I admit it. I had to do a double take when I looked at the calendar the other day. How can Thanksgiving possibly be next week!? Weren’t we just watching fireworks from a blanket on a grassy hill? Wasn’t it just the State Fair? Did Father Time put his foot on the accelerator and burn rubber?

I arrived home Monday night and Peter said he had just got off the phone with his folks in Fargo. “They say ‘hi’ and proposed that we skip Thanksgiving this year” My very rational and sensible father-in-law said that they decided not to travel down, they’ll see us all in a few weeks at New Years. And no, we don’t have to go over the river and through the woods up 94 to Fargo.

I stopped in my tracks trying to process this information. Wait a minute. Whuh? You mean it’s just us? We’ve alternated holidays with our respective families for the last six years. We either travel to Illinois, North Dakota or host a houseful of out-of-town guests here. That is what we do.

You mean to say we don’t have to pack all of Ben’s gear or load up the car and find a kennel for the dog? I don’t have to do a mass grocery shop, keep a perpetual pot of coffee brewing or make my sweet potato souffle? Is that what you are trying to tell me?

A smile started to grow on my face as I did a slow fist pump “….yesssss!!” Now mind you, our relatives are easy company and very gracious houseguests, but the prospect of having no responsibilities and no travel took a huge weight off of my shoulders.

My mind started to go a million miles an hour as I did a little jig on the kitchen floor. It would be like the orphaned holidays of our twenties. We’ll hang out together, eat, be lazy, watch dvd’s all day, eat some more - hey maybe even go out to eat and be waited on!? How about that?

I did feel a wash of guilt come over me about my excitement at this prospect. But we’ll spend time with both of our extended families in a matter of weeks. This will be our first major holiday together and it will be just the three of us. We have, afterall, officially spun off into our own little family unit. Now it is our turn to start our own traditions, spend quality time together, and create our own memories. And for that, I am truly thankful.

ps: Just a cribnote.

I also wanted to alert our readers to the new Holifrazzle blog. Gail Rosenblum and Kim Yeager will provide you with helpful tips and wittily assist you in navigating the upcoming holiday weeks. Check it out!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 14th, 2006 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Family Life, Holidays, Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.