Us crazy Canucks have to do everything different from you Americans. We have Thanksgiving in October. The second Monday in October to be exact, to give thanks at the end of the harvest season. Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in most jurisdictions of Canada. The Canadian Thanksgiving corresponds to the English and continental European Harvest festival, with churches decorated with cornucopias, pumpkins, corn, wheat sheaves, and other harvest bounty.

The actual Thanksgiving holiday is on a Monday, we Canucks might eat our Thanksgiving meal on any day of the three-day weekend. This is also a time for family get togethers that might include a weekend getaway (my family did this occasionally) to observe the autumn leaves. If you haven't seen the autumn foliage in Canada you are missing out! It's usually chilly in October where I grew up, snow showers are a possibility but rare.

Yes, we have football. The Canadian Football League, holds a nationally televised double header known as the Thanksgiving Day Classic, original eh. I am still not a fan of football even though I have been in Mississippi for 15 years. My husband has gotten on the band wagon a couple of times, he'll watch when NASCAR season is over (he has always been a stock car race fan, and no he wasn't converted when he move to Mississippi).

I have a rather large extended family and Thanksgiving was always an excuse to get together. We always had a good time. Lots of laughs, catching up on the latest, and great food. Yes, we eat turkey and stuffing. Most of the same stuff American's eat at Thanksgiving. No, we don't eat whale blubber, seal, or Moose. Well, most of us don't anyway.

First thing, the kids get the entire week off from school. I still think that is really cool. Which one would you choose? My guess is A. Mississippi. Thanksgiving is also traditionally a harvest festival in the United States, it is a time to give thanks.

I didn't know this but the date and location of the first Thanksgiving celebration is still moderately contested. I always thought it was at Plymouth, Massachusetts where the first Pilgrims landed on the Mayflower. They celebrated to give thanks to God and the Native Americans for helping them through the brutal winter. But there are several stories that I have seen now.

Well, in Mississippi we have adopted the sweet potato casserole. Corn bread stuffing (my husband doesn't like it but I do). Also Black Friday (shopping), you cannot get the bargains in Canada that you can get here. I am so guilty of Black Friday madness, I went and got my husband's christmas present at 5am the day after Thanksgiving last year. My Mom has made it a point to come here for our Thanksgiving for the past couple of years (they still reside in Canada). She loves the mild weather, and the shopping.

My kids have big celebrations at school. My daughter is in kindergarten and they have a big Thanksgiving feast and activity day. They start ahead of time and make Indian costumes and they each get their own special Indian name. Who could forget the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? We Canucks have even heard of that one.

I better not leave out football. I do have some football fans in my family (my Stepfather). Football is a big part of many Thanksgiving celebrations here. Apparently for many college football teams the regular season ends on Thanksgiving weekend, and a team's final game is often against a regional or historic rival. Well us Canucks have our Hockey, Mississippi has its football.

Thanksgiving is a big deal here in Mississippi. It also marks the beginning of the Christmas season. Some folks put up their Christmas decorations over Thanksgiving. I will this year because we have a little Christmas party for our kids when Grandma comes at Thanksgiving.

I personally love Thanksgiving. Like I mentioned before it marks the beginning of the Christmas season. Plus I get to spend some extra time with my family that I don't get to see very often.  I have a lot to be thankful for!