Gobble Gobble!

Sizzle.  Fizz.  Splash.  The kitchen bustles with culinary action, while the thick, distinct scent of roasting turkey drifts through the air.  Our counter is covered with bowls of casseroles, potatoes, fruit, and a massive bag of pecans that are on their way to the stove to be spiced.  The table is set with the special utensils and plates we only use on holidays and special occasions.  Dad turns on the TV and catches the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; it is followed by a Black Friday commercial..."SALE STARTS AT 4AM!"  Seems like they get earlier and earlier every year.  Now he switches to the dog show.  Football should be starting soon, too.

The oven beeps.  The turkey is done.

It's Thanksgiving Day, the one day when it is socially acceptable to stuff our faces with mounds of food and lounge around watching football.  I do the latter just about every weekend already, but that's besides the point.  We have been cooking since yesterday and won't slow down 'til tonight when we run out of food.  We usually don't travel for Thanksgiving, considering all of our extended family resides in North Carolina, which is a bit of a drive from Pennsylvania, so we stay put and celebrate on our own.  This year, though, our family friends are joining us.  We are sharing a traditional American Thanksgiving with them (they are German), and I can't wait to spend the day with their daughters, who are two of my best and closest friends.  It has been way too long since we have all been together, and I'm in need of some best-friend time!

But what Thanksgiving is really about is being thankful and grateful for all we have been blessed with in our lives.  Today--and always, but especially today--I am thankful for my wonderful family and cat who are always supportive and caring (even the cat).  I'm thankful for a loving God who wakes me up in the morning, and who has blessed me with the life I have.  I'm thankful for the gift of music, one of my many outlets for expressing my emotions and my creativity.  I'm thankful for my school, the beautiful Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University--Virginia Tech for those of you who don't know its full name, and now understand why we shorten it--and everything I have learned since I have been attending.  I'm thankful for the gifts of learning and knowledge, and my ability to write.  But above all, I am and always will be ever so thankful for the amazing people in my life...friends, family, pastors, teachers, professors...you have all blessed my life in more ways than I can explain.  All I can say is "thank you" for being so wonderful.

Gobble gobble, everyone!  Have a fantastic day!