Another Thanksgiving in the books

Upon reflection, Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday of the year. There are a number of reasons, which I shall endeavor to list.

#1. The food. I know everyone eats big at Thanksgiving, but I find it hard to believe that many people do better than we do annually at the Benedict family Thanksgiving. We have all the traditional things for dinner, and then transition into dessert, with the choices usually including at least 4 different kinds of pie (black raspberry being the choice of this writer), a ridiculous coconut cake, and perhaps another dish or two.

#2. Family. I love getting to spend time with my immediate family, and I'm also a big fan of the most of my extended family that I run into over Thanksgiving. I don't even sort of dread the holiday family gatherings like you hear about from some people. Thanksgiving also has the advantage over Christmas in this area, in that I don't have to dent my wallet buying gifts for them, not that I mind such things :-) I also live only an hour away from my Thanksgiving destination, so I don't have to bother with the headaches of long trips.

#3. Extra long weekend. Now that I work at the state, Thanksgiving means a mandated 4 day weekend, as the day after Thanksgiving is an official state holiday. We don't even get an extra day at Christmas, no matter where it falls (well, we haven't yet). Thanksgiving also has a distinct advantage over other holiday type weekends, in that the holiday occurs at the beginning of the long weekend rather than the end. So, rather than having the big gatherings on the last day before returning to work, and losing some of the effect of the long weekend, my typical Thanksgiving involves a very busy and hectic, but fun Thursday, and then 3 days to recover by relaxing with the family and watching the various sporting events that come with the weekend.

#4. The food. Wait, did I already mention that?

So yeah, Thanksgiving rules. This year, however, was an exception to some of the norms I laid out in #3. It was, in fact, busy from the get go, and I had to crash on Sunday evening to recover prior to heading back to work.

The highlights:
Wednesday night: Got home from work, handled some errands, and then packed myself and Chaser (this is something of an ordeal) up to head home to the parents' house for the weekend.

Thursday: We left at around 11, stopped off and spent some time with Mom's side of the family before they had their dinner, and then headed on to my grandpa's house for Thanksgiving dinner with my dad's family. This is usually a massive production, but even more so this year. My Dad is from a family of 8 children, but only 4 of them are typically in the area for a Thanksgiving. However, this year, my uncles from California and New York were in with their family, as was my aunt from Montana, so the gathering was a bit larger and a bit more exciting. Lots of eating and talking, home at a relatively reasonable hour.

Friday: Got up and hung out with Mom for most of the day while Dad worked. Since so much of the family was in, we headed back to the farm in the evening for dinner - shrimp, oysters (not for me) and steak, along with all the leftover pies and cake from Thanksgiving, and a new addition, an incredible raspberry cheesecake. This particular extravaganza didn't break up until about 10 pm.

Saturday: Got up and ran some errands with the folks before getting ready to head to Harrisburg for my cousin's wedding in the afternoon. Nice wedding, more time with family (this time mom's side) at the reception, all very fun, but also very draining. Headed home around 9, in bed around 11.

Sunday: Church in the morning with the folks, as well as my sister and brother-in-law who were in New York with his family over Thanksgiving (he was also taking care of my uncle's farm so they could come down here). Lunch afterwards. Quick nap back at the folks' house before once again packing myself and Chaser up and journeying home. Arrive at about 4, unpack, crash.

So, there you have it, the dime tour of my Thanksgiving weekend. All in all, it was a blast, it just wasn't my typical Thanksgiving. I hope everyone else had a great holiday!