Lovely words: Staying Home for Thanksgiving

I really do love Thanksgiving.  I didn't always. When we first came to Virginia, Thanksgiving used to mean traveling home to Kentucky.  This meant a 12 hour drive in ridiculous traffic on Wednesday and a high-speed return on Sunday to be back to work on Monday.  But that craziness came to an end when after consecutive years there was horrible weather when we crossed over the mountains of West Virginia.  So, we decided to start staying home.  When we did that there was none of the dread and worry I used to feel over the thought of dicey weather, slippery roads and terrible traffic.

When we eliminated 12 hours of driving, a world of possibilities opened up. We received invitations from friends to enjoy Thanksgiving with their families, or we could simply stay home.  Having that choice totally changed the holiday for us and became one I looked forward too.  This year is no different.  We had 5 thoughtful friends invite us to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at their homes, but we said no to all of them--This was only because its been a very busy and stressful few weeks, with the dogs, work, and everything else life has handed us and we are tired and worn out.  More than once the last couple of days, I found that being able to say those lovely words: "we're staying home for Thanksgiving," sounded as good as the dinner itself...Well, almost as good!  

~Shadow~