It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year... Sunday, October 9

Thanksgiving, that's the most wonderful time of the year, not Christmas.  Christmas is always overshadowed by the push to break the bank and buy an excessive amount of presents.  But Thanksgiving, it's all about food and family.  Food IS the way to my heart and after 11 years of not having family by my side you best believe it's right up there with food on my list of loves and driving forces.

I spent Thanksgiving with my father, my brother T-Rex and T-Rex's in-laws.  I also spent it with Captain Bowtie too.  He came with me for the holiday celebration at my family's house.  I didn't know if he was serving as back-up for last year's elephant-in-the-room stunt I pulled at Thanksgiving, a wing man to help me keep the kids entertained, or for my own personal entertainment.  It was pretty cool to have him come with us, we made the day of it and I know he really left a good impression with my nieces via pretending to think it was Easter and showing up with Kinder surprise eggs.

 

Family holiday celebrations used to be filled with me moaning "do I have to go" hours and then minutes to arriving and I used to roll my eyes at the expected awkwardness and whatnot that comes with them but now I look forward to it.  I look forward to it all. 

 

I didn't have family in Korea to celebrate holidays with.  I didn't really have holidays to celebrate either.  Snickers is Mr. Anti-holiday and, well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  His family is exactly like him.  So no family and no holidays; it was a bit depressing in that sense.  Opening up my boxing club though, Hulk's, I was then able to celebrate holidays again.  I prepared events, decorations and even special holiday gifts for each and every holiday that came up.  I prepared the club for the holidays, for my members but in reality it was just as much for them as it was for me.  Now I don't live in Korea though, I live in Canada, and I feel like Canada makes up for eleven years of missed holidays via just how exaggerated and overemphasized they are here. 

 

Today is Thanksgiving and out of all the things I could, would and should list off that I'm so very thankful for, I'll keep my list short and just say I'm thankful for where I am, right here, right now, celebrating Thanksgiving in Canada.  It was a fight to get me here but without that fight I wouldn't have learnt how to be so grateful for this opportunity to sit at a table full of smiling faces -- a table full of family.