When the school year starts each August, it becomes easy to fall into the daily grind, often causing us to lose sight of the important people and things in our lives. As day follows day and week follows week, it's a constant struggle to just stay afloat. This is just one reason I am especially thankful for Thanksgiving - it's a chance to slow down (not counting the actual turkey trot, where it was necessary to speed up) and relax with family and friends.
I was lucky enough to visit with my parents and sister (and her fiance) in Michigan. We had a simple Thanksgiving - the annual "Mighty Gobbler" turkey trot in the morning followed by a late lunch/dinner (with my aunt and uncle joining us) around the table. My personal favorite part of the meal was the pumpkin pie. Mmm...
Also, my sister and I spent part of Thanksgiving afternoon making the traditional family turkey apples. (We just didn't have the cloves for the eyes.)
We spent most of the day after Thanksgiving visiting our great aunt and my grandpa's best friends (who are as close to family as you can get). We shared a lot of good stories and laughs. I love the holidays. :)
My mom and I went to see the movie "Wonder" on Saturday. It stayed pretty true to the book (from what I can recall - I read it over 5 years ago), and it brought a number of tears to my eyes. I'd recommend seeing it.
Before heading out, my parents put up the Christmas tree and hung the lights. My dad even made a new tree topper for it. Then he started playing Christmas music on his guitar. It was then that I realized that I couldn't escape from all things Christmas - the time had come to give in...so I did. I downloaded Leslie Odom Jr's new holiday album for the drive home, and when I got home I wrote out and addressed Christmas cards. (I'm waiting a few days to actually send them, though.) Let the Christmas carols play and the lights shine brightly - it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And I'm okay with that.
