Thanksgiving This Year

I feel like I am just now getting back to normal after Thanksgiving.  It was our first Thanksgiving in the new house and our second time hosting.  However, it was the first time we hosted with this many people and also the first time both Chris's family and my family had Thanksgiving together.  I think I felt a little more pressure because of that (but not in a bad way--just hoping that everything went smooth).

And everything was going well.  The day before, we picked up our fancy free-range, humane turkey from Whole Foods.  I baked three dozen rolls.  I prepped what dishes I could.  In the morning, though, Chris was sick.  Very sick.  His sister (who had spent about a week with us) was throwing up.  It was not going as planned and I needed extra hands to help clean.  Chris's parents hit traffic on the way down, so they were a little later than planned....  And my parents' electricity went out so they couldn't cook the dishes they planned to bring.  Goodness!  Fortunately, my parents were able to help me clean some and took Eliot for the day.  After all of the complications, dinner was just an hour late (oops...) and I think everyone had a good time.  Since Chris's sister was feeling so bad, his family left that night, which was really, well, sad, but we'll be seeing them again quite soon for Christmas.  And we did get to see a lot of Elizabeth!

The next day, Chris was feeling quite a bit better.  He and my dad worked on our Christmas lights some and then later on we got our tree.  I like a more classic and "cottage-y" look with white lights, candles in the windows, and wreaths, but Chris really wanted to do colored lights.  Well, if that's the case, I said we should go all out tacky and get the big colored lights.  Ha.  After about six hours of work (spread out over three days or so), our house is bright.

We did a bit of grading over the weekend, and Chris helped my dad with his lights.  Suddenly, I felt a little off.  Before I knew it, I was super sick and throwing up.  I don't know if I caught Chris's bug (which I thought was food poisoning) or what, but it was awful.  And I still had deadlines to meet.  My mom took Eliot for the day and I managed to get my work done somehow.  So, in some ways, I feel like I'm still trying to catch up from Thanksgiving as we move forward to Christmas, but I'm OK with that.

Because even when we're sick, I'm thankful that we're not MORE sick.
Because even when the house is messy, I'm thankful we have these little boys to make the mess.
Because even when I need to empty the dishwasher, I'm thankful that we have food.
Because even when I feel overwhelmed, I'm thankful for my supportive family--both immediate and extended.
Because even when I feel so tired from lack of sleep, I'm thankful that I'm waking up to my little Jack.