lauramac Wrote:IMO Thanksgiving is the best holiday in the world ever: no gifts, no cards, no none of that business, just a 4-day weekend to cook a bunch of good food and then eat it!

Absolutely. Thanksgiving is such a good holiday that even the presence of in-laws can't spoil it.

OwlSD Wrote:Thanksgiving is such a good holiday that even the presence of in-laws can't spoil it.

Hope you're right, OwlSD -- check back with me next Friday! :yikes:

Good luck, Laura. I can say that I've still never had a bad Thanksgiving even after having Thanksgiving dinner with my parents or my wife's parents for every year except one for the last dozen years.

Oh, it'll be fine.

It's our first real* Thanksgiving in the new house, with OJ's parents 2 hours away, so they're coming down here. So... we'll have enough people to where it makes sense for me to make the full lineup of pies, and a nice big turkey instead of Turkey For Two.

At any rate, the keggerator is in the kitchen with me, so I'll be mellow one way or another.

*last year, we moved in the day before Thanksgiving & then on Friday, we had a flight down to Houston to visit my folks & go to the Tulsa game -- so I didn't even do the turkey, just made homemade meatballs & spaghetti sauce.

OwlSD Wrote:

lauramac Wrote:IMO Thanksgiving is the best holiday in the world ever: no gifts, no cards, no none of that business, just a 4-day weekend to cook a bunch of good food and then eat it!

Absolutely. Thanksgiving is such a good holiday that even the presence of in-laws can't spoil it.

I agree that Thanksgiving is the best holiday of all.

I love that it has stayed extremely true to its roots. We celebrate this holiday by getting together with the people we care about in order to eat, drink, and enjoy games, and by being grateful that we are able to do those very things -- which is exactly what was done the very first time in 1621.

I love that it is the most American of holidays: born in this country, rooted in our national history, institutionalized during our country's darkest hour, honored by our countrymen the world over.

And on a more personal level, I love the profound simplicity of the well-known Thanksgiving hymn, especially the short prayer that concludes the final verse:
Let thy congregation escape tribulation
Thy name be ever praised
O Lord, make us free.

I cannot think of any prayer more human, and more American, than that.

ArmyChick07 Wrote:This is a goofy topic, but when is it ok to start listening to Christmas music?

TThe Christmas season traditionally starts the day after Thanksgiving and continues until the first day of Epiphany. Decorations and music should follow that timeline However, this year, many people are looking at the Christmas season a little differently. Match each of the answers below to the speaker.

1. Many people believe Christmas started on November 4, and I'm not going to dispute that, not if that's a change they can believe in.

2. In our house, Christmas is a year-round event. We can even see Santa's North Pole from our front porch!

3. Christmas? Bah! Humbug! There's not going to be a Christmas this year, my friends.

4. Christmas? Isn't that what they call quail hunting season down in South Texas? Lynn, where's my gun?

5. Laura, you've got to make them promise that when I show up in Iraq with a Christmas turkey for the troops this year that they won't leave me there!

lauramac Wrote:last year, we moved in the day before Thanksgiving & then on Friday, we had a flight down to Houston to visit my folks & go to the Tulsa game -- so I didn't even do the turkey, just made homemade meatballs & spaghetti sauce.

Don't you mean popcorn and toast, Charlie Brown?

ArmyChick07 Wrote:

JSA Wrote:

stompclapwhoosh Wrote:

75Owl Wrote:The traditional Christmas carols have meaning attached (birth of Christ). The holiday pop is about feeling good about being cold and buying things, etc.

stompclapwhoosh Wrote:Somebody called in to Sunny 99.1 to ask when they were starting the Christmas music all the time thingy they do. I don't know why anyone would WANT that much holiday pop, and this is comign from someone who ADORES traditional Christmas carols...

FWIW, just to make this all weirder, I'm Jewish :)

"Some people think Ebeneezer Scrooge is.
Well, he's not.
But guess who is...
All three Stooges!"

Adam Sandler
The Chanukah Song

Now THAT is a holiday song we can all love!

That is a great one.

A couple of my other favorites are "Santa Claus and His Old Lady" by Cheech and Chong (where Santa gets hassled by the INS and Chong has absolutely no idea what is going on for much of the song) and John Lennon's "Happy X-Mas, War is Over" (the title of which I'm probably getting wrong). Oh, and Run DMC's "Christmas in Hollis" is the only Christmas song I'll listen to year-round ("It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens. Mom's cookin' chicken and collard greens. Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese. And Santa put gifts under Christmas trees...") (and yes, I know I'm really really white).

For disclosure's sake, I'm Jewish and I hate sappy schmaltzy pop music. Thus, the ever-longer Christmas season in malls irritates the crap out of me. Some gospel songs are nice, and some carols are nice, but most of the Christmas pop makes me fell like Scrooge...

CTRice10 Wrote:the ever-longer Christmas season in malls irritates the crap out of me.

Recommended solution: don't go to malls.

I pretty much don't go to malls year-round unless it is for a specific gift. I definitely avoid it in the holiday season - insanity is thy name. As Gravy says - problem solved.

Gravy Owl Wrote:

CTRice10 Wrote:the ever-longer Christmas season in malls irritates the crap out of me.

Recommended solution: don't go to malls.

But it isn't just malls, it's everywhere!

This won't save you from Muzak carols in the coming weeks. But in the face of the triple assault of schmaltz, commercialism, and excess during the holidays, here is one humble suggestion that can provide (for those so inclined) a useful antidote on Thanksgiving Day and on Christmas Day. If you are someone who goes to church at other times of the year, then go to church on Thanksgiving Day, and on Christmas Day.

Most churches have a short service on each of those days, typically at 10 or 11 AM.

I know this suggestion may be controversial in some quarters*, so let me offer a few reasons.

In each case, gathering with people you are NOT related to serves to underscore that while food and gifts and family togetherness are important, these holidays (indeed ALL holidays) are about something a bit larger than mere family fun. This point is especially true if you are traveling, for nothing underscores the universality of an occasion like celebrating it in the company of strangers. And nothing confirms the continuity of an occasion like celebrating it in forms honored by time.

In each case, you will typically find a simple, straightforward service in an uncrowded (and sometimes chilly - for why turn the heat on just for one service) church. The simplicity and spareness of it all are antidotes to the demands and excesses of the season -- and perfectly appropriate to the occasions being commemorated.

Finally, if nothing else, it gives you an irreproachable excuse to get dressed at a respectable hour and to go outside and do something, rather than spending all day in the house and feeling like a sluggard afterward.

*Oddly enough, I once actually heard someone say that it is not appropriate to go to church on Thanksgiving. Think about that.