Ten on Tuesday

Ten Things I Love About Thanksgiving

(photo credit: Katherine Dunn)

1. Cleaning. All right, you got me: I hate cleaning. What I love is having a clean(ish) house after cleaning. By clean, since we have a cleaning lady, I mostly mean less cluttered. This year part of cleaning will be packing stuff up to be given to charity. I already gave away a bunch of clothes, and I believe there are quite a few more I can clear out.
   
2. Menu planning. We are having the traditional fare — turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, squash. Negotiations are proceeding as to what else we are having and who is cooking it. Grant loves creamed onions, for instance; I wouldn't go out of my way for them, and I certainly wouldn't peel them. We'll see if Joy's trick (throw them in boiling water for a couple of minutes) helps with the peeling.
   
3. Shopping. The crowds, not so much, but there's a farm stand on the other side of town that always has fresh turkeys for the holidays. I don't go there often, because 1) it's expensive 2) it's on the other side of town, but it's a wonderful sensory-overload experience. They have amazing fresh fruits and vegetables at all times of year.
   
4. Family. This year we are hosting my parents and my brother. There will be walking and laughter and possibly even bridge.
   
5. Baking. I love to bake when I have time. There will be much pie. (Hence the walking: we have to do something to counteract some of those calories.)
   
6. Food. See menu planning and shopping above. There's something about making it all edible for my family that restores my soul. Hokey, I know, but I love it anyway.
   
7. Watching football. I don't watch it a lot, though I'm much more of an NFL fan since the Patriots got good (I know, I know, but for the first 25 years of my life they were perennial cellar dwellers), but football just goes with Thanksgiving, don't ask me why. (Plus this year the Patriots get the dubious honor of playing on Turkey Day.)
   
8. Time off work. 'Nuff said.
   
9. Playing games. We all love card games, board games, word games, the goofier the better.
   
10. Thinking about Christmas. This year we will host Christmas as well — it's really easier for us to manage Taz at our house — and I'm not ready to think about it until after Thanksgiving, when it is officially the season. Some years we observe all the standard family rituals, and others we throw a new wrinkle or two into the mix. I'm looking forward to this year.