Gobble, gobble everybody! My favorite holiday is just around the corner. Turkey day is back and ready to open a can of whoop tooshee on every holiday out there.

Let's start with the usual favorite: Christmas. Okay, everyone likes getting presents, I'll agree with that. But let's face it, some fat guy in a red suit that watches children as they sleep just isn't anyone's idea of a good time. In fact if I did that kind of stuff, I'd be in jail.

Then there is Easter. I love Peeps, possibly the most underrated holiday candy of all time. And I'll take the Easter bunny over Santa Claus eight days a week and twice on Sundays. What's not to love about a rodent giving out candy? But in retrospect, that darned bunny was the root of my trips to the dentist. So Easter is out as best holiday ever.

Having disposed of its two toughest opponents, Thanksgiving still has some work to do. There are a lot of dark horses out there vying for best holiday ever.

There's Hanukkah. If one day of presents is good, eight days of presents are better. At first glance, Hanukkah is a pretty tough holiday for the turkey to crush. Its undoing comes in the form of a big candle. There's just no way someone like me could have that candle and not burn my house down. Then instead of eight days of presents to play with, I'd have one long insurance claim to fill out. Blah.

So Thanksgiving marches on to face President's Day. No contest. Would you rather have a big dinner with family or get a history lecture? And while it's cute to see little kids dress up like GW and Honest Abe, it's also terribly boring. I'll take a drumstick and football over a kindergarten pagent. I know I'm not alone.

Who can forget Halloween? It's an excuse to wear whatever we want. And I mean anything. That's cool, but it's also very uncomfortable too. Guys run around as girls, girls run around as guys, men and women run around as Wonder Woman. I know I am not the only person bugged by that. I also have the same dentist objection here. So Thanksgiving keeps rolling.

Thanksgiving is now in it's final battle: Valentine's Day. This is a total wipeout. Valentine's Day is the worst holiday. Yes, worse than Columbus Day. Maybe it's me, but the aftereffects of "Drop Dead" and "Don't you know the meaning of a restraining order?" on my candy hearts ruined the whole day for me. It was a heart-breaking time.

So there we have it. Thanksgiving clearly triumphs. I feel I have conclusively proven this point beyond a reasonable doubt. Now all I can do is sit back and wait for the turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, turnips, broccoli casserole, pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

But before I do that I want to be serious for a second. If you're reading this, you are probably a Marquette student. We all have a heck of a lot to be grateful for. I just want to say I am incredibly grateful for all the people that have made my life special, including my parents, sisters, grandparents, girlfriend and all the people I work with at the Tribune. Happy Turkey Day!