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My friends Junkie and Stace started a tradition several years ago that may be the most bizarre tradition in the world. After a disappointing Thanksgiving, they got together in Alabama the Friday after to have a Thanksgiving meal together with their girls. (I think that’s how the story goes.) But, as does happen with two BFFs that live in different states, they got to talking and didn’t get around to cooking dinner for their girls until sometime after midnight. They woke the girls up and made them eat turkey and fixin’s at midnight and videotaped the entire thing. It turned out to be a lot of fun and the girls LOVED it and started expecting it every year.

Well – with Junkie moving to Seattle last fall, they moved their “Thanksgiving” to the last night they saw her before she left. And then this weekend, since she was in town again, they decided to do it Saturday night. But this time? They invited us. I was hesitant at first, since, you know, it’s Thanksgiving at 3am, but they wouldn’t take “No” for an answer. Once I finally agreed, Stace said, “What are you bringing?”

Yeah. Right. I don’t even cook during normal hours, much less at midnight. I told her I’d bring diet cokes. And a smart-ass attitude.

Now – I have heard the stories of these “Thanksgivings” for years and they always sound like loads of fun. HOWEVER, I am very dependent on my sleep and am not that fun of a person without it. I told them I’d have to sleep first, because I’m old and boring, but they could call and wake me up when the food was ready and I’d come by. LilZ, of course, wanted to be in the center of the action so he piled in with the other kids and they all went to sleep together around midnight.

At 3:30am my cell phone (which I put next to the bed) rang to wake me up. I missed the call but immediately called them back since I knew what it was about and said, “Let me put on my pearls and I’ll be right over.”

When I got there – they were about to wake up the kids. LilZ was NOT impressed. Actually, none of them were at first, but at least the girls knew the drill. For LilZ, what seemed like fun the night before was not as fun at 3am. But once he got up, he was into it. We ate ham, homemade mashed potatoes and homemade pecan pie. It was fun but also VERY WEIRD. I mean, I ate stuffing at 3:30am. Do you know how much my stomach did not appreciate that? NOT AT ALL.

Either way – it was an experience. To say the least. And we participated this year which means, if it should come up in the future, we don’t EVER have to participate again. LilZ may be up for future installments of the Thanksgiving That Ate Sanity tradition, but I think I’ll let it proceed without me in the future. I don’t know how they do it, those young whippersnappers, but I don’t have it in me.