My 5 Favorite Thanksgiving Traditions

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, a time for family, friends, and holiday traditions.  In the spirit of the holiday, I will list my five least-favorite Thanksgiving traditions as well as my top five can't-live-without traditions.

The Top Five Traditions that SUCK (in no particular order):

1) Watching family members fight over the Turkey heart.  Disgusting. Speaking of family members, it is in situations like this that having divorced parents is a pain.  Each one wants to throw their own Thanksgiving and I have to eat twice.

Doesn't sound so bad? 

It is like death by chocolate.  I imagine it would be great until you realized it was actually killing you.  A second Thanksgiving dinner is just to much goodness for any one man to handle.

2) Cranberry Sauce.  Each year I try it and just can't discover the ability to delude myself enough to go from the "Hate it" column to the "Love it" column. 

3) Going around the table taking turns mentioning things we are thankful for.  I always feel "on the spot" and wish that everyone would just assume I am thankful for the good things that happened in my life over the course of the year, big and small.  Usually, as a defensive mechanism, I list something that I absolutly shouldn't be thankful for, offer a small laugh, and wait for the spot light to move to the next chair over.

4) Small dishes of walnuts and walnut crackers.  Don't like walnuts much.  Dislike even more having to work hard to get the nut out of the shell while I explode little bits of shell all over the counter, then have to clean that, then have to eat a nut I don't care for. Pass.

5) Cleaning up.


The Top Five Traditions that ROCK (in no particular order):

1) Seeing family and friends.  I really enjoy seeing everyone even if I have to jump through hoops, drive across the state from east to west and north to south. 

2) Football.  Nothing like eating a pie and some left over turkey sandwiches while you drink a holiday beer (Sam Adam's seasonal) and watch some football.

3) Pie.  Apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cherry pie, blueberry pie, chocolate pudding pie.  Heaven.

4) Time off of work.  Thursday and Friday off?  Amazing.  It's a good thing we get time off too, because a food coma can take a bit to recover from.

5) Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the official kickoff towards Christmas. ( I know it is really two-in-one but it's my blog my rules).  I love the music, the joy, and looking forward to the Christmas holiday.  Lights, presents, friends, hot cocoa; what's not to like?