By the time you read this Thanksgiving will be had and over as we hurtle our way towards Christmas, all the way pretending that Thanksgiving isn’t just the speed bump on the interstate toward that final holiday of the season.

I’m looking at you Black Friday or Thursday or whatever it is these days. Pretty soon we’ll just call it Monday.

This year was a tad different than most. Not from the meeting for Thanksgiving aspect — it’s usually held on a Sunday because of having to work on Thanksgiving Day.

Still looking at you Black Friday.

We still get together with mom and dad, though this year it was at our house here in Austin, the first since we bought Castille Affordable. That’s right. Thanksgiving was largely in my court as far as cooking goes.

It’s awfully brave of my parents really, but after years of having to do it, I’m sure my mom will welcome the change.

I’m not saying I’m a bad cook. I’ve made plenty of turkeys and chickens in my life and we haven’t had to go the hospital yet, so there’s that and with that I feel pretty confident we won’t have to wish Mayo Health System’s – Austin a happy Thanksgiving.

Still, while I’m not a terrible cook I’m no chef and generally our meals aren’t that big and let’s face it  — that turkey is always a challenge and in the past it’s put me through quite the challenge.

There was the year I forgot to take it out of the freezer and I had to pretty much give it a warm bath in the sink which is more than a little weird, massaging the bird and working in the warmth.

No need to cringe, it turned out far better than I thought if not throwing us off schedule a little bit.

There’s been other times where I’ve forgotten to set the timer and it’s turned out a tad dry and that’s not to mention my skills with a knife that I like to think brings a little bit of reality to Norman Rockwell’s iconic portrait of a family sitting down for a celebratory meal. You don’t get those commercial-perfect slices but rather a grizzly crime scene that people would be tempted to call a detective for.

Either way, it would be a tasty crime scene.

My biggest enemy however, is distraction of which I am easily shepherded away the task at hand. I could blame TV, my cell phone or people walking past my house.

But I tend to blame my mom, though for no real fault of her own. A great cook, she suffers the same issue of distraction. I don’t mean to pick on her, but her past of burnt buns and pumpkin pies bear the burden of proof. It’s not even pointing fingers because it’s the same issue I fight with. Like mother, like son I guess.

And perhaps, now that I think about it, maybe that’s a metaphor for the season in general. With so many things going on whether it’s Black Friday — Uhh, uhh, uh Black Friday. You know what I’m talking about — or just losing track of time, it’s easy to forget the basic parts of this season.

Being with family and friends and recognizing that somebody, maybe somebody close to you, is going through something you couldn’t possibly identify with.

So take the time this holiday season to take it all in. The family, the friends, the smells of the turkey trying to burn your house down.

It’s going to be gone at some point and one of the worst feelings in the world is regret.

And having to work Black Friday.