Thanksgiving thoughts

Ordinarily I link up with Kristin and Joey for Stuff and Things on Thursday but since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I’m taking the day off from all things blogging and so I moved my weekly brain dump to today. But I’m focusing on Thanksgiving for this week’s topics.

I’ve done Thanksgiving posts before (you can read some Thanksgiving music stories here, my Black Friday rant here , and how we celebrate the holidays without shopping here) but I’ve never really delved into what I’m thankful for or why I love Thanksgiving as much as I do. So let’s do that now.

• My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the food. I mean, how can you not love it? But more than eating it (which, let’s face it, is basically the best part), I love cooking it. In fact, cooking Thanksgiving dinner is the highlight of my year. No sarcasm. I am a pretty decent cook and this is the one time per year I really get to show it off.
• Family time. My family is spread out all over the place and Thanksgiving is one of the few times per year the majority of us are concentrated in one location. My sisters are two of my favorite people in the world and I love getting to spend time with them, watching the Macy’s parade, cooking, laughing, and being all sisterly (including one year when we fought because they got angry with me for not liking Hairspray. Legit angry. I think there was even yelling. I like the movie now so the fight is even funnier). Plus, watching my daughter with my nephew is always fun.
• Fall. Spring still reigns as the greatest season of all but fall comes next. There’s something about the changing leaves, the new TV season, the staying indoors to read more books, the smells, the colors, the home decor, the getting dark early, the wearing of sweaters, the eating of casseroles and stews, the naps during football games, and the warmth of cozy fleece blankets that make it special. The fact that the greatest holiday of the year occurs during fall makes it that much better.
• Taking time to focus on thankfulness and gratitude. I know we’re supposed to do this all year, and I do, but the atmosphere of Thanksgiving lends itself to be extra reflective. A quick rundown of my thankful list:
  • My family. This should be obvious but I know not everyone loves their families so I consider myself lucky that I love everyone in my family, including my in-laws. And most of the time, I’m confident they love me back.
  • My pets. They pee on the floor and bark relentlessly and eat everything that’s not nailed down (and a few things that are) and the cat still refuses to sit next to me on the couch but I don’t know what I’d do without them.
  • This blog. It frustrates me at times but being able to write on my own terms and have a place to work on my dream means so much to me. Plus, the relationships I’ve formed are some of the best I’ve had in my adult life and it’s amazing how close you can be to people you’ve never actually met.
  • Books. Books are basically everything. As long as I have a book, I’m okay. Barring food, water, clothes (for the sake of the general public) and the company of my family and pets, I really don’t need anything except books.
  • Music. Music is what feelings sound like and like books, I don’t know what I’d do without it. I love that there’s a song for every situation and emotion and often, when I don’t know how to deal with my feelings, I turn on music. It’s therapeutic and entertaining and it enhances my life every way.
  • Things that make my life easier: my whole house vacuum, EZ Pass, the fence around my backyard, the internet, my iPhone, my crockpot, Amazon, the online library catalog and reservation system, and really big purses.

I hope you all (or those of you who celebrate) have a wonderful Thanksgiving, no matter how big or small your celebration is.

I’ll see you back here on Friday for another edition of Friday favorites.

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