*BUURRRRRRP*
And that, mine friends, is the sound of one very fat and contented me. ^______^
Thanksgiving dinner was AWESOME in all the ways awesome can be. Bestie's mom really outdid herself this year. There was SO MUCH FOODS. @__@ At least six different side dishes that I can recall, including a cheese-and-broccoli thing, a cauliflower pie, the stuffings, sweet mashed potatoes with pecans, corn pudding...
And the turkey. THE TURKEY. @__@ Oh yeah, I went home with a bunch of leftovers last night. :D Including pieces of *three* different pies: oatmeal pecan, the standard pumpkin, and a caramel fudge. AND I also got a full bottle of my favorite wine! (If it hadn't been for the fact that I had to drive home last night, I would've drunk more wine. As it was I stopped myself after one and a half-glasses, and those were drunk early on during the meal so that the effects would be offset somewhat. Fortunately this wine doesn't have a very high alcohol content, but still, it never hurts to be careful with things like that. And since there is a slight history of alcoholism in my family, I *really* have to be careful.)
The company also was pleasant. Bestie's family is so laid-back and fun to be around - really a different change from my family. My mom commented to me the other day that she's not sure if the few family members we have still in this state didn't invite us to anything because they had other plans, weren't doing anything themselves, or...just didn't want my dad around. (Because he's so grumpy anymore and doesn't do much besides eat, sit in a corner and avoid everybody.) I would not be surprised, really, if it was the last reason.
Holidays used to be a lot of fun for me. In recent years, not so much, especially when loved ones started dropping like flies. It hit me last night that I'm shortly coming up on K.C.'s one-year anniversary. I still feel a wave of pain every time I think about how he went. (So I try not to think about that.) I think that's what hurts the most. I love my pets dearly and although I can't give them a whole lot, I want for them to have the best, and that includes passing on. I think that's why I was able to handle Charlie's passing: he's the only pet of mine to date who was able to go peacefully in his own home, with me at his side, the way that I had always wanted any pet of mine to when it came for that heartbreaking time.
We don't do anything for holidays anymore. Can't really afford it, for one thing. We don't really know a lot of people, and the few we do know are not people I really care to be around much (translation: they're my dad's friends). And this place being as small as it is, isn't really a good place to host gatherings. But increasingly it seems like my parents - particularly my dad - are isolating themselves (in fact I question how much isolation is of my mom's own choosing, rather than my dad's, because he's so controlling) off from the rest of the world at large. And in a way, this is kind of scary.
Decorating seems like such a chore anymore; I don't know yet whether I'll put anything up. Probably not because it seems so tiring to have to drag everything out, find a place for it, then take it all down and put it back in storage again. And nobody besides us - or Bestie, when she visits - is going to see it anyway. I might throw up a few lights outdoors this year, since we planted a few small trees in the yard and those would be good to drape with some.
I'm SO glad I didn't work the Greed Stampede today. I never go out on Black Friday if I can help it, and if I do, it's only for a specific reason (i.e., we need milk or medicine). I'm glad to see that Buy Nothing Day (aka today) is starting to pick up steam; reports in at least the past year or so have noted that BF isn't quite the powerhouse that it once was. Good. If you're doing things right, you shouldn't need one day out of the whole year to boost your sales. And people's behavior is just appalling. I always think of that poor guy who was trampled to death at a certain notorious franchise by a horde of greedy asshole shoppers caving in the store doors on top of him to get inside. As a friend of mine once said, "Jesus would puke chunks of the true cross." And who could blame him? I love a good bargain as much as anyone else, but not at the expense of someone's well-being or even life.
I may not have a whole lot, but I'm thankful for what I do have (though I admit to wanting a little more in certain areas). Hope everyone had a good day and didn't have to deal with the mobs. :)
Thanksgiving dinner was AWESOME in all the ways awesome can be. Bestie's mom really outdid herself this year. There was SO MUCH FOODS. @__@ At least six different side dishes that I can recall, including a cheese-and-broccoli thing, a cauliflower pie, the stuffings, sweet mashed potatoes with pecans, corn pudding...
And the turkey. THE TURKEY. @__@ Oh yeah, I went home with a bunch of leftovers last night. :D Including pieces of *three* different pies: oatmeal pecan, the standard pumpkin, and a caramel fudge. AND I also got a full bottle of my favorite wine! (If it hadn't been for the fact that I had to drive home last night, I would've drunk more wine. As it was I stopped myself after one and a half-glasses, and those were drunk early on during the meal so that the effects would be offset somewhat. Fortunately this wine doesn't have a very high alcohol content, but still, it never hurts to be careful with things like that. And since there is a slight history of alcoholism in my family, I *really* have to be careful.)
The company also was pleasant. Bestie's family is so laid-back and fun to be around - really a different change from my family. My mom commented to me the other day that she's not sure if the few family members we have still in this state didn't invite us to anything because they had other plans, weren't doing anything themselves, or...just didn't want my dad around. (Because he's so grumpy anymore and doesn't do much besides eat, sit in a corner and avoid everybody.) I would not be surprised, really, if it was the last reason.
Holidays used to be a lot of fun for me. In recent years, not so much, especially when loved ones started dropping like flies. It hit me last night that I'm shortly coming up on K.C.'s one-year anniversary. I still feel a wave of pain every time I think about how he went. (So I try not to think about that.) I think that's what hurts the most. I love my pets dearly and although I can't give them a whole lot, I want for them to have the best, and that includes passing on. I think that's why I was able to handle Charlie's passing: he's the only pet of mine to date who was able to go peacefully in his own home, with me at his side, the way that I had always wanted any pet of mine to when it came for that heartbreaking time.
We don't do anything for holidays anymore. Can't really afford it, for one thing. We don't really know a lot of people, and the few we do know are not people I really care to be around much (translation: they're my dad's friends). And this place being as small as it is, isn't really a good place to host gatherings. But increasingly it seems like my parents - particularly my dad - are isolating themselves (in fact I question how much isolation is of my mom's own choosing, rather than my dad's, because he's so controlling) off from the rest of the world at large. And in a way, this is kind of scary.
Decorating seems like such a chore anymore; I don't know yet whether I'll put anything up. Probably not because it seems so tiring to have to drag everything out, find a place for it, then take it all down and put it back in storage again. And nobody besides us - or Bestie, when she visits - is going to see it anyway. I might throw up a few lights outdoors this year, since we planted a few small trees in the yard and those would be good to drape with some.
I'm SO glad I didn't work the Greed Stampede today. I never go out on Black Friday if I can help it, and if I do, it's only for a specific reason (i.e., we need milk or medicine). I'm glad to see that Buy Nothing Day (aka today) is starting to pick up steam; reports in at least the past year or so have noted that BF isn't quite the powerhouse that it once was. Good. If you're doing things right, you shouldn't need one day out of the whole year to boost your sales. And people's behavior is just appalling. I always think of that poor guy who was trampled to death at a certain notorious franchise by a horde of greedy asshole shoppers caving in the store doors on top of him to get inside. As a friend of mine once said, "Jesus would puke chunks of the true cross." And who could blame him? I love a good bargain as much as anyone else, but not at the expense of someone's well-being or even life.
I may not have a whole lot, but I'm thankful for what I do have (though I admit to wanting a little more in certain areas). Hope everyone had a good day and didn't have to deal with the mobs. :)