It’s that time of year again for my personal favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! If your family is anything like mine, there is A LOT of planning that goes into this one special day! Once you get to that magical day in November, here’s what you should expect:

1. The Pre-Festivities: House Cleaning

At the moment you get out of bed, the whole household is in party-mode! While having the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on in the background, the entire family is making sure every room in the house is spotless! This includes your bedroom (as if the entire dinner was going to be held there), even though no one is allowed upstairs. You get locked out of the freshly cleaned downstairs bathroom because it is for “guests only.” This is probably the most stressful point of the day due to the anticipation of the rest of it.

2. Guests Arrive to Celebrate/Kickoff

Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins all flood through the door early in the afternoon, some you haven't seen since last Thanksgiving! They bring dishes to share and set of hands to help out in the kitchen. After gaming, a drink or two, and a few bites of appetizers, those not catering to the chef sit themselves on the couch ready for kickoff (this is where they will remain when they are not at the dinner table).

3. Meal Preparation

Those in the kitchen know their job. They’ve done it every year for Pete's sake! Dad makes the turkey, Grandma mashes the potatoes, Mom warms up the stuffing, vegetables, sweet potatoes, and bakes the rolls and opens the jellied cranberries to place on the table. Everyone else makes sure the table is set, drinks are poured, and that everything stays on pace for dinner at 4:00.

4. Dinner Time

The most anticipated part of Thanksgiving… the food! The turkey has been cooking all day! You’ve never seen every square inch of your kitchen island covered with different food! You can feel everyone drooling at the sight! Everyone gathers around the counter at lightning speed to say a prayer, because they know the next part is to dig in! Everyone heads to the dining room, which's only sole purpose is for holiday use. In-between bites, the family tries to make small talk. Questions such as “How’s school going?,” or “What are you thankful for?” seem to be most frequently asked. But you don't care! You’ve got a plate of mashed potatoes and gravy! What more could you want?

5. The Turkey Coma

Just about at the same time as the gravy runs cold, the turkey coma sets in! You drag yourself upstairs to change out of the dress your mom insisted you wear to look nice, and into a pair of comfy sweatpants. It’s just your family. They’ve already seen you at your worst. You pull yourself back down and onto the couch where everyone has already dozed off. Football is still on the TV even though no one is watching.

6. The Endless Assembly Line of Dishwashers

Even though you have a perfectly functioning automatic dishwasher ready to be loaded, mom insists on hand-washing every dish. Mom and Grandma grab sponges while the rest grab towels and run dishes back to the cabinet. Your only motivation is that as soon as this hell is over, there’s pie in the fridge!

7. MORE FOOD

The table is filled with every kind of pie anyone would ever want. Of course there’s no room left for any of it after gorging on turkey and cranberry sauce, but that’s not gonna stop you! Heck, this day only comes once a year!

8. The Extreme Couponing

Let’s face it, Thanksgiving is quickly coming to a close. All the leftovers have been divided up and stored to be eaten pretty much for every meal the next month, and it’s time to break out the Sunday paper to go through all the Black Friday ads! You all sit at the kitchen table and stargaze your shopping planning the late hours of the night!