Excellent Thanksgiving.

If you are American you probably look forward to Thanksgiving, either because you plan to spend it with friends and family, or possibly because it gets you out of one or two days of work.

This is the first year I have ever spent Thanksgiving outside of the USA (with my husband and his extended family). It is completely odd for me to be around a bunch of people who aren't talking about or preparing for a full day of cooking more food than you can eat just to indulge a bunch of people who want to chew the fat or watch football of the 'grid iron' variety all day. Sure there are a few family games and maybe some 'Black Friday' shopping frenzies, but basically it is an excuse to get the kids and grandkids together to see one another.

That said... my mother-in-law made an especially huge effort to make a Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday after she worked all day (*snickers*, take that you Americans who need to be at home all day to cook a proper turkey). Then on Thursday we ate the obligatory leftovers (I prepared these, 'cuz Australians are not used to "Thanksgiving leftovers"). And on Friday night we celebrated again with my sister-in-law and her husband (yes, with more turkey - what are you laughing at, you probably have 1/2 your turkey in the freezer right now just so you can eat it later).

It is hard to be away from the family that you know and love, but it is wonderful to have a new set of friends and family who want to include you and continuously do their best to make you feel at home - even when by doing so, they are acknowledging or participating in something that is completely foreign to them.

One of the things we did at dinner on Friday night, was to tell everyone what we are thankful for this year. In my American family, years past, I remember this round of conversation spurring a lot of "I am thankful for you..." kinds of chatter. This year it was a collective "we are thankful for family, children and grandchildren". Afterall what else is there if you don't have family?

Now that isn't so very different until you understand that some of us had resigned ourselves to never have children, and others spent years trying but were afraid we could never have them. So it is a kind of silent miracle that this Australian family of mine is experiencing such a great influx of babies and a bit ironic that they are celebrating that miracle on a holiday that is completely American.

Related, and yet not related... I follow my mother's blog "cuppa Chai" and the following sentiment is straight from her post on November 13, "Thought for the day":

Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would most likely be worth it.

--Michael Gartner

This is the perfect thought for the holiday season (Thanksgiving - Christmas - New Year) and it is one that I live by daily. So thank you to my friends and family who are there with me no matter what! Being 1/2 way around the world is not lonely when you can still connect via internet or telephone especially when your extended family reaches out to you at times when they are not accustomed to celebrating, just to make you feel more at home.