Thanksgiving Greatness

We have yet to establish a Thanksgiving Holiday tradition. One year I was in Minnesota visiting Grubb. We spent time at the bars.. she got ruffied.. we don't remember much about that night. A couple years we were down in Tucson for the Gers' Thanksgiving tradition. They always play games during these big family and friend get-togethers and I was a little nervous to be joining in. After all, I was "Casey's girlfriend" at the time and who really knew how long I'd stick around (ha! little did we know!). One year, Casey and I made our own quick-fix Thanksgiving complete with a pre-made rotisserie chicken from Fry's, mashed potatoes and stuffing from a box, and a Fry's homemade pumpkin pie. That same year our roommate ate a burrito for dinner.

This year was no exception. Casey worked until about 6am the morning of. I was just waking up and gearing up for my 10-mile race in Peoria. In my slippers and robe, I had my usual toast with peanut butter while my dogs stood and watched me until my last two bites. They get those. I recently started drinking black coffee in the morning before a race so I made myself a cup, but only drank about a quarter of it. I'm not a big fan of caffeine but I hear black coffee is occasionally good for you. And a few weeks ago when I started this, I ran the best long distance race to date! So my superstitions tell me to keep doing it.

The race was packed with people. Everyone was in incredibly great moods which just made the atmosphere that much better. Even I was talking it up strangers.. yes, me! The weather was perfect for a good run and despite my competitive tendencies, I told myself to just enjoy today's run and not attempt a PR. At the 5 mile turnaround, I was feeling pretty strong. For the second half of the race, I picked it up and ended up passing those girls I had been trailing for the first few miles, the three Peoria Police officers that took off full speed at the start, and finally, that girl in the booty shorts. I can't let someone in shorts smaller than my underwear beat me! One minute shy of a PR.

I spent the late morning sitting in the backyard enjoying my favorite meal of all time, cereal, while soaking up the sun. I even enjoyed a mountain dew. I noticed during some of my longer distant races, if I get a sense of a certain smell, I crave it. Like the time during my half ironman, I smelled green beans and so that's all I wanted. But instead, I picked up a single twizzler I saw on the ground and ate it. So, when they had mountain dew at the finish line, I couldn't resist. I also treated the boys to some Thanksgiving bones and all was well in the Sticht Household.

Our good friends invited us to join them and their visiting family from Virginia and California for a big feast in the late afternoon. The food was phenomenal, the conversation was easy, and there's no better way to start a meal than with a blessing from the visiting mom who thoroughly enjoyed her 3, 4, or maybe 5 glasses of wine during preparation. "We thank you God for alcohol." The weather continued to be beautiful as we sat out on the back patio enjoying pumpkin and apple pies around the fire as we grunted about how full we all were but couldn't stop eating.

So for now, our Thanksgiving tradition is to not have one. And I love it!