Relaxed

Tomorrow will mark the third Thanksgiving we've celebrated since relocating back to the motherland. I wonder when or if the novelty of not having to travel on this holiday will ever wear off? Thanksgiving really snuck up on me this year. This is due in no small part to the fact that I didn't have to spend weeks rearranging my work schedule to clear out Tuesday and Wednesday as possible travel days, didn't have to obsess for days about traffic patterns and strategize about how to find the optimal day and time to travel the miserable Boston to NY corridor. I didn't have to start masterminding the kids' eating, sleeping, and pooping schedule days in advance to try to maximize peaceful, crying-free travel and minimize rest-stop visits.

No, instead, I've given it almost no thought until just yesterday, when my mom asked me what time we thought we'd come by. This morning when I woke up, I looked out the window at our quiet street, and gave thanks that I didn't have to be out on a busy highway today. Tomorrow, sometime after Eden wakes from her afternoon nap, we'll load up the car with the platters of food my mother has stored in our extra fridge and make the 20 minute drive up to her house. And perhaps best of all, tomorrow night, with our bellies full of the Thanksgiving feast and our hearts full from the visit with extended family, we will simply make that 20 minute drive back home and enjoy the delicious sensation of settling in for the night in our own home. Bliss.