how many times do you have to do something non-traditional before it becomes a tradition?

Let me tell you a bit about yesterday's Thanksgiving, beginning with a little background.

Three Thanksgivings ago, it was arranged that MyFavoriteKid would spend Thanksgiving proper with TheEx that year. It was my first year without my kiddo around for the holiday, and TheMostImportantGuy was not going to be around either. TheMIG was going to head out of town for his own family's gathering, and while I was invited to go, I wasn't going to have my own mom and dad then being left alone, either. So the plan was that the holiday meal would just be the three of us...me, my mom, my dad. We were actually just going to dine out for our Thanksgiving dinner, but then we found out about a different option. See, I live in a little gated neighborhood (sounds way fancier than it is, trust me), and we have a clubhouse flanking the entry to the joint. The property manager posted that there was to be a Thanksgiving Day potluck at the clubhouse...that turkeys and hams would be provided, and to show up with side dishes. Well, we went. And it was awesome. It was a huge roomfull of people, and the sense of community was great, and the meal itself was lots and lots of food for way less effort. We loved it.

Two Thanksgivings ago, MyFk was beginning to express his own stress about who he was going to spend the holidays with. I guess we all figured that this is where the "rule of alternating" would begin and that MyFK would be back at home, but MyFK was now emotionally mature enough to understand that he couldn't be in two places at once, and he felt sad about having anyone being left out. Well, since I have no problem with TheEx in general, nor his family, and we'd never had any problems at any other events where there was a crowd (MyFK's school concerts or plays, for example)....I figured why not have us all go to the clubhouse? And so we did. And it was great again. Lots of food, lots of friends and neighbors, lots of family...even if it was a little odd.

But this year? Wellp. Clubhouse again. But expanded, even more oddly LOLOL:


Clockwise, from bottom left corner: me, TheMIG, TheMIG's mom, my mom, TheEx's mom, TheEx'sBrother (MyFK's uncle), The Ex, MyFK, TheMIG's brother-in-law, my dad, TheMIG's sister, TheMIG's neice and nephew.

The clubhouse Thanksgiving is a bit non-traditional, but now that I'm in my third year with it, for me it's become a new traditional.
Even though my guest list has become even more non-traditional.

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Other traditions I am totally digging this holiday weekend:

• Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade (as an aside, I had a huge pms-flash during the parade, and I found myself first getting weepy over The Rockettes, and then the Sesame Street float because Bob and Luis were riding on it, and then over some marching band from Guatamala. Then I started crying over commercials. I am such a dork when I am hormonal!)
  
• Watching the first (but definitely not the last) of the Holiday movies (this year's first I bumped into Miracle on 34th Street. The old one. :-D
• Channel surfing for some sort of marathon that I might enjoy. Which I did find. And it was a James Bond marathon.
• Not shopping at any big stores on Black Friday, but instead heading out to Wendy Addison's Theatre of Dreams.

I picked up a couple of really cool items to add to my growing collections, but didn't get home until it was too dark to shoot them. I'll try to do that this weekend. Her stuff is just so cool. Every time I go to her shop I come home and want to get crafty.


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Lastly, an update on my health.

I was feeling much better energy-wise by yesterday morning, and had even regained some of my voice back. Until going to the clubhouse and trying to chat with family and friends in loud room. Today I can barely speak above a whisper.

Which some people seemed pleased about.