Are you hosting this year’s Thanksgiving feast? I’m so sorry for you if you are. While a blessing, it’s still a huge chore, and a stressful one at that.
If you are that person that needs to “do Thanksgiving right”, then I pity you. With Thanksgiving just two weeks away you are probably in a mad rush to get everything just right. Dinner withstanding, you are turning your entire home into a pilgrim haven. Everything is orange, and brown, and red, and yellow, and paper turkey. You have horns of corn and acorns, and fallen leaves are everywhere. You are in the spirit, and damn it, your guests will be too or there will be heck to pay.
You are spending hours, upon hours, upon hours making everything just right. You are spending money hand over fist to buy all of those Thanksgiving trinkets. And then after Thanksgiving you will spend hand over fist for storage containers to put all that stuff so you can use it again next year. The wife of a friend of mine required half of their basement to store all of her holiday cheer. Container, after container, after container of holiday stuff. Red and green containers for Christmas, orange and black for Halloween, brown for Thanksgiving, pastel for Easter, and the list goes on, and on, and on. Every holiday was color-coded and ready to go.
Not only did she have stuff for every imaginable event, she spent hours, more like days, setting up and taking down. So you must ask yourself, where would your time be better spent? When the holiday finally arrives, are you ready to spend as much quality time with your family and friends as you are setting up and taking down all of those decorations? Seriously, I like the holiday spirit, and I appreciate it, but if it takes you more than an hour, just stop there and call it good.
Thanksgiving Day has finally arrived. Your guests have arrived and they are having a good time. So what are you doing? Are you running around making sure that everything is perfect? Or are you enjoying time with your guests.
This should be your plan.
- Make sure that you have the meal ready on time
- Make sure that there are snacks and drinks
- Make sure that your guests are comfortable
- Enjoy your time with your guests
It’s that simple. Your guests would rather spend time with you than to watch you go stark raving crazy trying to please everybody.
I am the host this year for Thanksgiving. It’s not with family, but instead with friends. My buddy from out of state has decided to come for Thanksgiving, and I’m thrilled. I was going to go to my local watering hole that is hosting a Thanksgiving feast. But my buddy eats rather healthy and I could not take my chances on an unhealthy meal. Instead, I have ordered a free-range turkey from my cousins turkey farm (Willie Bird, shameless plug) and I will smoke it.
The best thing is that I will have no decorations and I will have spent no time on things that really don’t matter in preparation of guests. Thanksgiving will just be good friends, smoking a dead bird and enjoying each other’s company. If you are in the area, you should stop by, just follow the smell of pecan wood and cooking turkey. It’s only a 10-12 pound bird, but we’ll make it go around (bring sides).
So important, it has a paragraph of its own. Thanksgiving should be spent enjoying time on this Earth with people. Don’t spend your time and money on things that don’t really matter. Minimize your Thanksgiving and reduce it to what matters.
I hope that your Thanksgiving is the best. If you can, make Thanksgiving better for those that can’t make it better for themselves.
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