We ate Thanksgiving meal this year earlier than the early-bird-special at Denny’s.

“Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes,” my mom told me.

“Don’t lie, call it lunch,” I responded.

My sister works in an Emergency Room, which apparently doesn’t take off for national holidays. I don’t even want to know their policy on Columbus Day, I’m sure they work. That argument aside, she had to go in at 5 p.m. so my mom insisted we all eat crazy early.

Luckily, I started planning for this early. I had a light breakfast before 10 a.m. of pancakes, then did not eat again until the Thanksgiving Day lunch. I ate some pie a few hours later, and was still able to re-heat my food at the appropriate time for dinner.

The issue still remained, though, that we were eating in pure daylight. I was scared someone would walk by, see our set table, and think we were aliens. So I tried to keep the conversation normal. We discussed the crack heads my sister sees at work, how my brother is trying to fix some door, and the meal concluded with the traditional round of making fun of me. Successful? I’d say so. No aliens in this household, just good old fashioned Americans, thankful for pie. Only my mom is thankful for the number, not the food.