Thanksgiving. is. almost. here!!

Thanksgiving is EASILY one of my favorite holidays of the year. Just think about it, and ask yourself: What's not to love? First off, usually, at least in my case, I have to worry about very little of the preperations. I occasionally will make a pumpkin pie in an attempt to help out, but thats easy. So, while the rest of my family cooks, I get to sit lazily and happily on the couch, munching on bits of special muffins or baked goods that had been made by my mom ecspecially for "thanksgiving breakfast", and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Then, after about two hours of this, my family plays football. Yes, it is annoying that the tradition of thanksgiving football interrupts my being lazy, but its still fun. The game usually ends up lasting only about twenty minutes. Normally ending because someone has gotten hurt, the uncles start yelling at eachother for cheating, coldness, or my mom yelling at everyone to come back and help cook. When this happens, that is my cousins and my cue to slip away unnoticed to the basement, until we are summoned to set the dining table we use ONLY for this occasion. Placecards are set, candles are lit, our finest china laid out, all in preparation for this massive meal. When you get to eating thanksgiving food, I'm sure, just like me, you go through three stages: excitement, satisfaction, and deep painful regret. The excitement is always fun, seeing all the food as it is set out, scooping mounds and mounds onto your plate, thinking "oh I won't eat all this" but you always do. Then, comes satisfaction. After you've eaten a good amount of food, you are full, satisfied, could easily stop eating and your stomach would be happy. But you legitimatize how you reach for seconds on mashed potatoes and stuffing thinking, "oh it's ok, it's thanksgiving!". Sadly after these short stages of edible bliss, comes the regret. The deep, painful, punishing regret. This regret is the feeling when you've eaten four times as much as you should have, and then pie. And then you spot an apple pie that wasn't on the table before, so you get some of that as well. You feel like you are about to explode into a million little Thanksgiving dinners, but yet, you still eat more. Sit, eat, sit, lay, stretch, eat, is basically your cycle for the remainder of the night. And even though this stage of regret is horrific, the deliciousness and overall era of the holiday make it bearable. I am beyond excited for this delicious and painful occasion.