Happy Thanksgiving 2024!

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Hi, WA Friends!

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it! 🦃

Another year has gone by, and here we are - doing it all over again! I hope you're doing well, having online marketing success, enjoying life, and ready for some relaxing time filled with thankfulness and maybe even some pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving started in 1621 when the Pilgrims and Native Americans shared a harvest feast. President Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday in the United States in 1863 - at the height of the Civil War.

Reflecting On Gratitude

This special time of year is all about thinking about everything we are thankful for - our family, friends, and the opportunities we've had to grow and prosper. Let's also remember to be grateful for the things that we take for granted, like our health and other basic needs.

How My Family Celebrates Thanksgiving

Here's our basic 15-step Thanksgiving plan that I've written about in the past:

Shop for food and start cooking and preparing weeks in advance.
Deliver tons of food to a family member's house that can host family and friends one or two days before Thanksgiving, usually about 30 to 40 people!
Start the feast around 1 P.M. with some drinks to jump-start the appetite - like Bellinis, Aperol Spritz, and Negronis.
Time for the antipasto (the snacks before the main meal)! The spread is so big it needs its own table!
The pasta dish - usually two kinds, one with red sauce and one with white sauce.
Lots of yelling about the order in which the meat dishes should come out.
The meat dishes - with everything you can imagine, including turkey, that no one really cares about, but everyone takes a piece just to mark the occasion.
Vegetables - so many that it's a bit overwhelming! Lol
"Digestif" drinks - even though we've already had more wine than you can imagine. We're talking Grappa, Sambuca, Drambuie, and the "big gun" Fernet-Branca (usually for those with upset stomachs). There’s always a big debate about what Fernet-Branca's secret ingredients are!
The fight for the couches and comfy chairs to sleep off the turkey, drinks, and all the food! Every year, I have to explain how tryptophan works, and you’d think they’d be tired of hearing it by now! Lol 😆
The neighborhood stroll for those who are brave enough to add a little exercise after all that food. It’s funny to watch them drag others outside, kicking and complaining! I'll duct tape myself to a couch before I'll do it! Hahaha 🤣
Fruit and nut time! Out comes all the fruit you can think of - dried figs are a favorite! We wash it all down with more wine and then move on to a huge bowl of nuts, still in their shells, of course. I’ve been hit in the face by flying shells more than once, but luckily, I wear glasses. Lol 😂
Another break from food, where everyone goes to the "parlor" to have a sweet liqueur like limoncello or Grand Marnier. We talk about getting ready for Christmas and, for some reason I still don’t understand, about who has passed away since the last gathering.
Dessert and espresso time, with more desserts than a small bakery! My mom used to make 10 to 12 pies and cakes for Thanksgiving! It feels like the end, but this part can go on for hours. People only start thinking about going home around 10 PM!
The next day, we get together again to eat leftovers and drink some more! 😃

Guitar Playing Is Important, Too! 🎶

To successfully survive Thanksgiving, the trick is to schedule plenty of guitar playing throughout the days before, during, and after this holiday ordeal. It's no small task since there's so much going on - busy, busy, busy! And, with all that eating, lounging, and debating over digestif ingredients, you need a little something to balance things out, right?

Guitar playing is not just important; it's essential! It helps digest the food (okay, maybe not scientifically, but it feels like it lol!), keeps your fingers nimble, and gives you an escape from the family discussions that can make you a little crazy!.