It sure does help a lot.

Thanksgiving break is upon us, and I am ready for it. Everyone at school seems ground down and tired, and we’ve still got weeks to go before finals. This little space for fresh air and pecan pie and turkey overdose is desperately needed.

I’m spending my Thanksgiving Eve cooking (and tasting) and allowing myself to not worry about work or writing or anything else. It’s lovely. I’ve already finished preparing my family’s traditional 24-Hour Salad (an insane concoction of grapes, pineapple, marshmallows, toasted walnuts and a lemon sabayon cream sauce), which has to gel overnight before serving. I’ve also cooked up the golden and red beets for a beet salad with goat cheese and hazelnuts, and have toasted the pecans for the pecan pie, which I’ll make tonight.

In between cooking, I’ve got to squeeze in a dentist appointment and a Pilates class, which I’m telling myself will make me feel less guilty about the gorging to come.

Tomorrow, of course, is the Big Day, with stuffing and turkey prep early, followed by the final mad dash when a million things (corn casserole and potatoes and gravy and I-can’t-even-remember-what-else) have to go on the stove at once, all smothered in butter and cream and herbs. A big glass of wine will help keep everything calm 🙂

Friends and family arrive in the afternoon and then the gluttony begins in earnest! I plan to eat my weight in everything.

The long weekend will be spent digesting and writing, naturally, but also turning toward the inevitable realization that the giant stack of exams I administered on Monday aren’t going to grade themselves. Sigh. But that’s a worry for another day, and another glass of wine.

How will you be spending your holiday?