Feliz Dia del Pavo!

It may only be mid-November, but I felt the time was at hand to address a small, insidious issue in the Price household.

RP and I have very, very different opinions on the holidays. I may be mostly Swedish and Welsh, but I am 96 percent certain that I am at least 1/16 Elven (from the North Pole line).

Take Thanksgiving, for instance. I love getting up early, helping my mother prepare the turkey (and by “help,” I mean pick water chestnuts out of the stuffing as it sautés), watch the Macy’s parade and roll out pie dough. Then I like to throw back 10 – 20 diet cokes and go for a long run to work up an appetite. Follow that by stuffing myself silly, catching a Christmas-themed flick, playing games, and starting on leftovers approximately 4 hours after dinner is over, and you have a well-spent holiday.

RP, however, likes to sit on a beach in nowhere, Baja, miles from civilization (or turkeys) and make Thanksgiving dinner from a can of black beans and a few peeled potatoes, solely in the company of his lady-fearing friends.

Of course, for me, Thanksgiving weekend gets really interesting on Friday, which I prefer to spend decorating, shopping, and eating leftovers. RP likes to spend it sitting on a beach in nowhere, Baja, miles from civilization, making dinner from a can of black beans and a few peeled potatoes, solely in the company of his lady-fearing friends.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

But, the Prices are learning to compromise. And this year, we will be eating Thanksgiving dinner.

We’ll just be eating it in Playa Negra, Costa Rica. I’ll be able to catch the parade and successfully prove to my husband that I really am still a surfer girl – as long as the water never dips below 80 degrees.

So trade a morning run for a jungle zipline, a diet coke for a coca lite, and a reindeer sweater for a swimsuit, and this holiday, like those of yore, should be a yuletide (albeit sun-drenched) treat.

RP and I have had several enlightening conversations on the subject:

KP: “So you made reservations for Thanksgiving dinner.”
RP: “Yes, it’s at the hotel Playa Negra. They have great prime rib.”
KP: “Prime rib?”
RP: “Yeah, it’s really good. It’s beef that’s---“
KP: “I know what prime rib is, dummy. I mean why is that applicable for Thanksgiving?”
RP: “Umm…”
KP: “Will there be turkey?”
RP: “Turkey?”
KP: “Yes, you might know it from such hits as…. I don’t know… Thanksgiving?”
RP: “I’ll call them back.”