What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

I’m heading up to the cottage (not really a cottage. It’s Jo’s parents home. It used to be their country home, but they have moved there permanently now). It’s beautiful. On the lake, colours galore, lots of places to hike, run around and play. My two brothers in law will be there with their wives, a two year old, and two buns in the oven. I know I will be badgered about having a third child. The way I see it, there will be more wine for me because my sisters in law will be off the bottle. HA! At the dinner table we will talk politics, debate and no one will really listen to each other. My MIL will try and engage everyone in a board game, while everyone secretly wants to retire to the couch and watch some boob tube while recovering from dinner. I will put the girls to bed way too late, and fight sleep myself as I cuddle with them in their beds.

We will then head to my parents house on Sunday, where my brother and sister will be, as well as Jo’s mom (she’s a single gal and my mom has taken to inviting her and including her in our family celebrations. I think that’s pretty cool). At my parents home I will be scrutinized for not eating The Turkey (still off meat, it’s been about 4 weeks now?!) We will tease each other without mercy about our quirks, mock my mother for buying a dishwasher and not trusting it enough to load it up and use it. We will loudly do dishes together, one person washing, two people drying, and one person putting things away. I will sneak out for a cigarette with my brother, my sister’s dog will be tortured by the girls, and my dad and Jo will sneak off and watch some kind of sport on t.v.

On Monday Edie will get to watch way too much t.v., Grace will get way too much face time with her DS, Jo and I will fart around until mid-morning before we pick an activity for the day. At some point we will get the box of Hallowe’en decorations out. The girls like to examine and contemplate the decorations before we commit to placing them semi-permanently in the house. I love it when they do this. They do it with our Christmas decorations as well. They get very quiet, quietly inspecting each item – what are they searching for, memories?

I love this time of year.