Because what’s a major holiday without a rundown of the particularly quirky moments? Incomplete, that’s what, so here we go.

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My eyes popped open at 7am. Why? Damned if I know. My family wasn’t coming until four, I had the whole day planned out, I knew I could sleep in until almost nine and things would still be fine. But nooooooo, my stupid braaaaiiiinnn had to freak ooouuuuutttt and pull me out of bed early. Boo.

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BrightSide told T-man on Wednesday night that we’d get him up to help and the look on his face…lawd, child. So the fact that we didn’t call reveille at the crack of a-little-bit-after dawn should solidify our benevolent status. Feel free to reinforce that if you know my kids. They live to hear how wonderful their parents are. Yup.

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I hardcore love cooking in this kitchen. It was our first big family meal here and we managed to move around this space without a) stepping on each other, b) knocking a hot pan out of anybody’s hand, or c) any injuries requiring ice, Neosporin, or stitches.

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I am all about the knock-knock-enter, especially when you know folks are probably talking away from the door and you’re just trying to make things simple. But there’s nothing like the heart stopping moment when you hear voices from the other room and see two large furry dogs fly out of the room. You know what they say: nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like being knocked to the floor by an exuberant golden.

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Gracie spent the meal in her kennel doggy prison because, well, food everywhere but I let her out once everything was put up and people were most of the way through dessert. She’d only whined for the first few minutes of dinner but seriously, that sounded pitiful and my heartstrings were tugged. My heartstrings rebounded, though, the moment someone stepped away from their place to give a goodbye hug and Gracie attacked. I could hear gasps as she teleported through space and inhaled half a piece of chocolate cake in a single gulp.

The shocked faces were everything. The touching concern that this 85 pound eating machine might be sidelined by a small piece of cake was delightful but you can guess who ended up back in doggy prison. Because nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like an adorable vulture biding her time around the table.