I Can Smell The Turkey Already

9 days into the month, I finally remembered to turn the calendar. Every year for Christmas, J buys me an Ansel Adams calendar and I particularly love this month's photo.

I love November, and not just because it's my birth month, but because, to me, it marks the beginning of hunkering down for the winter, of snuggling in a little more closely as the days grow shorter, and the comfort foods offer more...well, comfort. Some people dread this decline of the year, what with the abbreviated daylight, and can feel almost overcome by the impending Holiday season, but this is the time of year when I thrive and feel the most alive. Yes, there's the inevitable stress of planning for the Holidays, but there's also togetherness and laughter, good food and cheer, and, for me anyway, lots and lots to be grateful for.

This year, we're planning a big Thanksgiving at my mother's, since she may be putting the house on the market next year. While I'm sad about the potential sale of my childhood home, I'm very glad that my older siblings wanted to have one last huge Holiday season at Mom's. It will be wonderful to celebrate with (nearly all of) my family. As of the most recent headcount, there will be 36 of us and it will be loud and chaotic and there will be too many tempting treats and most of the male relatives (and my eldest sister) will take over the living room to watch football and leave the rest of us to search out comfortable seating elsewhere in the house. It will be overwhelming and exhausting and exactly what we need.

And I will love, and be grateful for, every moment of it.