Traditions

What is a holiday without traditions. Since today is Thanksgiving I can not help but be thankful for this day we set aside to count our blessings. Also I am thankful for all the traditions that go along with it. We all have different ways of celebrating the holidays. I would love to throw in some Christmas, but I will save that for later, so today it is all about ...family tradition.
My Thanksgiving morning starts with getting up as soon as the paper lands in the driveway. I LOVE looking through the black Friday sale papers. We decide where we need to go and what we need to get. My parents and I sit around drink coffee and hang out for a bit. My dad usually ends up cooking ham or turkey. Then we start rushing to leave for Hamilton. We usually end up stopping a few places along the way. Finally once we get there (three hours before dinner) we go to my grandparents and of course then off to the cottage Garden where my aunts usually meet up with us. You never know who from the old days you will run into. Finally we head to my aunt and uncle's house...Valerie you get the shout out since you are the one who reads this!!! We gripe because people don't pull their weight, we eat, we mull over the sale papers, my cousins pick out their gifts, we ague about who gets a present and how much to spend, we eat, we watch some random TV and then head back home. Someone usually ends up coming home with us so they can shop the next morning. We make a few more stops before going home to crash. You never know who will show up or what will happen, but that is my family thanksgiving...and I wouldn't have any other way. Some of you have nice sit down dinner, but that almost seems dull to me. We have 25 or more who run and rush to get our buffet style dinner. then we rush to see who actually gets a seat or who has to sit on the floor. We have way too much food that usually we end up eating for a day or two later. we are loud, we ague but mostly in fun. There were times in my life I wished for that nice quiet dinner, but really we have way more FUN!!! Wait to see what happens....

Okay so part two...what actually happened today...The morning went off as normal. The turkey finished and we headed to Hamilton. Today our stops were drug stores because we had to pick up medicine. Me I was in dire need of a carbonated beverage which for me is a Coke zero. Who knew CVS and Wallgreens and Muscle Shoals don;t sell them cold...seriously. thank goodness for the Shell station!!! We get to Hamilton, go to the g-parents and all three of us head to Cottage Garden. Yes, we all rode together since Bambi ran over my dad's car and we are a one car family (thanks to Pop's we picked up a spare). I don;t go n because I am trying to finish my Sarah Palin book. Eventually my dad gets bored so we grab Bailey and ride around Hamilton (only to avoid doing work for others). We had to check out what's opened/closed, ride by the old house you know the normal stuff.
We finally get Elvis and Valerie's where I make it my mission to aggravate Ella. We played and looked through the sale papers. Bailey and I talk Ella into playing find the pregnant people in the ads. This ends up in a wrestling match between me and the 6 year old (who by the way can take me) for the pics of the pregnant ladies...oh and yes I won!!! She did beat me at Simon says though. Of course 30 minutes after dinner time we finally get ready to eat. At the time of prayer the body count is 27. We rush to eat...like someone is stealing the food. I did get a seat on the couch by the TV which was playing Kungfu Pando for the third time. Not long after eating we leave because the rain was starting. I ride with my mom only to swap cars with my dad in Muscle Shoals. I opted not do preshop but instead get sleep. All in all the day went as smooth as it could have..Happy thanksgiving!!!