Last year I was feeling the heat about planning for our Thanksgiving meal.
I was finishing a week-long course (complete with exam), I was adjusting to working full time, our family was still adjusting to the addition of two members to our household, we were in the busiest part of our son’s football season, and so on.
All I wanted was to take the family out for dinner (a rather expensive option when seven people, most of them teenagers, are involved).
At the same time I yearned for the delicious smell of a turkey roasting. The turkey itself is easy, you simply season it, pop it in the oven and it does it’s thing. I had considered simply roasting big bird, and serving it, with a fork for everyone …
I decided I HAD to do what needed to be done, so I headed out (on Saturday) to get the essential parts of a good, home cooked Thanksgiving feast.
While at Costco, I noticed they had pumpkin pies for like really cheap. I stood, I pondered, I felt like I had Rosanne Barr on one shoulder and Martha Stewart on the other, battling it out for my families meal. Finally, I flicked Martha off my shoulder, winked at Rosanne, and thought, ‘this year we are 
having homemade by Costco.’
I was on a roll, and Martha was in the dust of my grocery cart.
I then purchase baby carrots instead of ones that need to be peeled and sliced. I bought a package of gravy mix … mine was never that great anyway.
I bought rolls, rather than make my own … really, with such a big meal, who would miss them?
I stood in the aisle and considered using stove top … but everyone loves my stuffing, so I thought it was worth the extra effort.
A few days before, we had guests who had brought a bouquet of flowers, and that was to be the centerpiece for our feast.
So, Thanksgiving Sunday morning I seasoned Big Bird, and popped her into the oven at a very low heat … because we would not be eating until the evening. We attended church, had a small lunch, popped the stuffing (which never gets stuffed into the bird) into a big casserole dish in the 
warming oven, cranked the heat on our roasting beast, and went to our son’s football game.
We returned home, and my daughters set the table, I cooked the baby carrots and frozen veggies, basted the bird, and unwrapped the homemade from Costco pumpkin pie.
We used to have a household of people over to enjoy meal together. This year it was just us, and that was quite okay.
It was a delicious meal, with ridiculous conversations, oodles of laughter, and very full bellies at the end of the meal.
Our beast got her bowl full of heart, liver and whatever else is in that little prize package they shove into the cavity of the turkey, and she lay at our feet while we ate, licking her chops.
As always, the stuffing was eliminated, there were significant veggies left over, and turkey in abundance for the week to come.
I didn’t miss the ‘old’ way of doing Thanksgiving. It was certainly different without other guests, but we got to spend our meal concentrating more on the ones for whom we are most thankful for, and that was a good difference.
So, yes, you can celebrate Thanksgiving without a homemade pumpkin pie.
So, that 6am sky is darker, and the air is chillier when I let the Beast out for her morning ablutions. The bags under my eyes are baggier and my coffee need greater. The laundry basket is fuller and the refrigerator is emptier. The energy is s o m u c h l o w e r and the to do list is so much longer.
As I read the words to the left (over and over), I pondered in my head what I did thank God for yesterday? But, other than food at a meal, I could remember nothing else.
itsawonderfilledlife 