Tradtions

Today is the holiday of thanks, the day on which we are meant to be thankful for all of the great things we have as the harvest season in Canada comes to an end. According to Wikipedia, this is how we do it north of the border:

"While the actual Thanksgiving holiday is on a Monday, Canadians might eat their Thanksgiving meal on any day of the three day weekend. Thanksgiving is often celebrated with family, it is also often a time for weekend getaways for couples to observe the autumn leaves, spend one last weekend at the cottage, or participate in various outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, and hunting."

This year we did things quite different. As most of you know, I spent the weekend in Western Massachusetts visiting my grandmother and the members of my father's family who live in the area. It was a really nice weekend, one in which we spent a lot of quality family time, observed the autumn leaves, outlet shopped 'til we dropped and of course ate a lot of food. Okay, so we didn't have any turkey or cranberry sauce but we did have pumpkin pie, apple pie, vanilla ice cream, mashed potatoes, apple sauce, Chinese food, McDonald's, Fuddrucker's... new traditions perhaps? I should think not. I am contemplating cooking a turkey sometime this week or next (we do have one in the freezer after all) but we'll see if that plan comes to be.

I will post more news about the fun family long weekend in America tomorrow or another day this week, because I am far too tired after nearly 12 hours in the van with my immediate family... the drive normally takes 8.5-9 hours (including our annual stops at WalMart and CVS in Lowville NY) but all of the other families celebrating out of town decided to jump on the 401 at the same time as us - how inconsiderate. Oh well. We arrived, safe and sound

And now, as I sit down to enjoy my renewed solitude with a small bowl of very traditional cous-cous, I am reminded how lucky I am to have such a wonderful family but also how lucky I am to have my wonderful independence... now if I could just figure out where my parents have hidden it.

Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Canadians!