A Day for Giving Thanks, usw*

It's upon us again! Although I have to say I think the timing of Canadian Thanksgiving makes much more sense than it's American counterpart, don't you think? Having the huge turkey dinner today, a) is a wonderful way to celebrate the beginnings of cooler weather and to welcome in fall, b) is far enough removed from Christmas that we can have exactly the same menu and not get tired of it, and c) is just generally spaced out better, giving more time to prepare for Christmas instead of rushing around taking down Thanksgiving decorations and putting up Christmas ones in time for December. Plus, in the northern regions American Thanksgiving falls right in the middle of winter and isn't it supposed to be more of a fall-like celebration? And one more thing: I think the further-apart timing lends less of an "after holiday letdown" in January to those north of the 49th, cause it hasn't been one huge holiday after another and then nothing. See, it makes much more sense! :)

I'm excited to host and prepare my first ever meal for tonight and so far I'm off to a good, non-stressful start. The pie and salad were my projects yesterday, so they're sitting in the fridge ready to be whipped out at a moment's notice. One more trip to the store today for a couple forgotten things and then sticking to my prep schedule (starting at 2:30pm)...pending no major disasters, we should be good to go by 7! We're having two other couples join us (see invitation above) and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them better. I'll take some pictures!

In other news, it never ceases to amaze me how much time it takes me to get back into the swing of things after returning from vacation (even if it wasn't a "vacation" per se-!). Today marks two weeks since we returned and I just last Wednesday finally made it to the grocery store so we could eat something not out of a box or can-! I do appreciate getting back into a routine though, especially with Caitlin who is on the edge of deciding if she's finally an only-one-nap-a-day kind of girl or not. Most days she still doesn't make it past 10am without a meltdown (unless we have a playdate or are out doing something fun...but in reality that's only like once a week!) and I'll gladly use the extra two hours of quiet time to accomplish my own important tasks (ie. blogging..haha!). But it is nice to be home, and we should also note that it actually did feel like we came "home" this time...not just to this place we're "living in." Progress!

Grady and I also took a trip on Saturday to partake in a mini Oktoberfest--I'll write about it and post pictures later on this week.

And one last thing: be sure to check out my sister Natalie's blog for awesome pictures of their honeymoon in Fiji!

*usw - "und so weiter" - the German way of saying/writing "etc"