This year we celebrated our first Thanksgiving with a true graduate student. We've had holidays before when Brandon was studying. He took about half a year to prepare for the Professional Engineers exam when Summer was a baby, and when Bella was a newborn he studied for a couple months right before he took the GMAT, but it was nothing like this.
Right before the holiday, Brandon finished classes for Term 2. All he needed to do to finish his current classes was to take the final exams. Three exams that he could begin taking the Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving. In the past we have gone to our hometown to celebrate with our families and maybe take a day trip to the mountains to cut down a tree. This year we knew our time was limited so we planned to stay in Apex and celebrate on our own.
Caroline was tracked out of school and Brandon only had to work two days Thanksgiving week so things were suppose to be pretty low key. The day before Thanksgiving Brandon began his day of studying and I took the girls out to finish some last minute shopping at the Fresh Market so we could hurry home and begin some of the next day's meal. Half a mile from our house I crossed the intersection of Highway 55 towards our neighborhood. Immediately after I began to move I notice a lady in a big heavy duty red Chevy truck speeding through a red light taking off the front end of our minivan and spinning out of control through the intersection. Somehow she managed to miss all the other cars surrounding the scene. People all around the intersection ran to our van to make sure the girls and I were alright, handing me their business cards and waiting with us for the police to arrive. It was so sweet to see so many strangers willing to help when I'm sure they had their own holiday plans that day. Luckily, Brandon was at home studying and was able to get to the scene within minutes to help with the girls. We managed to get all our belongings in our small car and I walked home with the little ones in our giant stroller. I'm so glad that I am married to a level-headed man that was able to take care of everything for me at the scene and deal with all the insurance and car rental issues when he obviously had better things to do.
Thanksgiving day we forgot about all the mess from the day before, Brandon closed his books and we spent the entire day together as a family. In order to work off a little of our turkey in advance we signed the whole family up to race in the Crossroads Turkey Trot. Caroline did a similar race last year (and I ran with her 8 weeks post C-section Bella delivery), but could not complete the run without walking. This year all 5 of us together (Summer and Bella in the BOB) ran the race together. It was so fun encouraging her along the way and watching her pass a lot of kids (and some adults) as she ran the entire way and sprinted towards the finish line. I was so proud of her, and we will definitely be back next year.
The rest of the day was dedicated to cooking and eating. Since it was just our family and my Dad we were able to make a simple dinner and just enjoy our time together. Because I was behind on my cooking I recruited Caroline to do a lot of the work and she was a huge help. I think she has become a permanent addition to my Thanksgiving cooking crew. We managed to make the entire meal from scratch, except for the pumpkin pie, which was the biggest failure of the evening.
Friday morning Brandon helped me get all the decorations out of the attic so I could start hanging the lights and such while he went back to the books. Starting was slow, doing it alone tripping over 3 little ones. Surprisingly, I was actually able to get everything done including all the outside lights and the timers set just as he finished for the day. I was relieved that the entire family was able to go together to pick out our Christmas tree. I had visions of me coming home alone dragging in another Griswold tree, but with a huge hole in the front that I had majorly over-paid for.
Saturday, I decided to brave the crowds and took the girls out shopping for some of the deals I saw in the paper. Strangely, no one was out. I warned the girls about staying close and suggested that maybe they all should just ride in the buggy. They thought I was crazy when we were all alone in the stores and didn't know why I was making such a big deal.
Sunday was the big day. Brandon started his first exam. I kept the girls out of the house so he could concentrate. Luckily this one only took him until about naptime and gave us the evening to recover. Friday he planned to take the long 24 hour accounting exam, immediately followed by another 6 hour exam on Saturday. Rather than one or both of us losing our minds trying to keep 3 little ones quiet all day long I took the girls to Greensboro to visit with my mom and Brandon's family until Saturday afternoon. The girls had manicures and exchanged presents with my mom and spent the evening with the Herndons out at dinner and walking in downtown Greensboro for the Christmas tree lighting celebration. Bella and Summer were not feeling well so it was a long evening away from home, but I think it helped Brandon to have the house to himself, and the girls enjoyed visiting with their grandparents and aunt and uncle.
Sunday was ours. The exams were over and the girls and I were back (and healthy). We enjoyed the day together eating at Sarah Foster's restaurant in Durham and doing a little Christmas shopping brainstorming with the girls. It was actually a pretty productive day. It was so nice to all be together again.
Next Thanksgiving will also be an MBA one, but should be nothing like this. I'm really looking forward to getting a little bit back to normal, but honestly there are things we did this year out of necessity that I hope to continue in our Thanksgiving for years to come.
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