Thankful for Firsts

Hello and welcome to a Thanksgiving weekend Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is November 25th.

As we wind down the year, I can already tell you what the overarching theme of 2023 has been and that is adventure. This Thanksgiving weekend contributed a whole handful of more family "firsts" for us.

Thanksgiving Day we headed south to central Minnesota where we spent the day with my mom. It was the first time, post-pandemic, our family spent the day with Babi (grandma) in her home. My husband and kids played tag in the basement - something that was a first for my kids, but brought back some kind of childhood memories of my own. I couldn't tell you where or in whose house, but I'm sure that I had my own kid moments squealing and screeching in delight while running around someone's basement.

We had our first-ever boxed meals. Rather than spend the day cooking, Babi ordered meals from the Community Thanksgiving Dinner at the Brainerd American Legion.  The turkey was moist, the gravy was light and I ate pecan pie, for possibly the second time, if not the first time, in my life. We watched parts of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on television and put together a 300-piece puzzle in one sitting. All firsts for all of us!

On Black Friday, we bellied up to the candle bar at the Purple Fern Bath Company to make our own signature scented candles and diffusers. Here's a hot tip: if you're traveling with your family and everyone is just a little bit crabby because they can't agree on what to do for the day - shopping! lounging! getting outside! - take them to a candle bar. I was amazed by how just smelling the variety of scents melted everyone's moods. We all relaxed into the presence as we thought about the possibilities of melding white birch and white tea scents. This was a mega mom-win because this adventure cha-chinged a lot of positive points: doing something creative and sciency, making something practical and pretty, all purchased from a very cute, local shop. (Bonus: It turns out I knew the owner!) While I initally thought this might be a good way to get some gift shoping done, everyone (including me) focused instead on what they liked best for themselves - like an aromatherapy spa day. For the whole family! I settled on a diffuser with a scent I called "Light & Bright" which was a mixture of chardonnay and white tea. The Third Grader selected a black candle holder with gray wax holding a mysterious - yet delightful - concoction of bamboo, orange, and peppermint. 

Smelling sweet and feeling calm, we headed over to Goodwill for some thrifting. Thrifting is something the older kids are into and the hubs is always looking for a great deal. The Goodwill shop was cheerful and everything was 50% off! The men in the family were pulling dress shirts, sweaters, and pants off the rack like they were in a 60-second grocery-shopping grab game. While I picked a pair of pants for myself, I was mostly happy to be the clothing rack, arms filled with hangers and opinions. "That looks good!" or "The arms are too short in that one." and "Of course you should get the Golden Gophers anorak even if you aren't attending the University of Minnesota." The whole spree lasted about 30 minutes and we came away with 17 items for an absolute steal of fifty bucks.

Next stop: Kingmaker Games at the Westgate Mall. Now, this isn't a first for kids and me, but it was a first for my husband. The Third Grader loves this store. This is THE place to go for serious Pokemon fans. The Third Grader, who's practically on a first-name basis with the proprietor, got straight to business: "Do you have Scarlet and Voilet?" This sounded like a speak-easy password to me and it clearly worked, because the owner answered, "Yes we do," and waved his arm to his assistant like a genie granting a wish. The win for the rest of us was finding the English version of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza.

But wait! There's more!

After all this adventure, it was only two o' clock in the afternoon. So we went to the movies!

I'd like to pause here for a moment and explain how hugely "first" this is. When our older kids were little we never went to the movies. As the kids grew up and our family expanded, we rarely went to the movies, and, if we did, it was more in divide-and-conquer fashion. In all of the 23 years we've been married, I can't remember a time we all went to the movies together - dad, mom, and kids.

We caught the 2:05pm showing of Wish. "The film, co-written by Frozen's Jennifer Lee, follows the story of 17-year-old Asha (voiced by Ariana DeBose) who lives in a land where residents share their greatest wish with King Magnifico in the hope it will come true." (Source) The Third Grader thought it "was a nice movie" with really good animation. I found the subcontext dominated the storyline, making it feel more like a statement piece than a cohesive storytelling unit starting with "Once upon a time..." and ending with "The End," but I was also glad to hear the discourse afterwards about the film from my family. Engagement and good conversation, I believe, is always a win with creative pursuits and a desired outcome for the creators. 

We supped on a very specific Domino's Pizza request from College Kid 2.0 before heading over to Jack Pine Brewery to meet up with my brother and his family. In honor of my husband's own 40th batch o' brew, we bought the MN Pint Day commemorative glasses. One of my favorite things to do for my husband is celebrate his brewing interests with craft brewery visits. We played games - war, Sorry!, the Happy Little Dinosaurs, and Taco, Cat, et al., which made me wish we'd bought  Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza On The Flip Side. A "first" for the Sixth Grader included going up to the counter and saying, "I'd like to order a soda. My mom has a tab. Her name is Kim. That is spelled K-I-M." When the owner (who relayed this story to me) asked, "How else would you spell it?", she answered, "Kimberly."

Which brings me to this Saturday morning. The Thanksgiving adventures continue today as we gather at my aunt's house for a large gathering of feasting and family - this time 3 cousins and their families, as well as my brother's and mine. A "first" of a feast of this magnitude at my aunt's new house that she moved into during the spring of the start of the pandemic.

It really is lovely to be experiencing so many "firsts" - not just post-pandemic re-entry to civilization firsts - but first-in-my-life firsts. In the midst of all this family fun, a question emerges, the kind the Third Grader likes to ask: If you had to choose, would you rather spend a lifetime of having firsts or spend the rest of your life doing only traditions?"

I think both have their benefits. ("You have to choose, Mom!") But for today, I'm going to pull out the Thanksgiving coloring tablecloth (my first!) and be thankful for all the many, glorious "firsts."