When I was a kid, we had the usual Thanksgiving traditions: lazy morning spent watching the Macy's Parade, hectic afternoon spent in a flurry of cooking, boisterous evening surrounded by too much family, stuffing our bellies with too much food, and a slightly uncomfortable night recovering from it all.
Now that it's just the two of us and we live 5 hours away from one side of the family and 8 hours away from the other, we spend Thanksgiving at home, just us. One or the other of us usually has to work the weekend after, so we don't have enough time to make the long drive to either family.
It's actually quite nice. The first year I realized we had to spend the holiday without family, I'll admit I cried a little. But it turned out to be really fun and relaxing.
We're not really tradition sort of people, but we are creatures of habits. So even our holidays tend to have the same basic rhythm. We sleep in and laze around in the morning. I still watch the Parade (forcing The Boy™ to watch), calling Sister when the Rockettes come on. We oo and aah over their costumes and loveliness, then wish each other a happy holiday before getting on with our days.
Since it's just us, we don't have to worry about pleasing a lot of varied pallets for the meal itself. We usually make a meatless turkey alternative, mushroom gravy, potatoes (white and sweet,) roasted root vegetables, stuffing, bread, cranberry sauce and a vegetable of some sort. And of course pie. Half an apple for him and half a pumpkin for me.
After dinner, we chill out. The years we can afford cable, we watch Punkin Chunkin on Discover Channel (which, if you've never seen it, is the BEST part of Thanksgiving Day. Check it out this year. Seriously.) Otherwise, we just watch whatever looks good. Sometimes, if we're not passed out from food coma, we'll play a game or two. Since we don't have to drive home, or wait for gaggles of relatives to leave, we can go to bed whenever we want. Usually on the early side.
Whatever your Thanksgiving traditions, I hope you have a happy one.
Now that it's just the two of us and we live 5 hours away from one side of the family and 8 hours away from the other, we spend Thanksgiving at home, just us. One or the other of us usually has to work the weekend after, so we don't have enough time to make the long drive to either family.
It's actually quite nice. The first year I realized we had to spend the holiday without family, I'll admit I cried a little. But it turned out to be really fun and relaxing.
We're not really tradition sort of people, but we are creatures of habits. So even our holidays tend to have the same basic rhythm. We sleep in and laze around in the morning. I still watch the Parade (forcing The Boy™ to watch), calling Sister when the Rockettes come on. We oo and aah over their costumes and loveliness, then wish each other a happy holiday before getting on with our days.
Since it's just us, we don't have to worry about pleasing a lot of varied pallets for the meal itself. We usually make a meatless turkey alternative, mushroom gravy, potatoes (white and sweet,) roasted root vegetables, stuffing, bread, cranberry sauce and a vegetable of some sort. And of course pie. Half an apple for him and half a pumpkin for me.
After dinner, we chill out. The years we can afford cable, we watch Punkin Chunkin on Discover Channel (which, if you've never seen it, is the BEST part of Thanksgiving Day. Check it out this year. Seriously.) Otherwise, we just watch whatever looks good. Sometimes, if we're not passed out from food coma, we'll play a game or two. Since we don't have to drive home, or wait for gaggles of relatives to leave, we can go to bed whenever we want. Usually on the early side.
Whatever your Thanksgiving traditions, I hope you have a happy one.
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