Put On Your Eating Pants, It's Thanksgiving Day

Not to worry, I am not blogging on a holiday. I'm uploading this post a day early and then I'm off to enjoy the 2nd biggest drinking night of the year! Besides New Year's Eve, the day before Thanksgiving has always been one of the best nights to go out. So I'm going to have some fun (driving thru the snow) and enjoy my long 4 day weekend away from work and away from blogging. I've added a bunch of new posts, so you can check those out if your eyes aren't too glazed over from all the eating...and/or drinking. Happy Thanksgiving and see you on Monday!

Those aren't our family pets.
Although I'm now tempted to dress one of the dogs and the cat up like that.
I'll add that to my Thanksgiving Day festivity to-do list.

The big day has arrived! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. What's not to love - food and football all day long! If you ask me, it's a small slice of heaven. Then throw in some alcohol along with close family and friends to celebrate with and you have yourself one great day. I'm really looking forward to the long 4 day weekend. I've been cramming in all this last minute stuff at work so I can let my mind relax during the time off and just focus on cramming food in my face instead. I didn't paint a pretty picture there, did I? Anyway, it's time to put on your "eating pants" (famous phrase from Joey on Friends) because the festivities are about to begin!

I called my Mom and asked her what I needed to bring to dinner. Now we both know she isn't going to tell me to prepare a side dish. That would just be cruel to everyone involved - cruel trying to turn me into a chef and even crueler to those that would have to suffer eating my makeshift dish. So she said the magic words that I long to hear..."just bring your appetite". Perfect! Now THAT is something I can do and do very well. She also mentioned I should bring some plastic containers so I could take leftovers home. That's even better news - music to my ears. I don't want to come empty handed even though we are all family and they could care less if I did, but I'm going to pick up some flowers for my Mom and grab a nice bottle of red wine for dinner so I feel like I did do something.

They are calling for a little more snow for Thanksgiving Day, just a dusting. However, it will make great football weather. Sometimes on Thanksgiving a group of my friends get together and play a little pickup game of touch football (ok I should say tackle football because we get a little pumped up and carried away) at the local high school field. I enjoy taking part in that, but what I enjoy more is just shooting some hoops with my Dad in the driveway - just the two of us. He's always instructing me on how to get the perfect backspin off the basketball so it swooshes the net. Unfortunately for him, there is little swooshing going on and alot of bricks being thrown up. Clang after clang he tells me "oh, close one, give me another shot, I got it this time". I try not to laugh and encourage him by saying things like "yeah Dad that was right there, the rim must just be tight". I wonder this year if he will encourage the alley-oop pass to me. He enjoys seeing if I can dunk the ball while the dog takes out my legs at the same time. Maybe he is trying to kill me so there will be more turkey on the table for him?

No matter what happens, once again this year I will take my coveted seat, not at the head of the table of course since that's reserved on one end for my Dad and the other for my Grandma, but I will be seated at the "right hand of the Father" - literally. If you ask me, it's the best seat in the house. Sitting on the right hand side of my Dad excuses me from the turkey carving duties and instead places me 1st in line for the passing of food - always pass to your right as the old man says. That means I get the first slice of turkey, the first pour of gravy and the first scoop of everything! If that wasn't good enough, it also places me away from the kitchen which means if anyone needs a drink refill or something is missing from the table like salt, then that duty is on the shoulders of someone else sitting nearer to the kitchen. I know this all sounds incredibly lazy or maybe even a little male-showvanistic (however you spell that), but really it isn't. It's called being "smart". It's about getting my turkey priorities straight, my list of tasks start and end with eating lots! Then once the tryptophan kicks in I will be utterly useless and that will bring my holiday to an end...at least until it's time for a late night turkey sandwich!

So this Thanksgiving Day, let me leave you with the best dinner prayer of all. It goes like this..."good God, good meat, good bread, let's eat". It's heartfelt, isn't it?