"Traditions"

The current theme for the EtsyBloggers Carnival is either my favorite Thanksgiving tradition or how I'm preparing my Etsy shop for the holiday rush.

Hmm . . .

On the second one, the truth is I have absolutely no plan to prepare my shop. Ha! How about that? My goal is to put things in it and hope people buy them. Maybe someday I'll have a plan of attack.

The first topic is difficult for me, too. As discussed in an earlier post, Thanksgiving went from being my favorite holiday to much lower on my list. Back when I ate meat and only had one family destination every year, I loved it. What a great time to wear your fat pants, eat a whole pie, and sleep for 19 hours, right? Once I left for college, the holiday got more complicated since I had at least two houses to visit in a very short break, so I quit returning home. In fact, my two favorite Thanksgivings happened in college after I decided I would not leave campus. On the first one, my mom came out to visit me, and we spent the weekend in a brand-new, gorgeous hotel I got us a steal on in Huntington Beach. The second was my senior year of college when my friends and I made a vegetarian meal ourselves and ate in one of the dorm kitchens. It was so fun, and I ate pie for days after.

When I was a kid, my favorite thing was to eat at least half the bowl of mashed potatoes intended to feed 12 people. I looked forward to seeing my family and taking three days off from school. Now, I'm more of a Thanksgiving Scrooge. I can't eat most of the traditional foods (turkey, dressing, candied yams, gravy, sometimes the greenbean casserole and mashed potatoes), and I don't like football or parades. My parents split nearly 15 years ago, and when you add in my boyfriend's intact family, that's a lot of houses! My newest tradition is picking who I like best that year and eating with them. This year, his family wins. They're a bit more pleasant than my crazy one anyway.

I guess my favorite tradition will be the one I make one day. I look forward to having a family of my own, babies included, to celebrate with. I love the idea of giving thanks for all that we have, but the reality is too anxiety- and dead-animal-laden for me. My goal eventually is to serve meals on Thanksgiving instead of watching loved ones make pigs of themselves. Though I wouldn't personally cook a turkey or eat one, it would make me happy to help others who aren't as lucky as me bring their traditions to fruition. I genuinely look forward to traditions to come.

How about all of you? What are your favorite traditions or ones you'd like to start?