Holiday Slow Down

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John F. Kennedy

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching and I must admit, I'm not excited.  For most, Thanksgiving is a time to be with their families and reflect on how much you mean to one another.  For myself and most of the my friends, it's a time for us to stress over how we're going to fit a large meal and time with family in between work shifts.  Or more importantly, calling around to find out which grocery stores will be open and fully stocked with caffeine.  Thanksgiving has become more of a challenge than a holiday for me.  How do you juggle approximately 5 hours of cooking, 2 hours of cleaning, and 15 hours of working along with entertaining friends and family?  Oh, and heaven forbid and extra guest show up and you don't have enough matching plates to accommodate the unexpected addition.  Sounds like a game show to me!

Cooking the Thanksgiving turkey is my thing.  I've done it every year since Jordan and I have been together.  This is partly because Jordan's mom isn't a huge fan of cooking and partly because it's difficult to tote a 15 pound bird 4 hours up a mountain.   So every year, I cook the turkey and our families make the drive to Asheville.

Time is something that I'm always running short on, but especially this time of year.  This is the time that I forget to slow down and enjoy the holiday.  I think part of this is because I'm in retail.  For me, this is the busiest time of the year.  Everyone is shopping and everyone is rushing.  Usually the people I'm interacting with aren't concerned with what I have planned for the holidays...they're busy thinking about the to-do list that never seems to end.  From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the lives of other people cease to matter.  That's the part of the holiday that makes me sad.  We remember our own families and we're so excited to give gifts and eat turkey, but we forget to love on the people that don't get the time to spend with their families.  My job is as accommodating as they can be around the holidays, but at the end of the day, they still have a business to run.  My point is, while you're running around this season trying to finish up your to-do list, don't forget about the people who are providing a service to you rather than spending time with their own families.  Smile at us and give us your patience because we're most certainly trying our best to make your holidays wonderful.  And at the end of the day, just know that Thanksgiving and Christmas are really just about love... everything else is extra.  So if the plates on the table don't all match or a bulb on the Christmas tree goes out, just smile and remember that imperfections keep life interesting.