Schweet Life

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed the holidays and your New Year is off to a great start. I’d like to kick off the New Year by taking a look back at the 2012 holiday season.

I remember as a kid, the fall was my absolute favorite time of year. Labor Day signaled an end to my school-free summers but meant that my birthday would be in a few weeks and before I knew it Thanksgiving and Christmas would arrive, bringing gifts, epic meals, and more days off from school. (I actually liked school but there’s just something glorious about having days off.)

I have a theory that as we get older we go through phases with regards to the holidays. As a kid, few things were more upsetting than getting clothes instead of toys for gifts. In high school, things changed and clothes became the ultimate gift. At some point in college I lost interest in gifts, became more excited about holiday meals, and Thanksgiving became my favorite official holiday. The only thing that has remained somewhat constant is my birthday, it’s always been my favorite holiday and I celebrate for a week.

I typically try to visit family for Thanksgiving. Ticket prices tend to be pretty expensive around that time so I try to avoid flying on the Wednesday before or the Sunday after. This results in my trip either being really short (ex: arrive Thursday and leave Friday) or fairly long (ex: arrive Tuesday and leave the next Monday or Tuesday). An advantage of arriving on the day of is that by the time I arrive, all of the cooking is done so I don’t have to help (shh don’t tell anybody).

Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner with Side Dishes (roast potatoes, chow mein, baked macaroni pie, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, glazed ham, string beans and carrots, salad, dinner rolls, and roti)

Technically, I contributed to making this meal by helping to put it on the table and then putting the leftovers in the fridge. That counts for something.