On this year’s edition of “Becky Goes Home* For Thanksgiving…”

• A 5K race that started at 8:00 a.m.
• Eating way too much
• Over/under on one bottle of wine being drunk
• Lucy, the golden retriever, collecting every shoe in the house
• And more!

*Home is 15 minutes across town

Wednesday, November 22

(I know, not technically Thanksgiving but we did something fun, okay?)

Just like last year, Josh and I went to our first Springfield Thunderbirds game of the season the night before Thanksgiving. The morning show of the local classic rock radio station—which both Josh and I listen to—does an annual fundraiser called the Mayflower Marathon that benefits a food pantry in the city. Prior to Thanksgiving, they broadcast live for 52 hours to raise money and encourage people to stop by and drop off food. This year they ended up filling 4+ trailers with food. (Josh and I stopped by Monday night and dropped off some cans.)

The Thunderbirds were playing the Bridgeport Islanders, and there was a lot of fighting throughout the whole game. Most of it was during game play, but in the third period, when they were waiting for the ref to drop the puck, and Islanders player just elbowed a T-Birds player; the Islanders guy got a 5 minute major for that in the penalty box. The T-Birds won 4–2.

We got home around 10:00 p.m. and immediately went to bed since we had to get up early in the morning. You’ll see why below.

Thursday, November 23

After I ran a 5K race a few weeks ago, I decided it was a good idea to sign up for one on Thanksgiving because you’re not a real runner if you don’t do a turkey trot, right? (Full disclaimer: you are totally a runner no matter what you do!) And thankfully the race wouldn’t interfere with the turkey day plans we already had. 

Josh and I got to the race around 7:45—I already picked up my bib and shirt earlier in the week—and since over 1,000 people were participating in the run or 2 mile walk, I was worried about parking, but the parking lot was massive and there was a huge grass lot where we easily parked. 

There were so many doggos there, either to cheer on their humans or actually take part in the run/walk. I told Josh not to steal any of them; he said no promises. 

The race started a little after 8:00 a.m., and while I was running, Josh walked up the street to a gas station to get a coffee; he was tracking me on his phone anyway, so he’d know where I was on the course.

Overall, the course was pretty flat. The weather was in the low 40s and the sun was trying to come out. I felt good throughout the race; I stopped to walk twice for 30 seconds each. Once I rounded the last corner, I knew the finish line was super close, so I picked up speed. 

Josh was at the finish line to take pictures—part of his Blogger Boyfriend™ duties—and my time was 34:29! Which I was really happy with. And this was the first time Josh got to see me run a race.

We headed to my parents’ house and got there around 9:00. I took a quick shower while Josh petted the pups—Maggie and Lucy—and started having breakfast. I joined when I got out, and then we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Josh left at lunchtime to go to his parents’ house for dinner while I stayed at mine; I’d be sleeping over into Friday. 

I spent the afternoon on the couch watching football and reading Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.

We eat our Thanksgiving dinner at our regular dinner time of 5:00 p.m., and like usual, I definitely ate way too much. My dad and I helped my mom clean up after, and then my mom and I went for a 1.5 mile walk around the neighborhood.

When I moved out, my dad took over my bedroom as his WFH office. Last year, I did sleep in there on an air mattress, but the room was just so cold that I told my parents I couldn’t sleep in there anymore. So this year I was set up in the living room on the air mattress. Stella, the cat, was so confused about the air mattress and was creeping around, trying to figure out what it was, which I thought was funny.

Friday, November 24

I got up after 8:00 a.m., and was attacked by Lucy who was just so excited to see me. (Granted, she’ll act the same way whether you leave the house for hours or just go in to the bathroom for a few minutes. There is no concept of time in a dog’s world.) After eating breakfast, I packed up all my stuff, including plenty of leftovers, and headed back to the condo. Josh spent the night by himself after spending most of Thanksgiving at his parents’ house.

And after sort of unpacking my bag and having lunch, I took a couch nap, because couch naps are the best. We met my parents for our usual Friday night date night, went grocery shopping, and then came back home. A pretty uneventful Black Friday but you always need a day of recovery after Thanksgiving.