A Postcard Kind of Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving will soon be here. Only two days from now, the family will all come over and we will celebrate and eat and drink.  Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday.  There is less stress than at Christmastime.  Although, I must admit, it wasn't always this way with me.

For many years, I wanted that postcard kind of Thanksgiving.  You know...the kind you see on TV.  Everyone dressed up sitting around an absolutely perfectly set table with the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece.  The turkey, browned to perfection would be on the table, and as everyone sat and salivated the father (and I always think of Ward Cleaver about this time) would carve the turkey amidst the "ooo's" and "ah's".

I have to say that I've never been quite able to pull off this postcard kind of Thanksgiving.  I've tried, many many times.  Something always happens, however.  Unexpected guests would pop in and I would not have enough spots to sit at the table.  There is never room to carve the turkey at the table, so few people get to see how "pretty" it looks before the carving.  I'm usually the one to carve it (while my husband is taking his BEFORE dinner nap) and it never slices into those perfect little slices.  It always looks like I ripped the meat from the bone with my fingers. No matter how much I clean before Thanksgiving, it seems everything is always a mess by the time the actual day rolls around.  Too much food and clutter on the countertops from all of the extra groceries I had to buy. 

But you know something?  A couple of years ago, reality hit me.  People don't want or care about perfection.  They care about sharing food with people they love. 

Two days from now the big day will be here.  And as I look around my house, I'm not in my usual cleaning frenzy.  And it shows.  BOY, does it show.  But I'm not stressed about it either.  The day will be wonderful.  My family will be around me.  And we will laugh and act silly and eat ourselves into oblivion.  And I'll be wearing jeans and a sweater.  I'm just not the "dress for dinner" kind of girl.  Neither is my family.  We are what we are. 

And for that, I am the most thankful.  Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.