Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Travelling.

Wooooeee.

Fall, for me, for ages, has meant lots of travelling. I don't go home for Christmas - for many reasons - but one of them is that I do not want to be stuck on a Greyhound bus while its iffy weather outside somewhere along the 10 hour trip to my mother's house (also, the cost? astronomical. geesh). So instead, I head home for the Thanksgiving weekend.

And this year Keith is coming with me. We've been able to split up the holidays with little fuss - Thanksgiving with my family, Christmas with his - although I did ask Keith's Mom as a courtesy if she would mind if I took him away for that weekend (I had to ask her anyways if she would be able to look after Molly for the four days we're away so we don't have to spend mucho dollar for the doggy jail).

Also, in November, we gather together at my Uncles house in Toronto to celebrate my Grandma's birthday, even though she died in early 2007. She would have been 91 this year.

After I received the invite, I immediately e-mailed back and asked if I could bring Keith. So, yep, he'll be meeting 75% of my immediate family at this gathering and there's been a couple talks about making it a proper weekend away with a hotel and such (the party is Saturday afternoon).

So I'm looking forward to the next couple of months. While I'm not too fond of a five hour (Toronto) to ten hour (Mom's) squishy ride on a Greyhound, I DO love getting away. And I love spending that time with Keith.

Wooooeee.

3 comments:

Heather said...

Ok I know I am gonna sound like a complete moron for asking this...but do you guys have Thanksgiving at the same time as USA and for the same reasons?

Incidentally, it takes me exactly the same length of time to get to my dad...8 hours on a plane and two hours driving once I get to Auckland. I dont know if I'd prefer bus to plane or not...they feed you but at least the bus has a view!

sarah said...

Heather - oh HELLS no (lol). We celebrate Thanksgiving in the second weekend (officially Monday) in October, a full month and a bit before the US does. A few reasons why:

-At first, Nov 6th was set aside for the national holiday. But after the World Wars, Remembrance Day (Nov 11th) and Thanksgiving kept falling in the same week, so Parliament decided to set aside a different day.

-Our ties are more connected to the traditions of Europe than of the United States. Long before Europeans settled in North America, festivals of thanks and celebrations of harvest took place in Europe in the month of October.

-Another reason is that Canada is geographically further north than the US, causing the Canadian harvest season to arrive earlier than the American one. And since Thanksgiving for Canadians is more about giving thanks for the harvest than the arrival of pilgrims, it makes sense to celebrate it a month earlier. :)

Caffeinated Weka said...

Ooh, so it's time to "meet the family"? All the best!