Thanksgiving 2009: So Much To Be Thankful For!

In case I've never said it before, this time of year is my favorite. Why, you ask? Because Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays. They always offer the most fun for me. With Thanksgiving comes sitting down with family to eat a huge meal (one that we are so blessed to be able to have), toss the football around, watch the parade in the morning, take turkey naps, eat the leftovers (and boy, are there leftovers?!?!), then take another turkey nap. I mean, really, could there be a more perfect day?

Then, you have the opportunity to go shopping on Black Friday (which is a holiday that gets piggybacked onto Thanksgiving, for me) and score some great deals for Christmas gifts if you dare to go out in the madness. This year, Grandma Chicken Wing, Little Sister Chicken Wing, and I did brave the masses, and we made out like bandits for the most part. For Little Sister Chicken Wing, it was too much madness. For Grandma Chicken Wing and I, it was like a sport. We operated like a well-oiled machine. We knew what we wanted, we'd already priced it to know where to get it, and we went in, picked out our stuff, paid for it (most of the time with coupons!!! EXTRA SAVINGS.....YESSSS!!!), and went on to the next store.

Grandma Chicken Wing literally almost got all of her Christmas shopping done in a matter of a few hours! Go us! Toss in lunch at Sbarro and dinner at Cracker Barrel, and you've got yourself an awesome day!

Super slice of cheese pizza and a country ham dinner plate with mac & cheese and string beans, anyone?

I'm sorry for the drooling that probably just occurred all over your keyboard.

Either way, Thanksgiving this year was just as awesome for me as it always is. I have so much to be thankful for, and for some reason, if you slap a title on a day and call it Thanksgiving, it really resonates with me. I'm instantly grateful for all that I have in my life, and I genuinely thank God for all He has blessed me with. I know that there are many out in the world who would kill to be in my shoes, and I take some time out of my day to pray for them - I wish nothing but good things for them, and I ask God to look out for them even more.

I think the one thing that's different for me this year is that I really wanted to be present. What I mean is that sometimes you get so busy around the holidays (as previously mentioned in the post directly before this one) that you forget to be present and that is incredibly important. You can't go through the holidays in a fog...you'll miss out on some of the best memories. So, I decided that no matter how busy I get, I am going to make a huge effort to stay present in all that's going on around me. I want to pay attention to my family, my friends, and the memories we are making. I think that's a fair goal.

In closing, I wanted to share a few pictures from Thanksgiving, Chicken Wing style.

As evidenced by her face in the pic above, Grandma Chicken Wing had NO idea I was taking this. She was not too happy when she realized I was taking pictures of her putting food away. I believe her exact words were, "Why are you taking pictures of this messy kitchen? Stop that!" Haha!

Another gratuitous food shot. We are most definitely blessed - 1) for the food and 2) for Grandma Chicken Wing who makes the food.

Then the turkey naps set in. Oh, you sneaky carbs, you....you always win. (You know it's bad when your dogs see a photo opportunity and you are completely oblivious until you see mysterious photos on your camera...)

Here we have Mr. Chicken Wing and Little Brother Chicken Wing being taken over by the turkey.

Final Score:

Turkey-3, Chicken Wing Family-0

So, there's my Thanksgiving 2009 recap! I hope you enjoyed it! I also hope your Thanksgiving holiday was as fabulous as mine was! Here's to many more!

Who's ready for Christmas???

CiCi, obviously.

Until next time,
Miss Chicken Wing