smells of the house, the tv blaring, my child laughing, the adults talking and then snoring after the meal. I love going outside in the evening and taking a walk through our woods, coming back for some dessert afterwards and the cleanup afterwards. I love using my china, having a festive centerpiece, letting my child make hand painted turkey place mats. I love the warmth of family that this holiday brings.

So since the retail stores are done with Thanksgiving before it is even here, I want to celebrate it every day until it arrives here on my blog. Each day I am going to post one thing I am thankful for...if you have a blog, please join me and post one thing each day on your blog. If you want to leave a comment each day of something you are thankful for that would be cool. If you just want to read my thankful post each day and think of something you are thankful for as you read...that will be great too! I just want us all to realize how much we have to be thankful for this year, and I don't think one day is gonna do it...at least not for me!

Thankful Post #1

I am thankful for the chill in the air and the beautiful leaves outside my window.Living Thankfully Happy in the Moment!
Bev

2 comments:

Molly said...

Today I am thankful for the amazing friends we have in our lives.

The Gang's Momma! said...

Oooh, pretty new blog look. And I hear ya on the Thanksgiving gloss over in the retail world. Personally? I think it's cuz SELF sells, and promoting gratitude is NOT SELF-FUL enough to merit that same hoopla that Christmas and Halloween merits...

I mean, you never hear ads about "buying yourself a little Thanksgiving treat" while you are shopping, do ya? And you never hear, "Thank yourself with a little sumpin sumpin when you are shopping for gifts that make you the best, rockin'-est friend/wife/mother/daughter/aunt on the planet...."

Stepping off my soapbox now...