Respect the Bird

Okay, fine.  Let's talk about it.  It's 8 days away.  The big Turkey Day.  Thanksgiving. Get excited.
Okay, I'm not. Yet.  Working on it.
Sorry if this makes me unpopular....but I really dislike Thanksgiving.  Ask my family, friends, the hubster.  I love the Turkey Trot, hate the prep, hate the dinner, yuck yuck yuck.
Why?  Such a long story.  I think it has something to do with the fact that we always did the holiday growing up, and as the only girl aside from my mom, I never got to relax and enjoy the meal-we did the prep (include alot of yelling and Italian hand gestures), the serving, and the dishes.  Yuck.  Even though, let's be honest, Mama TFB makes the best stuffing in the entire universe and always had plenty of veggies to satisfy my picky tastes....sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, parsnips...all done naked without candy glaze....perfect.
So why the hate?

Source

Well, I can think of a few reasons.  First of all, Thanksgiving seems to be the lost holiday in American culture.  We have Halloween, which is super fun because you get to dress up and eat candy.  And we have Christmas, which entails lots of presents and good eats.  So it seems as if Thanksgiving bridges the gap between these two Holidays simply to extend the pig out from October to December.  And forget honoring the holiday in the stores...Christmas has been front and center since September!  WTF??
Secondly, and most importantly...it has turned into a holiday to honor food.  Not...let's be thankful that we have enough to eat and can celebrate being together, but let's see if we can stuff ourselves as much as the Turkey until we can't move...and then watch football on TV and sit in a turkey and pie coma.  Yuck.  Does anyone celebrate the true meaning of Thanksgiving anymore?

Well, I'm trying.  In the past few years, we have gone around the table and shared what we are thankful for.  And bless my aunt, she has shifted the weight of the day onto herself.  Of course, we will bring dishes to share...I will celebrate with a few healthy side dishes, stuffing and Turkey, a low sugar pie, then indulge in her homemade whipped cream...balance (Yes, recipes will be forthcoming!).  And the hubster and I will join 3000 of our best friends to run in the Turkey trot, balancing out our food coma.  And, lest anyone feel the burden of too much, we will all chip in to carve the bird, serve the coffee, clean up the meal.  And enjoy being together and being thankful for what we have in our lives...not how much we can eat.
And that, my friends, may be the true meaning behind Thanksgiving.  Maybe it's too much to ask America to sit down and enjoy what they have and what they are grateful for, but I am sure we can work on it one step at a time.
Do you have a love/hate relationship with Thanksgiving?  Or am I missing the boat on this one?