C: On Giving Thanks

I awoke with a start this morning before 4 a.m.  It is not unusual for me to be awake at this hour, but to be so fully awake and with such purpose right off  is not my norm.  What has got me going is the holiday bustle.  Belatedly.

I’ve mentioned earlier that MIL came up with the bright idea of going out to eat.  It seemed, at first, an affront to long-standing family tradition, but as I thought it through, I came over to the other side.  We’ve found a lavish Thanksgiving buffet to attend and have duly made our reservations.  My family will gather at the restaurant this year, and each one of them seems excited by the change.

Because I am not cooking for the meal, I have not purchased one, single extra item from the store.  Son is away at the beach for a week, so it’s only me here.  My mother is coming tonight.  So I knew I had to get a few things in for while she is here.

And then it happened: the slide back toward busyness.  My sister and I met last night for dinner and decided that later on Thanksgiving Day (after we’ve all lolled on the couch having partaken too much of restaurant fare) she and her brood will come to my house to watch football (them, not me) and to do crafty things with her two youngest girls.

Therefore, it’s off to the store early this morning.  I have a full day of work to do, what with folks fighting over the kids for Thanksgiving Day visitation(horrors!).  There will be no time through the day to go to the store, and I WILL NOT attempt it on Thanksgiving Eve! 

Is there no escaping the holiday bustle?  Apparently not, and thank God!

So, I’m off to Kroger before dawn.  Makes perfect sense to me…

I’ll be gathering in foodstuffs to provision us through this afternoon family time.  No, it won’t be the traditional Thanksgiving leftovers; and no, it won’t be a feast, but it will be enough (haven’t yet decided on enough of what…).

But it’s a warm feeling—that hurried, insistent holiday preparation feeling.  And, as I get ready for the day, I think about all I have to be thankful for—and it is much. 

I have not yet mastered the ability to “be thankful in all things,” but I’m sure closer, having learned that even through troubles, reasons to give thanks arise. 

I started to make a little gratitude  list, but I cannot do it.  There is  too much for which I am thankful, and to attempt an abbreviation seems wrong, like I’m leaving out some really important thankfulness items.

So, I’ll end with just one thankful: Thanks to you all, bloggers, for being out there waiting on my missives and sharing yours with me.  I hope that each and every one of you has a wonderful holiday!  C

PS – by the way, I have long ago outgrown that Black Friday business.  I’ll leave that pandemonium to others…but I’d love to hear your experiences if you do it!