Pause the pre-Thanksgiving Day madness for a few minutes. Grab a pen and play: Jump right to the SincerelyIreneB Thanksgiving word search, if you need to! I get it!
Squat, Diddly, Me
For some years now, Thanksgiving has been a little (read: a lot) more nontraditional in my world. I went from doing the whole feast, to a few side dishes, to doing squat — as in diddly-squat, or squat-diddly, you choose. I don’t cook a single thing. Not a turkey leg, not a pie (because I don’t bake, but luckily my girls do), not even a wee pot of vegetables passes my hands.
For me, Thanksgiving felt far too close to Christmas. Four weeks between both holidays, and here I was making not one, but two, far-too-similar mammoth meals. And yeah, I could mix up the menu, but I 100% didn’t (and still don’t) want to. #AintNobodyGotTimeForThat.
Thankfully, my family loves to eat a seafood feast that someone else — aka a lovely restaurant — has whipped up for this holiday. Then, I not only have the time, but the energy to immediately switch it up and nose-dive into “holiday-elf-Irene” mode, and start putting up Christmas décor.
Too early for you? That’s more than A-OK. But for me, this is the moment when all that twinkling and sparkling shit is about to go down… well, up — that’s my rhythm, and I love it!
Minimal Christmas Gifts + Maximum Christmas Cheer = Uber Joy. And I’m digging it!
And this year, I feel even more connected to it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about gratitude, about what’s enough, and about acts of kindness. This all goes hand in hand with pressing pause on overconsumption while making room, when needed, to shop small, local, and more intentionally. Support who supports you, I say. When I spend on non-necessities, I want it to be aligned, not automatic. And mindlessly swiping into the carts of the big-box online stores has to take a backseat wherever possible, and that speaks both to the cents in my wallet and the little sense left in my head. Sigh.
Now, your family dynamic might make it impossible to all of a sudden and announce that you’re flipping those Thanksgiving traditions on their heads, and I get that. But still, make time to take a break from the busy.
Pause. Grab a tea, coffee, or bevvy of choice, and reflect. Be thankful for the big and small things, and add in little fun moments. Often and always.
So, thinking of a non-spend item to share, I wanted to do something easy and playful that still nods to all the ‘good‘ themes swirling around this season, but in puzzle form.
Which brings me to:
A Thanksgiving Word Search… a la me… SincerelyIreneB!
The words in this word search link back to thoughts, past posts, and journal entries that have kept me… me, this month (and year). As your holiday to-do lists start piling up, let this lil’ ole word search be your lil’ ole reminder to pause, breathe, reset, and take as many breaks as you need. I hope it helps you… be you too.
Word Search
1️⃣ Printable Word Search + Word List–Grab the blank PDF here: Download/Print
