our Thanksgiving

People are always curious about our Thanksgivings.

I think it's a mixture of knowing me, knowing the other individuals in my family and then imagining us all together. And our sheer number guarantees that there's some form of entertainment.

On the crazy family spectrum, I am the loud drunk aunt. Perhaps not literally, because I'm loud enough at times to solicit a "Have you been drinking?" during regular conversation. No, no, I haven't been drinking...this is just how I talk.

So, Thanksgiving night before dinner, we all held hands in a circle, gathered around Evalyn and her chair, and we went around to say something we're thankful for.

There are rules, though, to our thanks giving circle. You can't say anything that would solicit a "no shit" reaction, like "family," "friends," "breathing." Be original. And if you're not, you'll be asked to re-state your thing of thankfulnes.

We started with Micah, who said something suitable from a 14-year-old. I asked him today to remind me what it was he was thankful for, for the sake of this blog. He texted me what he'd said, and I responded with "I can't blog that!" and he called me a pussy, and I admitted that yes, indeed, I am. So, I will protect you from Micah's object of gratitude, but will assure you that we moved on in the circle.

One sister was thankful for new friends, another was thankful for a raise, my brother was thankful for opportunities and blessings in his life (that barely squeaked by), my sister's boyfriend was thankful for new opportunities, mom was thankful for Discovery!, and then it was my turn, the last one.

I said I was thankful for Pinterest, and I was met with many boos and a call for a re-do.

So then I had to explain.

My thankfulness revolved around the fact that Pinterest was saving me money by giving me ideas for home decor, it was reducing my stress level because it was helping me be creative, and I was getting good gift ideas for Christmas.

I rested my case, and after a few thoughtful nods and grunts from the circle, I was let off the hook, probably because we'd been holding hands for a creepily long time and we were hungry.

My brother prayed, we rated it, and then we ate, played traditional card games and watched football. The majority of the crowd cleared out shortly after and my little brother, sister and I played more games and lounged on the couch, Skye and them fighting over who would lay next to me while we watched football.

It was what a Thanksgiving should be.