Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love this holiday not only because of getting the whole family together, but also because the progression of the day is an event in itself.

It starts with waking up to the aroma of home cooked deliciousness being prepared, and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Barbara Streisand sang the truth, "Don't Rain on my Parade" because I wait all year for the stars to sing on floats around New York City and for the casts of Broadway hits to perform in Herald Square.

After we get the wave from Santa closing the Parade, it's time for "Who Let the Dogs Out" when the National Dog Show begins. As always, I'm rooting for the Shih-Tzu to take the grand prize! One of these years we'll train Sinatra and he'll be Best in Show. Yeah, right.

The lazy day on the couch used to continue with It's a Wonderful Life, and even though it doesn't air anymore, I'll still recognize this movie classic with the modern song of a similar name: "It's a Beautiful Life." This is where we begin to think about what we're thankful for, and the first thing on the list is: football. Some families play football today. Mine? Well, we leave that up to the professionals. Today this household is rooting for "Benny and the Jets," or just the JETS.

As we watch the game, our house begins to fill with all of our family and friends, this year totaling 35 people. The salivating starts and we think "happy Thanksgiving, hooray, hooray, hooray! Aren't you glad you're not a turkey, on this Thanksgiving day?" Sorry, vegetarians. How about a little Adam Sandler "The Thanksgiving Song?" Or what about this little ditty: "It's Thanksgiving;" mashed potatoes, ey!

Every family has traditions and while the parents in my family sing "Gimme More" as they grab seconds, the rest of us are singing "someday somebody's gonna turn around and make you want to say goodbye," to your chair, that is. So "Hold On" kids, because when you're not paying attention in this family, we steal chairs and hide them around the house. It's just some good ol' family fun.

I hope you enjoy your family fun today, and adopt our family motto when we all get together: phones off, family on. Happy Thanksgiving!