Thanksgiving

Well, it's that time of year again. People are getting this look in their eyes, and you know the big turkey feast is coming up. It doesn't really help that all the stores have had Christmas decorations up since the middle of October, but that's really a rant for another day. In my (not so) humble opinion, Thanksgiving is the one holiday that really doesn't get a fair shake.

It's too bad that such a great holiday has to fall between Halloween and Christmas (the top two most anticipated holidays). There's a lot to like about a massive feast with all your relatives gathered around trying to be nice for once. When you were a kid, Thanksgiving was the last hurdle before the Big Dance. And it always seemed like the Great Haul(oween) zoomed by too fast. All the candy had evaporated by mid-November, and the yams. . .well, they're sweet but not sweetarts.

As a college student, the only good thing about Thanksgiving was the leftovers. No true student can turn down the siren call of huge baggies of leftover turkey, but the professors take an inhuman delight in piling on assignments that come due the Monday after. I can recall leaving early Thursday morning to drive down to St. George, only to have to turn around and come back early Friday so I could get some homework done.

Now that I'm fairly grown up, I like to think that I can appreciate Thanksgiving a little better. This year, the Great Haul was spent watching the Utes embarrass an unsuspecting San Diego State (although I did manage to score some sweetarts thank you very much). There aren't really any kids in my family to get excited about Santa, so the level of excitement about the Big Dance is currently at a low ebb. What I'm really looking forward to this year is watching Peyton Manning toss the pigskin around while I munch on succulent turkey leftovers. Here's hoping your Thanksgiving is just as good.