It is December 1, 2009, and Techy and I have officially celebrated our last Thanksgiving as just the 2 of us. Correction, I should say, we have officially celebrated our last Thanksgiving with out children. Alas, it was not just the 2 of us—there is always Gizmo to take into account as well as my ever extending family.
To be honest, as far as Thanksgivings go, this was an interesting one. We arrived home to find my parent’s house completely torn apart – they were in the midst of a remodeling project that I was not aware of until we were half way there. Imagine the scene—walking through the door into my parent’s family room, 9 months pregnant, tired, and sore from the 6 hrs of riding to find bare subflooring and only 2 places to sit available, one of which was occupied by every blanket in the house and my mother nailing in a second layer of subflooring. I had to laugh. Mom almost cried. Long story short, we needed rest, and weren’t going to get it at Mom and Dad’s, so we unloaded the Gizzer’s (did I mention that we have a dog?) and headed off for my sister’s house. Out of the goodness of their hearts, my sister and her husband allowed us the use of their bedroom (ya know, since I am 9 months pregnant and all) and they relocated to the guest room. However, we all forgot some very important things in the transition….
1. The baby monitor perches on my sister’s bedside table so she can hear all the adorable little noises her 8 month makes throughout the night.
2. My 2 year old nephew occasionally wakes up and likes to run into their room and climb in bed with them.
In case you are not good with math, situation 1 + situation 2 = no rest for the weary, and a very miserable, headachy hubby. A.K.A. A very LOOOOOOOONG Thanksgiving day.
Lucky for us, we could rest on Friday…NOT!!! For us, Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to thank God for all our blessings—big or small—cherish all your strange family members, eat, give thanks, and strategize for our biggest shopping day of the year. My sister and I started the tradition a few years ago, and after I got married, my husband naturally fell into line with us. Usually, my sister’s husband watches the kids while my husband keeps us safe in the 1-2 major stores on our list before we take him and our first bags of loot home to catch up on some rest.
By Friday night, my husband was miserable, cranky, sick to his stomach from the monumental headache that sleep deprivation had evoked.
By Friday night, I was tired, sore, pregnant, miserable, cranky, mean, and pure evil to my loving, very miserable hubby. After a brief phone call to mom, we determined that we needed to go back to their house at least to sleep, and sleep we did! From 9 or 10 that night until 9 or 10 the next morning.
All that being said, I have learned a few new things to be thankful for this year…
-Houses with finished floors – carpet, hardwood, laminate, linoleum, doesn’t matter. If it has a floor, you can probably put furniture, including things to sit on in the room, which leads me to my next item….
-Seating…need I say more?
-My old body…the one that was 45 lbs. lighter. The one that I used to think was fat. The one that could climb stairs without panting like a dog in 95 degree weather. The one that could bend over. The one that weighed less than my husband!
-Sleep-filled nights…And I am not even experiencing the 3 hour feedings yet!
-A happy, well-rested husband
-A fenced in yard that Gizzy can run around in without worry
-Amazingly generous family members who will do whatever it takes to TRY to make you comfortable in spite of the chaos in their own lives.
My hope is that by next year at this time, I can say that I am thankful for these things again because I am enjoying them again. Only time will tell.
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