The Twelve Must-do’s for Thanksgiving

(To be sung to the melody of the 12 Days of Christmas.  Good luck.)

1.     The first must-do for Thanksgiving: buy a pair of sweatpants in one size larger.

2.    The second must-do on Thanksgiving: run both parades on the TV even though no one will watch them.

3.    The third must-do on Thanksgiving: watch all three NFL football games (or take a nap while they are on).

4.    The fourth must-do for Thanksgiving: create four meals with the leftover turkey.

5.    The fifth must-do: eat five servings of your favorite dish: stuffing, potatoes, pie, whatever.

6.    The sixth must-do: eat six pork tamales to offset all that turkey.

7.    The seventh must-do on Thanksgiving: watch seven holiday specials (parades and football games count also).

8.    The eighth must-do: take 8 shots or 8 squirts of any or all of the following: booze (tequila), beer, wine, canned whip cream.

9.    The ninth must-do of Thanksgiving: if on the ninth day, you still have leftovers in the fridge, throw them away, plastic container and all. Eww.

10. The tenth must-do: give $10.00 to your local food bank for each person living under your roof.

11.  The eleventh must-do: say Happy Holidays to eleven family members or friends before the end of the day, especially those who live alone or live far away.

12. The twelfth must-do on Thanksgiving: learn how to say Thank you in twelve different languages and use them all today. Here’s a starter:

Shukran (Shoe-Krahn) - Arabic

Xie xie (Syeh-syeh) - Mandarin

Merci – French

Danke – German

Efharisto (ef-har-rih-stowe) – Greek

Mahalo – Hawaiian

Toda (Toh-dah) – Hebrew

Grazie – Italian

Arigato – Japanese

Obrigado – Portuguese

Gracias – Spanish

Asante (ah-sahn-the) - Swahili