Thanksgiving into Friday!

Thanksgiving weekend was so much fun!  After cleaning up from our holiday feast, it was about 4ish.  I was supposed to go Black Friday shopping with some friends.  So I tried to nap.  I am not a good napper. I have to be utterly exhausted or very ill in order to sleep in the day time.  I was not either.  Being in social gatherings energizes me so I was still on an endorphin rush of happy feelings.  I read my book and tried to relax.  I read my Facebook and tried to relax.  Nope.  Finally got up at 5 and decided it just wasn't going to happen.  Placed my Christmas card order on line, fixed the kids some supper (they can always still eat a few hours later) and did some piece work with my wife.

At 11 I met my friends at Wal*m*rt and we stood in line until the doors opened at 1 a.m. We had a pretty good spot at the front 1/3 of the line.  We drank coffee and chatted for hours but it went by so quickly.  Basically if I have someone to chat with, I am good anywhere you plunk me down.  Once we got inside I went directly to electronics where I successfully scored the camera Lissa wants for her birthday.  (I have the double joy of 2 kids with December birthdays) I also got my wife a great TV  The one in the work room is beginning to show distinct signs of aging.  I know she will love this and the price for it was less than we paid for the smaller one we have now!  I then did other parts of the store, nabbing deals on PJs and games  By 2:30 I was home and tucked into bed.

At 6:30 I was awakened by kids who were excited to decorate for Christmas.  So was I, so fortified with several cups of tea, and later, some coffee we had breakfast and decorated for a large part of the day.  The weather was uncharacteristically warm--like in the 50s--so we had no problem hanging the outside lights.  Some years you feel like your fingers will fall off from the cold, but not this year!

I really love to decorate.  I'd miss snoozing any day to decorate and I have passed that on to my kids.  We have about 11 totes of holiday decor and we use almost everything.  The house is large and accommodates a great deal of decoration without looking over the top in the least.  This year many decor items are related to very high places and the tree is wired to the walls. Rocky the Wonder Kitten scales it routinely and thinks that all the decorations are meant as kitten toys!

When we finished decorating I made the cemetary boxes for my grandparents and my mother in law's graves.  I was super excited this year that my wife found a great supply of red berries and even some wildly growing money plant. It really jazzed up the artificial picks of flora that I use and the evergreen boughs from our yard.

By then it was about 5 and the excitement and lack of sleep was beginning to show. I was able to snooze for about 30 minutes and then had supper, more tea and got ready to go to a play.  The kids, my wife and I went to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  It is rare for my wife to want to go to a social thing.  She is an introvert by nature and I was stunned when she had told me that she wanted to go.  I had immediately gotten the tickets when she said she wanted to go and I am so very glad we went.  It was laugh out loud funny and very wel acted.  I knew two people who were in the cast so that was extra fun as well.  I also like exposing my kids to a variety of theater experiences.  By the time we got home though, there was no denying that the surfeit of fun was catching up with me.  I was in bed,lights out by 10:30 and slept till 7 the next morning!