Happy Thanksgiving!!
I hope you've all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I certainly did. I got up at 9am, sat on the couch in my pj's, ate eggs over easy and toast, and watched the beginning of the Macy's parade, just like when I was a kid. I had to cut the fun short to get ready, and then we went to my maternal grandparents' for lunch.
I ate waaaaay too much. So much so that I ended up making myself sick. I didn't see it coming... but what with my recent weight loss, it turns out I can't handle eating a lot like I used to. That was a good feeling, aside from the icky sick feeling. But dang, so much good food. And my grandma made punch!! (I love punch.)
We visited for a while longer, and "snuck off" (everyone knew what was going on) to get a picture of all of the grandkids outside (yes, it was snowing) for a present for my grandma (there's no way she didn't know what we were doing). We "snuck back" and everyone was trading Christmas lists and they all had their sale ads spread all over the kitchen table, deciding who would go where to get what deal for whose present. It was all basically how it is every year.
I love tradition.
And my uncles/cousins were in fine form, being hilarious as per usual. Gotta love that.
After a while, we took off for my paternal grandparents' house, where we sat for a while and waited for my sisters and their families to arrive. Jennie (my sister) and Randy (and the twins) finally did, so after a small bout of my brother wrestling with our niece and nephew, we all got food. Another great meal, albeit smaller (which is good, since we were still STUFFED from earlier). That side of the family always has weird new recipes that they are either trying out or that have become staples. This year it was some orange jello dessert (amazing). Then, Steph (my other sister), with her boyfriend and son in tow, arrived, so the amount of mass hysteria involving children running, somersaulting, wrestling, throwing balls, etc. increased dramatically at that point. It's more funny than annoying, though. So no big deal.
It was a pretty small gathering this year, as Ellen (my aunt) was off "feeding the poor," as my uncle Roger put it (she was helping pass out food to underpriviledged children in town). It was a bummer that she wasn't there, as she's a kick and a half, but that's an admirable reason to not be there. And none of their kids came... which I guess happens when your kids are adults and have their own things going on. As per usual, my other aunt and her "kids" didn't come, either... but they all live either in Indianapolis or out of state, so they rarely come to family stuff.
Anyway, I was getting REALLY sleepy by this point. But another short round of Christmas-list-ing went down between my mom and sisters, and various other visiting amongst the adults (I don't consider myself one), and then after a while, we came home... and now here I am. Tomorrow, my aunt and brother (and cousin?) have to be to Kohl's by 3am to prepare for Black Friday. I don't go in until 11:30am, so I've got it good. I'll be working from then until 8pm in shoes... so I'll get to deal with the regular amount of craziness during a busy day in the shoe department ON ACID. My mom doesn't have to go in until noon, BUT she's hitting up some of the early bird sales in town starting at 4-ish.
It snowed quite a bit today, as I mentioned. I love snow. I want to marry it.
It was in big, pretty flakes, too. My favorite kind. I'm soooo excited for Christmas...
And it's beginning to look a lot like it.
Happy holidays, everyone. :)
I ate waaaaay too much. So much so that I ended up making myself sick. I didn't see it coming... but what with my recent weight loss, it turns out I can't handle eating a lot like I used to. That was a good feeling, aside from the icky sick feeling. But dang, so much good food. And my grandma made punch!! (I love punch.)
We visited for a while longer, and "snuck off" (everyone knew what was going on) to get a picture of all of the grandkids outside (yes, it was snowing) for a present for my grandma (there's no way she didn't know what we were doing). We "snuck back" and everyone was trading Christmas lists and they all had their sale ads spread all over the kitchen table, deciding who would go where to get what deal for whose present. It was all basically how it is every year.
I love tradition.
And my uncles/cousins were in fine form, being hilarious as per usual. Gotta love that.
After a while, we took off for my paternal grandparents' house, where we sat for a while and waited for my sisters and their families to arrive. Jennie (my sister) and Randy (and the twins) finally did, so after a small bout of my brother wrestling with our niece and nephew, we all got food. Another great meal, albeit smaller (which is good, since we were still STUFFED from earlier). That side of the family always has weird new recipes that they are either trying out or that have become staples. This year it was some orange jello dessert (amazing). Then, Steph (my other sister), with her boyfriend and son in tow, arrived, so the amount of mass hysteria involving children running, somersaulting, wrestling, throwing balls, etc. increased dramatically at that point. It's more funny than annoying, though. So no big deal.
It was a pretty small gathering this year, as Ellen (my aunt) was off "feeding the poor," as my uncle Roger put it (she was helping pass out food to underpriviledged children in town). It was a bummer that she wasn't there, as she's a kick and a half, but that's an admirable reason to not be there. And none of their kids came... which I guess happens when your kids are adults and have their own things going on. As per usual, my other aunt and her "kids" didn't come, either... but they all live either in Indianapolis or out of state, so they rarely come to family stuff.
Anyway, I was getting REALLY sleepy by this point. But another short round of Christmas-list-ing went down between my mom and sisters, and various other visiting amongst the adults (I don't consider myself one), and then after a while, we came home... and now here I am. Tomorrow, my aunt and brother (and cousin?) have to be to Kohl's by 3am to prepare for Black Friday. I don't go in until 11:30am, so I've got it good. I'll be working from then until 8pm in shoes... so I'll get to deal with the regular amount of craziness during a busy day in the shoe department ON ACID. My mom doesn't have to go in until noon, BUT she's hitting up some of the early bird sales in town starting at 4-ish.
It snowed quite a bit today, as I mentioned. I love snow. I want to marry it.
It was in big, pretty flakes, too. My favorite kind. I'm soooo excited for Christmas...
And it's beginning to look a lot like it.
Happy holidays, everyone. :)