Happy Thanskgiving, everyone!!
As you could imagine we're not going all out with the big meal and the super nap afterwards. Buying a whole turkey over here means laying down, like, $120 and while I LOVE leftover turkey salad sandwiches, I don't love them that much. That's not even counting all the traditional side dishes-mashed potatoes, veggies, etc, etc... That, and since we're the Americans on Swiss soil, we'd be only a couple of the handful in the neighborhood celebrating. The college kids will either be doing their own thing or will end up downtown for drinks, which I'm sure will be our choice tonight. Next week, we're going to be hosting a raclette night at our friend's bar (cooked potato chunks smothered in melted cheese and fixings, yum!) so that will be our big shared, happy meal as our holiday dinner stand-in. We did it last year and it was a big hit so why not repeat the good things in life?
In the meantime, lack of turkey aside, I'm THANKFUL! I'm thankful for the chance we've been given to be living here, even though it means spending most of our holidays away from American-living friends and family. I'm thankful that my Italian has gotten a lot better, comprehension wise. Our second sailing class (last night) was a whole lot better even though about 15 minutes until the end, my brain gave up trying to translate in my head. 5 months of one class a week, 2 hours+ a night is going to drastically improve my language skills. (That also makes me thankful for the Spanish I took in high school and college-lots of similarities!) I'm extremely thankful for my husband and Chloe who make day in and day out entertaining and thoroughly wonderful, especially to my husband for giving me the chance to constantly scratch the right side of my brain and see what I can make of it-writing has been a passion for a very long time but being able to work on it full time has been purely incredible. I'm grateful for the new friends we've been making and the chances we're getting to travel and see new things, together. And I'm grateful for my family and my friends back home, who, even though they are all 6-9 hours away by phone and email, I can count on if and when I need them. I know that everything I have, while it seems normal and routine to me most days, is a lot more than a lot of people have these days, and that a lot of other people take "normal and routine" for granted most of the time and wonder why they don't have more. In the spirit if thanksgiving, my childhood extracurricular 4-H activities this time of year including food drives and baking carloads of pumpkin pies for the local shelters. I'd ask that if you know of any in your area, that you call and ask them what they could use this time of year. County food cabinets and shelters can use a donation or a food drive all year around, but especially this time of year, when they take in the most people. It doesn't have to be much-like the saying goes, it's the thought that counts, and shelters appreciate anything they can get.
What are you thankful for this year?
Enjoy your holiday!
Allie H.
No comments:
Post a Comment