this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

I remember one time at church, when I was about six or seven years old, hearing a boy say that his family's Thanksgiving plans consisted of just his immediate family eating dinner together. I remember thinking how sad that was. Wouldn't it be just like any other meal? What was Thanksgiving without cousins, grandmas, and uncles?

This Thanksgiving will mark my third ever that has been spent without any extended family. The first was early in my marriage and The Tall One and I spent the weekend at Disneyland. I can honestly say I wasn't feeling too sad about missing out on a family Thanksgiving, I'd be at Disneyland after all! The second time I sucked it up because we had just moved thousands of miles from any family and a holiday away from them was all a part of the experience, right? And that brings us to this year. We live so close to family, that's it's somewhat ridiculous that we'll be alone. But no more time off for TTO (and we couldn't bribe anyone to come here, though we didn't try, we're saving that for Christmas) means we're stuck here. We'll eat dinner just the four of us and then enjoy dessert with some friends, and truly I couldn't be happier.

I'm looking forward to having no one to impress. I'm looking forward to no real deadlines. Basically, I'm looking forward to the simplicity that just a dinner on our own will bring. We'll make it special (because, really, how could I not bring out the china?) and it won't be just like every other meal. And as cliche as it may sound, I think that removing the big family dinner part will allow us to just enjoy each other and remember all the blessings we enjoy. I love my extended family, and I love huge get-togethers, but this year is just for the four of us.

I'm hoping your Thanksgiving is just as wonderful as I hope that mine will be.