30 Days of Thanks: Day 24

So, for THE Day of Thanks, what am I thankful for? That ability to spend the day doing whatever I want. AKA: I stayed home for Thanksgiving. By myself. By choice. And I'm 100% perfectly okay with that. Don't feel sorry for me because it's been a great day.

Very long story short: Long quarter. Stressful quarter. Lots of bullshit. Lots of passive aggressiveness. Classroom issues involving some stressful situations. And a lot of this has just been in the last few days. By Tuesday I wanted to do nothing more than take Wednesday off so I could have five days away. I didn't quite do that--I took a research day. I got the sleep I desperately needed. I went to the gym. I ran some errands. And then I got some work done. It's gotten to the point where I can't get much of anything done in the office. I have distractions, people drop by, I have a bazillion meetings. You get the picture.

A friend, a good friend, asked if I wanted to come to his place. I like him. I like his wife. I thoroughly enjoy his kids. Normally, yes, I would, and I would enjoy myself. But by the time Thanksgiving came around I knew I needed some quiet time to disconnect and recharge, because I'm exhausted.

So... I watched football. I put up Christmas lights. I cooked. I knit. I ate. I napped. And napped. And napped some more. I have not once felt bad about spending the day this way.

My first year in grad school I had planned on driving to my dad's for Thanksgiving. It was a four-hour drive, but it was the closest I'd lived to him in a long time. I knew I should go, and I was looking forward to it until the week of Thanksgiving. I had two papers due the day before. I was up late the night before I was supposed to leave. After getting only three hours of sleep, I knew I was in no mood to drive four hours for a meal I couldn't eat. So I didn't. I sat on my couch in my PJs, eating what I wanted while watching football. The next day I putzed around town with a friend. And you know what? It was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had. It was relaxing and calm and quiet. For the first time in several months I didn't have to be anywhere, do anything, answer questions, fix problems, or do anything of any importance.

This year I decided to repeat that. And it's been great.