Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was low key.  

I got an early start and headed into downtown Detroit to run in my first 5k.  Jessica, a friend who had decided to run months ago, was wonderful enough to keep her commitment even though she was a few months pregnant.  (Something that she didn't know when she signed up for the race.)

As we neared the parking garage, traffic stopped and then we saw runners crossing right in front of us.  The race had begun and we were trapped.  There was a brief discussion of abandoning the whole thing and driving back home after we were freed, whenever that would be.  

This is what we looked at for, what seemed to be, an hour.

However, after sitting for about 20 minutes the police kindly let us back out (after the many cars stranded behind us).  We made our way to another parking site and decided we would walk to the starting line to see if we were too late.  (This was after a nice woman let us park for free because we didn't have cash.  We NEVER would have made it, if we had been forced to find an ATM!)

These are some gentleman that we passed on our way to the race.  They were coming back to their car as they had already FINISHED!  

 As we got to the start there were men disconnecting the Start sign and taking it down.  We decided to go for it anyway.  

So, we ran our hearts out.  Since we began the race at least 30 minutes late, the spectators for the parade were already staking out their spots.  I cannot tell you how many people cheered us on.  One man with a microphone kept telling us that we could do it.  I'm pretty sure that all the people thought we started on time and were super slow. 

It was an adventure, that's for sure.  I did get to see many beautiful parts of Detroit that I hadn't seen before.  On the other side of this river is Canada.  It is kind of fun to see another country just across the water.

I ran for all but about ten steps of the race.  My time was 34 minutes, which I was happy with.  (I did run three miles today in 30 minutes, so I'm still working on getting faster.)  

(I have no idea what is up with my camera these days.  It is so blurry.)

Then it was home to cook a Thanksgiving dinner and hang out with the family.  It was just us, which I think made the day a bit sullen.  It would have been better had there been less contention between everyone but I think we all just needed to get out, plus Grant was just getting over Croup.  I was tired from being up with him and I  felt a bit left out since it seemed like everyone I knew had an invitation to join others if they didn't have family around.  I invited at least 5 families during the weeks prior to join us but everyone seemed to have plans.  

As dinnertime approached, the mood lightened up.  The boys helped me make a pie and Luke was a fabulous table setter.  He was SO interested in what was happening and couldn't wait for everyone else to see his great work.  

Dinner was yummy.  

(No, I don't know how to turn off my flash!)

After dinner, we broke out the window markers and drew a tree on our mirror wall.  We wrote on little "leaves" all the things for which we were grateful.  (Luke and I seemed to be the only ones who were into this for more than a minute, but we had fun.)

After dinner, we delivered some cookies and cards that the boys made to some friends and to the fire fighters to thank them for protecting us.    

And there you have our little Thanksgiving.