Whoop It Up No Matter Who's Talkin' Turkey

It's butterball time and with all the relatives around, there might be a ruffled feather or two.  Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday.  If your Uncle Bob is a Rush Limbaugh fan and your cousin Serenity drives a Prius, it may be wise to avoid topics like politics and religion at your Thanksgiving table this year.  Duh!  Here are some tips on how to whoop it up with more fun & less stress, no matter who is talkin’ turkey.   It's a cornucopia fit for The Thanksgiving Hunger Games:  Special Names, Costumes, Rituals, and Awards.  

Pre-meal Creative Mission :

During the prep stage of the day, often times family is sitting around while the meal is a cooking.  People get restless or drink too much which could cause friction at the table.  Best to put them on a creative mission.

• Pilgrim Name Generator – type in each person’s name on this website to find out their Pilgrim Name which chould help inspire them to create a headdress (next item).  Put name on name tag.  On this day forth, I shall be known as Alice Hopkins, great great great pumpkin pie eating grandmother of Anthony.   http://www.quizopolis.com/pilgrim-name-generator.php

• Costumes, everyone! - Have everyone make a headdress.  Options are great: Fall Harvest Crown, Feather, Pilgrim Hat, Pilgrim Bonnet, Scarecrow. http://www.parents.com/holiday/thanksgiving/crafts/super-cute-thanksgiving-hats/#page=26

• Compete in a Talkin' Turkey Trivia Game with a buzzer or bell - Trivia Facts http://www.whsv.com/seasonal/misc/33852054.html

At The Table Rituals:
• Chalkboard table – write what you’re grateful for on the table.  

• Pass The Candle and say what you're most thankful for.  

• Tell Funny Stories Thanksgivings Gone Wrong, dog grabbed turkey off counter, clogged up toilet, drunk fam member.  Great stories at Gawker -  http://gawker.com/5863107/here-are-your-worst-thanksgiving-horror-stories

• Have a toxic guest?  Use place cards.  Move Uncle Bob and his outbursts to the end of the table – Keep the kids at the same table with the adults for more lively adventure.  (I always hated the kid table!)
 

Post Meal Decompression: 
• Awards:  Share “Thank You Certificates” with dessert.  Funny ways to enjoy each other…each person gives one to another person at the table…coordinated by the dinner host. http://www.night.net/kids/cert-thanks.html-ssi

• Thank You For The Constant Whistling…makes our house seem happy.

• Thank You for the Guilt Call...I know how much you care.

• Thank You for Taking a Nap Every Time We Watch TV…so I can change the channel.

•  Turkey trot after the meal.  Walk off those giblets: 160 pound person, 1 hr walk = 250 cal.

•  Watch a movie – If you are not going to see The Hunger Games, here are 10 movies about Thanksgiving with my fav’s Trains/Planes, Avalon, Home For the Holidays and more.  Great list on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/list/BhMKFbC2SWg/

ENJOY and Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope you get your favorite style of cranberry sauce and lots of hugs!

Cyndy, The Whoopie Queen

p.s. If your relatives do a doozie to your emotions this holiday, never fear, The Whoopie Queen is here.  I have a call on Wednesday, December 4th at 12noon to provide positive psychology tips and tools on getting down with your mind chatter.   http://www.eventbrite.com/e/whoop-it-up-with-your-mind-chatter-tickets-9231111503

How Many Hugs Does It Take To Feel Happier?

Intentional Acts of Kindness FULL BODY HUG, new pop up comedy bit - http://whoopiequeen.com/YouTube.html How Many Hugs Does It Take to Feel Happier?  It's World Kindness Day every year on November 13th.   There are lots of ways to spread the love.  Open the door for someone, smile, pass out flowers, donate a coat, pay the tab of a person who is in line behind you, write a letter of thanks, call a distant relative, cook a meal for a person in need, hug your neighbor.  The bestselling book Random Acts of Kindness started a rEVOLution of guerrilla goodness.  Bob Votruba created a movement - he bought a school bus, had 40 of his relatives paint it with "nice" messages, and he went on a tour around the country challenging people to do a MILLION acts of kindness in their life. Kindness does not have to be random.  It can be intentional.  And it can be funny, especially when you tell strangers you are a hug expert and guide them on how to give a "full body hug."  Click on the Pop Up Comedy link below. Feeling the need to have the research behind The Whoopie Queen know-it-all tips, I am becoming a certified Positive Psycho, uh humm Positive Psychologist, through the Open Center's Flourish program in NYC.  In my studies we recently learned about Dr. Love, Neuroeconomist Paul Zak.  He did some research which reveals that if you want to feel happier in life, give/get 8 hugs a day.  If I squeeze ya upon greeting, know that I'm getting my quota and spreading the love. • Bob Votruba One Million Acts of Kindness Bus Tourhttp://www.onemillionactsofkindness.com/about/ • Pop Up Comedyhttp://www.whoopiequeen.com/YouTube.html. • Dr. Love's TED talkhttp://www.ted.com/talk/paul_zak_trust_morality_and_oxytocin.html • For more ideas of kindness, visithttp://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE WHOOPIESPHERE: • Have a Nooner with The Whoopie Queen A 1 hr teleclass - Whoop It Up With Your Mind Chatter,  12pm-1pm on 12/4/13 http://whoopitupmindchatter.eventbrite.com/?aff=estw Most people have a tickertape of thoughts that bounce around their head throughout the day.  It never stops.  From the book The Untethered Soul, it is refered to as the "roommate" in your brain... "What was her name?  I should know her name.  Kristine has introduced me twice.  I'm a crack head.  How can I act like I remember her without using her name?"  "Shoot, I should have spoken up in the meeting.  Now I don't look like I know what I'm talking about.  This is the kind of thing that effects my review.  Stupid!"  "The house is going to be full of relatives during the holidays.  What should I make for dinner?!  Kelly is a vegan.  How can I serve a roast beast?  It is so hard to please everyone.  And my uncle dislikes my cousin.  I'll never get through the festivities without a big fat mess." Get down with the mind chatter and use it to problem solve, laugh at it, or shut it the F up!  A one hour call - Whoop It Up With Your Mind Chatterhttp://whoopitupmindchatter.eventbrite.com/?aff=estw •  Come out and see me sometime.  Monday, 11/18/13 Special Comedy Performance  FemFocus:  Overcoming Obstacles An intimate evening of interaction, inspiration & illumination, Georgetown University| 6-9p Moderator: Carol Ross Joynt: Editor-in-Chief, Washingtonian Panelists: Margot Dorfman: CEO US Women’s Chamber of Commerce Reverend Ann Gillespie: Christ Church Lauren Ruotolo: Director Entertainment Promotions, Hearst Magazines Chris Weber: Former VP Production for Specials, Discovery Channel Special performance by: The Whoopie Queen, Cyndy Cecil-Bragg • Visit the newly fluffed up web site.  www.whoopiequeen.com now has a feather boa, all the Whoopie Queen Pop Up Comedy videos, and the latest Let's Talk Live appearances.  Thank you for the production assistance Tony Quaranta, Jr.! •  Check out new Pop Up Comedy that is popping up!http://whoopiequeen.com/YouTube.html Full Body Hug premieres today in honor of World Kindness Day where I do HUGS 101 on The Mall in front of the US Capitol.  Last month we whooped up some fun outside of Ford's Theater and did a tour-guide takeover about Prez Obama's limo, The Beast.  And there's the Ode to Anderson Cooper's stories about the  Monkey Trip to Ikea.  If you have a Pop Up Comedy idea, send it my way.  cyndy@whoopiequeen.com Postiive Psycho, over and out. Big Love & Eight Hugs, Cyndy, The Whoopie Queen  https://twitter.com/WhoopieQueen    https://www.facebook.com/WhoopieQueen www.whoopiequeen.com