Thursday, November 18, 2021

I have always loved Thanksgiving! I love the food, the colors, the fall vibe, and really just everything about it.

Last year was such a departure for us from our “normal”. First of all, our kids were coming home from college for the first time and staying home until January. I hated that it was that way due to Covid, but I was giddy! Both of my kids were very scared of the virus and of course, there was no vaccine. We decided to just be the four of us and it really worked for us for that very different year. We had lots of Solo Stove fires, watched tv and movies together at home (the movie theater was still closed, I think), and my kids just really enjoyed time together. They had hardly seen each other during August – November because of the strict Covid rules. For identical twins, I can only imagine that was super hard. They continued with classes online for a couple of weeks from home and then did finals from home. I continued teaching virtually and Tom continued as one of the only ones going in to his office. It was just weird times, you know?

This year, Jack and Mason only have 5 days off just like their mom. Tom also has the time off which is nice.

On Thursday we go to my sister-in-law’s house here in town and we celebrate with Tom’s side of the family. We have the traditional meal around 4:00. This year I am in charge of the sweet potatoes and the desserts.

On Friday we will go to my mom’s house with my side of the family. It is about an hour away. We usually do the traditional meal again and we also go to some of the local businesses for some Black Friday shopping – small town style. It is weird without my Dad. He loved Thanksgiving. I am very excited to see all of my nieces and nephews. We have so many teenagers now!

I like to really wear my Thanksgiving colors because after this, I am over the fall colors and I move into Christmas colors and all.the.plaids! And, I start wearing my beloved velvet. I like to dress up and I might wear a dress one or both days.

These are some options to consider:

Thoughts? What do you wear?

Healthy Strategies:

I plan to eat what I want during the Thanksgiving meals. I will try to walk both mornings and eat a healthy zero point breakfast. Then, I will just enjoy and live life

I plan to do a grocery pick up for Monday after school for the ingredients for the dishes I am making and I am going to add stuff for a few lighter meals for the days before and after. I think it will help me to have the healthier stuff on hand. I plan to make a vegetable soup.

It also helps that I will not have the leftovers at my house.

Maybe I will think about halving some recipes so I don’t have a ton leftover.

I would love to hear your plans! We are only a week away! It is so crazy how this fall has flown!

Thankful for you,

Amy