Thanksgiving

So, yesterday was Thanksgiving. A pretty common thing to do is to think about and maybe share with your friends and family things you are thankful for. Maybe its your relationship with them. Maybe it is your health, your material blessings, your country, etc. It is also becoming increasingly popular to go shopping the day after (today) and immerse yourself in consumerism. Companies scratch and claw for your business. What used to be just one day (Black FRIDAY) dedicated to bringing the retail books into the black has gradually creeped into Thanksgiving day itself. We had 24 hours dedicated to pausing and reflecting, as a nation, on the things we have to be thankful for. That has now shortened into 20 hours with many, many stores opening at 8pm. Are we so materialistic and so "stuff driven" that we can't wait 4 hours? I know the answer is, if you don't like it, don't go shopping at 8PM. I 100% agree with that sentiment. The problem is that consumerism is like crack in our society. We are so addicted to our stuff that if we think we can get 4 more hours of it, we ARE going to take it.

Anyway, this blog is not intended to rail on retailers for serving the drug to the vein of America. I am talking to individuals. Spend time with your families. Allow others to spend time with their families. Be thankful for the things we forget about and take for granted on a daily basis. We worship at the foot of consumerism all the time. Spend the 24 hours not doing that. Just give it a try next year.

On a different note but somewhat related. Some of you are probably formulating your New Year resolutions. Let me encourage you not to wait until January 1. There is nothing magical about that date. If you are going to quit smoking, go to the gym, be nicer to others, work harder, eat more salads, whatever, go ahead and start now. Why wait?

Traditions

This is the very first guest post for www.harmonworksharder.com by none other than the beautiful Cynthia W. Harmon, Realtor Supreme with Weichert Realtors the Andrews Group.  She is also Banker extroidinaire at US Bank in the Smyrna Publix on Sam Ridley Parkway and an amazing Wife and Mother to 2 charming children...(yes, i wrote that intro myself...how did you like it?) 

We are Harmon’s, and we can have Easter any time we want!" Sound familiar to your family? Being blessed to have all our grandparents still living when we started dating, Jonathan and I had 4 different family gatherings to make it to on Easter Sunday in the year 2000. After that very stressful Sunday with really full bellies, we decided some adjustments had to be made, and we started some new holiday traditions. For example, the Waldron’s (My father's side of the family) have Thanksgiving the second Saturday in November. It's a little strange to my boss when I ask off work for Thanksgiving on that Saturday; I just tell her "We are Waldron’s, and we can have Thanksgiving any time we want!" That opens up the 4th weekend in November for Jonathan's side of the family on Turkey Day, Shopping on Friday, and the Duggin’s (my mom's side of the family) on Saturday. In addition to celebrating Thanksgiving on the 2nd Saturday in November, the Waldron's also celebrate Independence Day somewhere around the 14th of July, which happens to be Bastile Day (French Independence Day) as well as Jonathan's birthday. Perhaps this tradition started because we are frugal (it's okay to read that as *cheap, we don't mind) and want to save money on fireworks and watermelon, or maybe it started because we just couldn't all get together around the 4th of July. Either way, I still get the strange look from my boss when I request off work for Bastille Day; but isn't life all about having fun and making some great memories? What strange or fun traditions do you have with your family?