over the can on...

Today is wonderful Turkey Day, or, in my world otherwise known as Ham Day. I hate turkey... it's a long story, if you know me well enough you've heard it, but I love Thanksgiving anyway - I love it a lot. For as long as I can remember we have hosted the holiday at our home, and other than the fact that it requires a lot of cleaning, (which means whining from us and begging from mom) it's always a lot of fun. Now, hosting any holiday with our family is kind of a big deal, because altogether we're pretty big. Mom has five sisters and dad has six siblings - I believe I have a total of thirty-two cousins; fifty-two if you count cousin-in-laws and second cousins (who all also get together somewhat regularly). Mom's side of the family always comes down Thursday, and dad's side on Saturday.

Traditionally, as everyone filters in, we play cards and give hugs; usually someone is running late and we start the food line without them, but that's okay. Mom makes the best Thanksgiving food I've ever witnessed - even I am willing to sample her turkey, and well, like I said, I can't stand turkey. So, as usual, there's food galore, and all the kids eat in the basement while the big people eat upstairs. I don't know if I'll ever make it up there - I don't know if I want to. The after dinner routine always requires a movie, where sometimes we make it through, sometimes we all conk out and wake up drooling - either way it gives our tummies a little time to rest.

This time we had a plethora of entertainment. The girls whizzed their way through Cranium and the boys played dodgeball basketball. There was a Saltine eating contest after dinner, which Jordan proudly won - ten crackers in four minutes... it's harder than you think! Then all the cousins joined in "Round the World Ping Pong" which got quite intense, but was mostly hilarious. We played until we were all so winded and dizzy we had to stop. Then, one of the best parts of the evening was when the old ritual of "Kick the Can" was revived. It'd been a few years - as in at least five - since we'd all been together. We probably woke up the whole neighborhood with our yelps and screams and carrying-ons, but it was well worth it. The adults were probably thankful for a break and we were content running off a small amount of our intake today. Everyone is finally headed home, and it seems as though it never lasts long enough. Tomorrow morning Justin and I are headed back up to school in the early early AM - darn jobs keep us moving. But it's been a great time home, even if I did have to put up with a few turkeys while I was here.