Day 148: Thanksgiving

Brandon and I have been together for 10 years and have therefore celebrated 10 Thanksgivings. We've now celebrated five of them under the same roof! But this year's Thanksgiving was different because, of course, it was our first Thanksgiving as a married couple.

In past years, since we don't have any family here in Florida, we've accepted invites to the homes of our friends so that we can celebrate the holiday in style. (I am working on becoming a Domestic goddess, but the fact of the matter is, I really don't cook!) This year, as in years past, we were not short of kind invitations.

But this year, we had no desire to do anything but wake up late in the morning, stay in our pajamas throughout the day, and drink beer late into the night. So that is exactly what we did. And we had an awesome "first Thanksgiving as a married couple."

We did sleep late, but not too late that we'd miss our chance to get a couple of the big papers with all the Black Friday ads in them from one of the local gas stations. Going through the ads together while we eat and drink is one of our new traditions.

Early in the afternoon, I began cooking. Yes, I said that I didn't cook, and I don't all that much. But I do have a specialty or two, and one of our favorites is beer and cheese soup. No, it's not turkey (in fact, it's meatless), but it's truly something we enjoy. And I have made it every time we've chosen to spend a holiday with just each other, at home. It's another one of our new traditions.

So I made the soup, cut up some crusty bread, and poured each of us a deep bowl full of the creamy, yellow goodness! We ate it in front of the TV - watching football and going through those ads.

When we were finally full, we both lay down on the couch, Brandon's head at one end and mine at the other. We took turns falling asleep, flipping channels, and playing games on our phones. We stayed in that position for about five hours, not feeling a need to talk all that much, but sharing a laugh every once in a while. And I don't know if there has been a time in my life when I have ever felt more comfortable or more relaxed. It was not an elegant day or even an exciting one. But it was just the one we wanted.