Giving Thanks!

A big pet peeve of mine is how early the stores begin "setting up" for the next holiday. Valentine's Day displays go up before New Year's Day. Easter up in January. Halloween in August, etc. But what frustrates me even more is that on November 1st, the stores skip right over Thanksgiving and go straight to Christmas. It's like no one even acknowledges it as a holiday. 

I love Thanksgiving. I love that the weather has (usually) begun to get colder. I love the sounds (LOTS of family laughter) and the smells (food cooking, fall candles, spices, etc). And I love the traditions. We always spend the day with Lee's family eating WAY more than ought to be allowed and catching up on the past year with relatives we only see once a year.  Then, we head back home for my absolute favorite thing. A fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate, s'mores (no matter what the outside temperature) and Christmas music galore (love you, Ray Conniff singers!) as we drag out all the bins of Christmas decorations. In my mind, it is officially time to look forward to Christmas........ but NOT before!