Not cooking the Turkey Day dinner.
My spouse and I have four grown children, his two and my two. We haven't done Thanksgiving at our home for at least 10 years - his two go to their aunt's home, my youngest, her 3 sons (our grandsons!) and her spouse go to her in-laws, my oldest is either working (for the airline) or at her current beau's home. So, we don't cook a traditional meal on that day. The downside of this? No yummy turkey leftovers, none of my killer stuffing and gravy, etc. The upside? We're not cooking a traditional turkey dinner! No wrestling with a large turkey and having to buy a new (disposable) pan every year, no fretting about getting everything to the table on time, no dealing with the clean-up. Also, when our friends learn that we aren't doing anything that day, they will sometimes invite us to their place for a yummy turkey meal. Score! Sometimes, we do something different - one year we flew to Las Vegas for the weekend, that was fun. Another time, we went to the Uptown Bar (RIP) for drinks, then went to the Bryant Lake Bowl for a 4-course meal and three games of bowling. That was one of the best turkey days ever! This year, we are just staying home and Don is going to make his wonderful baked pasta with lots of pricey cheese on it, we have a fresh baguette, a pumpkin pie, and lots of wine and liquor. Later, we might go to a movie or just chill out at home. So, please, don't feel sorry for us, we are perfectly happy with our untraditional Thanksgiving Day. Have a great day everyone!