Thanksgiving + Football = WHAT?!?!!!

I love this week at work! So much to look forward to… ½ day on Wednesday, and off for the rest of the week! Finally some time to unwind and relax, but of course with that comes the most anticipated eating day of the year… Thanksgiving. Aw yes the day when calories do not count and you are “allowed” to eat whatever you want. A day when you get together with your family and friends and share your thanks without a care in the world. Every other year I have stayed in the city for the holiday and we have gone out to eat, I mean c’mon there is nothing better than drinking at 2pm and eating as much or more than you can handle without being judged, but this year I needed a change.. something new…. So my friend Shannon & I decided that we were up for the infamous challenge that so many people dread on this beloved holiday….. COOKING!!

Now I do have to take a time out here and toot my own horn and say that I have become quite the cook in the last year (well, minus that time last month when I attempted to make Kat (the b-friend) a Shepherd’s Pie and he was sick for the next 2 days and almost couldn’t go to work) but other tries have come out pretty well. So I ran the idea by Kat to see what he thought of this so-called “adventure.” What can be so hard about cooking a bird? Oh and who wants to go out on Thanksgiving? Please… give me a pair of drawstring sweatpants and let’s eat!! It made perfect sense in my book so now I just had to convince him that this was an excellent idea. I mean there’s the parade to watch, cocktails to drink and who wants to ride the subway on a holiday and wait in the cold for 25 minutes until the next train arrives that is guaranteed to be packed with parade-crazed tourists?!! And if you live in NY you will know who I am talking about ;)

After much deliberation he quickly said, “Yes, let’s do it – but on one condition… it has to be at my place since I have the HD TV.” So I promptly replied with “Great, can’t wait to see all of the Broadway performers during the parade on HD!” And he responded with a little smirk, and I couldn’t help but be extremely curious as to what caused that sneaky little look. So… after some interrogation efforts on my part he finally let loose and responded with “Julie, it’s the biggest football holiday in the world!!!” WHAT!! So I immediately responded with, "Excuse me?" thinking I didn't hear him correctly, but I was wrong and he was dead serious. Ugh! FOOTBALL?!?!?!! Sports on Thanksgiving?! Thanksgiving is now a football holiday? Why is this not making sense to me? Since when does a holiday center around football? I mean I do like the occasional game on a Sunday – but that’s it...

Does he understand that it is on this particular glorious holiday that the Christmas movies begin on Lifetime/TBS and the Christmas commercials start? Or if that's not his cup of tea, why not rent 5 Xmas movies and watch them all while getting in the spirit for the holiday season? Or if he isn't into movies, how about board games! Yes, I love board games, talk about a great way to spend time together… Now that’s the holiday spirit if you ask me, time spent with each other… not sitting in front of some HD tv watching grown up men beat up on each other, where’s the love there? Since when does a holiday meal center around football anyway and why is this okay? What happened to the story of the pilgrims! Aren’t we supposed to sit at the table and give thanks to each other. What now? What happened to the stories that we read growing up that said families sat around and wrote out what they were thankful for and then read them aloud, now that might be a bit much but you get my drift. So let me get this straight, on Thursday I am supposed to watch football and eat this feast we are preparing on.... TV TRAYS in the family room?!?!?!? I couldn't help but wonder, in a society such as this what does Thanksgiving truly mean anymore?

The dictionary describes Thanksgiving as:
-“The act of giving thanks”
-“Grateful acknowledgement of benefits and favors.”
-“Expression of thanks”
No where is FOOTBALL mentioned, I checked 3 times!

Being the good girlfriend I am, I'll fold... but just this once in order find out what all of this fuss is really about... football it is... So let it be known that on this magnificent holiday when we all give thanks to each other and appreciate the time we share together let us all take time to say “Touchdown!” “Defense…” in between bites and courses. I can only imagine what the pilgrims think of that...

So I guess the moral of the story is, whatever you are doing this Thursday– best wishes for a happy thanksgiving (with or without football).

Gooble, gobble.