Usually this time of year encompasses a whole host of planning in my realm. Thanksgiving is busy enough, but our son's birthday is usually one to three days on the other side of Thanksgiving depending on the year, and that also meant most years I had Thanksgiving to deal with along with birthday festivities.
A few years ago, in the grip in a hefty dose of burnout, I implemented Fun Family Feast, and we started observing Thanksgiving in a way that embraced the spirit of the holiday, celebrating gratitude, while also preserving my sanity. We all just got our favorite foods, feasted accordingly, and played games all day. No excess preparations, no fuss, it was amazing! It also left some gas in the energy tank to make the boy's birthday parties amazing.
Now though, now the heathens have flown the popsicle stand. The boy is going to spend his birthday in Naval Station Great Lakes this year. And the hubs and I are on duty in the Montanan wilderness, our daughter has to work, and while we have a fantastic Christmas week bash planned together, this Thanksgiving is going to be one like no other.
After being in school and working non stop since August 18th, I have exactly five days off from school. Today was day one. You would not believe the amount of work I caught up on today. It's amazing what one can accomplish when not writing papers and finishing assignments for four different classes while simultaneously running a rather large ranch. Since I have that time off, that glorious amazing time, I am so going to be embodying a spirit of gratitude as I craft a couple pies tomorrow and the hubs and I make our favorite Chinese food dishes to indulge in on our very first as a couple Fun Family Feast this Thursday.
Sure, I will miss my heathens. It's going to be so weird without them here. But then again, I will see them soon, and in all honesty, the hubs and I could use a bit of a reprieve. Not only that, there's a huge amount of just contented feels emanating from me these days when I think about how good those two kids are doing.
I mean, the boy is crushing school in the Navy, just bought a brand new car, and is trucking along. The girl is heading to nursing school, works an excellent job in the hospital, and has started working in the FFA program at her former high school.
You just know I will be basking in my recliner on Thursday, noshing on crab Rangoon won tons, and just smiling like the existential enthusiast that I am.
Life is good. Even if it is a little bit rambunctious at times.
