Come Through, Thanksgiving!!!
You can keep Christmas, all of it. I loooooooooooooooooooooove Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my holiday. Here’s why I love Thanksgiving: I don’t have to shop. Yup, that’s it. I hate the expectation of Christmas gift-giving. I hate exchanges even more. If you want to give a gift, do that; but gift trading is the dumbest thing to me. In my head, if we have to trade, let’s not exchange at all. Seriously, just buy what you want for yourself! You should give a gift because you want to, not because you’re expecting one in return. Besides, if I wanted to give you a gift, I had a whole year to do it!
Now that my Christmas rant is over, here’s why I love T’giving! I have two sets of traditions, one for staying home and one for spending time with family. Here we go:[vc_row content_placement=”top” css=”.vc_custom_1604247761711{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1604247798410{padding-top: 10px !important;}”]
1.
[vc_column width=”5/6″][ultimate_heading main_heading=”Staying Home Tradition:” alignment=”left” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:15px;”]I cook the Sunday before Thanksgiving and the Wednesday night before. The Sunday meal is an easy meal with 1 – 2 desserts that I plan to give away. The desserts are always NEW recipes. If they don’t turn out well….oh well! On the Wednesday, I do my version of a traditional Thanksgiving with ONE menu item that I think I suck at (this year, I’m debating working on my ham glaze or trying to make a turkey). If I’ve accepted a dinner invitation, I make a pound cake to contribute…Accepting a dinner invitation still counts as staying home because I NEVER spend an entire day at somebody else’s house unless they’re family. So, that’s the food. On Thanksgiving morning, I get up FIRST THING to run and then catch an early movie. When I come home, I spend the entire afternoon on the phone talking to family and friends who live far away. Finally, the afternoon gives way to planning my day after Thanksgiving activities (no Black Friday stuff).[/ultimate_heading][vc_row content_placement=”top” css=”.vc_custom_1604247761711{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1604247812771{padding-top: 10px !important;}”]
2.
[vc_column width=”5/6″][ultimate_heading main_heading=”Spending Time with Family:” alignment=”left” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:15px;”]I fly into Atlanta on the Monday night before Thanksgiving and head straight to the grocery store! I need ingredients for cake and snacks. I need snacks because my family and I fuss over their unhealthy food habits and my “untasty” ones. On Tuesday morning, we go to Waffle House because that’s what we do! On Wednesday, we cook all day and go back and forth about what time dinner will be served (it doesn’t matter b/c half the crew will not be there on time, no matter what time we set). On Thursday, I get up super early and sneak my aunt’s car keys because I need coffee that isn’t instant. When I go back, I make breakfast while they finish dinner. Dinner finally gets to ALMOST READY by about 1pm, and we finally get dressed. Meanwhile, the rest of the family is starting to show up because dinner is supposed to be ready at 1pm. As the cousins “fall in there”, they start talking trash because we’re not ready; however, they brought “spirits”, so they’re content to wait. Eventually, we’re all ready and Uncle Frank prays a prayer that lasts forever…it’s more of a sermon than a prayer. Then, we all hang out until the people who have to work on Friday need to leave. When the workers leave, the clubbers start getting ready. I go to bed because I’m a lightweight and can’t party all night…and my cousins talk about how sorry I am because I didn’t help with dishes. Look I’m a guest, I don’t fly across the country to clean up.[/ultimate_heading][vc_row content_placement=”top” css=”.vc_custom_1604247761711{padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1604247855269{padding-top: 10px !important;}”]
3.
[vc_column width=”5/6″][ultimate_heading main_heading=”Covid Thanksgiving?” alignment=”left” main_heading_margin=”margin-bottom:15px;”]But this is all real cute when you don’t have Covid to contend with! I can’t do movie theaters – I’m not ready for that risk. I won’t be flying home or hanging out with cousins – not ready for those risks either. So, what am I going to do? Here’s my plan: I want to swap menu items with 2 -3 friends, and do it early-ish. If we meet up early, we can walk, grab coffee, and make our trade offs! This will give us an opportunity to see each other for a little bit and get back to our respective obligations. I have one friend who makes great fried rice…I wonder what I’ll need to give her to get it . I have another friend who makes the best deviled eggs – I wonder what I gotta give to get those (maybe she’ll see this and offer up). And I’d like a really good meatloaf…but I’ve never had any of my friends’ meatloaf, but one of them should attempt it! This is not the same as Christmas gift swapping at all! I’m trading for items that I can’t make and don’t want to buy because nobody makes it like my friend![/ultimate_heading][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1604248053412{padding-top: 30px !important;}”]I finally have something to look forward to! How are you planning for your Thanksgiving?
