For me, this new beginning is always more poignant as I get depressed during the holiday time. Yes I admit that I am one of those people that get depressed at Christmas. Now understand, I do not get so depressed that I begin to think of thoughts of ending it all, but the depression does put me in the frame of mind to take a hard long look at my life. A few years ago, I hit the dreaded Mid Life Crisis (yes I am old enough to appreciate the movie ‘Lost In Translation’). Now, I didn’t get the ‘Divorce your wife, get a sports car and a 20 year old blond’ version of that affliction. No, instead I got the ‘make a list of things you want to do in your life’ variant. (This version of the crisis was much more appealing to my wife.) After I made the list, I went back in figured out why each item was on the list and it was very eye opening about myself (but that is another blog entry). Two years ago, I began working on that list. The first two items kind of went hand in hand: get back into shape (ie, lose 130 pounds) and participate in some endurance event. For the weight lose, I started with Weight Watchers, mainly because I was traveling for work and they didn’t require me to each special food that I would have to take with me. In that year I managed to lose 70 pounds. For my endurance event, my thought was to do some long distance bicycle race. Running a foot race was the last thing on my mind as I did not like running. Well, when you are travelling all the time, it become problematic to haul around a bicycle with you to train with. Most hotels have an exercise room (and the elliptical equipment is almost always busy), so I started using the treadmill.  As it turned out, the project I was one, many of my co-workers were marathon runners. including the guy that was sitting next to me. In fact, he could be called a marathon maniac. However, the title of maniac implies someone that eats, drinks, breaths and thinks only marathons and that is not this guy. Although he as run over 27 marathons in his life (and a could of ultra marathons), he had the best attitude about marathon running. If you look at books and magazines on running marathons, they all talk about running faster, like that is all that matters in a marathon. This guy’s attitude was not about running the fasted marathon, it was about just finishing the marathon and having fun doing. He was (and is) a great coach and I am proud to say a dear friend. With his help, I managed to run a 1/2 marathon that same year. This last year, I managed to run another 1/2 marathon in the spring before I hurt my foot and was forced off my feet. As for my weight loss, that has stalled over the last year.  So, that is where I am at today, with two of my life goals being 1/2 done and I am not happy about it.

I think the key for anyone in meeting a goal is to understand what motivates you. What makes you do something. For me, I am a deadline kind of person. If I make a date to reach a goal, then I will work hard to make that goal (especially if there is money involved like spending money for admission for a marathon). Now, believe it or not, you do NOT have to be in shape to run a marathon (not if your only goal is to finish). However, since losing the weight is another goal and the two go so well together, those are my goals (resolutions?) for this year. Of course, if I am going to make it, then I need to set a deadline. And that deadline is May 15. That is when the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon is. It is a local marathon (so I get to sleep in my own bed) and I did the 1/2 marathon last year.  I have 18 weeks till the big race.

As for the food, well, where to begin? There are my mom’s cracked wheat rolls. We always give her a hard time as she only seem to make them once a year, but they are so good. And then there is her Light and creamy pumpkin pie. There are also the regular pumpkin pies, the pecan and walnut pies made by my sister in-laws. The past few years has seen the advent of very intricate and incredible turkey dishes. This year, my older brother first de-boned a turkey, then put down a layer of chicken sausage (home made of course), then a pork tenderloin, then crab and shrimp. This he then rolled up and tied. He then soaked it in a brine for a day and a half. Finally it was smoked for 13 hours until it was done. Now anything that has had that much work done to it, you know it has to be good. (As you can tell, everyone in my family cooks.) 

So what makes Thanksgiving such a great holiday (besides the carb-coma nap)? I really think it’s the family and friends. It’s the fellowship and memories. I know that it is fashionable here in the US to have a dysfunctional family, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Every family has their issues, but that is what makes a family great. I know a lot of families that just love this holiday. The funny thing is, the food doesn’t even have to be good either. The foods help bring back great memories of growing up.

But the name of the holiday is Thanksgiving so what am I thankful for. Every year I am thankful for my family. Are they the Normal Rockwell picture of the perfect family? No, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.  I know that other countries have Thanksgiving on a different day. I hope that you have a great day of Thanksgiving with your family and make many memories to come.

Chef Mikey