Turkey
Had a very nice holiday with the family. Picked up my sister & the kids and went to my Aunt & Uncle's house, as we always do. Cousins Lauren & Tim and their kids were there, as always, and my Uncle's mother. Food was good. I made my second attempt at making pumpkin soup. I'm not sure it came out quite as well as it did when I made the first batch under Margaret's tutelage. But it was still good. I'm bringing the leftovers home with me tomorrow.
Somehow, despite my well-voiced opinion about stores opening on Thanksgiving night, I got roped into going with my sister, cousin and nephew to play driver/bodyguard for their trip to Toys'R'Us. Cousin Lauren was looking for two particular things, easily and quickly found. We got on line outside at 7:20pm. The doors opened at 8pm and we were back at my aunt's by 9pm. I broke down -- they were handing out slips for electronics purchases, and my nephew wanted an ipod touch. They had the 16gig for $199, so I said that would be his birthday and Christmas present. (His birthday is December 5th).
Then, somehow, we also ended up going to the Wal-Mart near my sister's house on the way home. Now, her Wal-Mart is a 24 hour Super-Wal-Mart and they've never closed on Thanksgiving, and we were mostly stopping for soda, beer and snacks for home and for two XBox gift cards -- we did not go near any of the "doorbuster" or other prizes, and the kids were marveling at the people who had two or three 40" televisions on their shopping carts. I did end up buying a couple of dvds -- they had the Christopher Eccleston season of Doctor Who, which I have never seen, for $20, and the complete 5 season original run of Charlie's Angels for $34. I would have bought these at my own Wal-Mart this week anyway, if they had them. Those weren't sale prices, either, nor was there any discount at the register. If it sounds like I'm justifying shopping on Thanksgiving night ... I probably am trying to, because I do feel hypocritical and a bit dirty/scuzzy. I'm wrestling with that feeling.
Today, I was going to spend the afternoon at my sister's house writing, then was going to take my niece to visit our friends Michelle and BJ for BJ's birthday, and then we were going to drive back to NJ. I ended up trying to help (and by "help" I mean do it myself while she was at work) assemble a multi-purpose game table (air hockey, pool, etc). And that didn't go well. So after dinner and cake at Michelle's, we came back to my sister's for another try, which also has not gone well.
Tomorrow my niece and I are heading to NJ. My sister and nephew will join us on Sunday afternoon, and then on Sunday night we're all going to the Hollywood Ending concert in Freehold NJ. And then they will all sleep over and go home on Monday while I'm at work.
I'm still hoping to squeeze some writing in along the way.
Somehow, despite my well-voiced opinion about stores opening on Thanksgiving night, I got roped into going with my sister, cousin and nephew to play driver/bodyguard for their trip to Toys'R'Us. Cousin Lauren was looking for two particular things, easily and quickly found. We got on line outside at 7:20pm. The doors opened at 8pm and we were back at my aunt's by 9pm. I broke down -- they were handing out slips for electronics purchases, and my nephew wanted an ipod touch. They had the 16gig for $199, so I said that would be his birthday and Christmas present. (His birthday is December 5th).
Then, somehow, we also ended up going to the Wal-Mart near my sister's house on the way home. Now, her Wal-Mart is a 24 hour Super-Wal-Mart and they've never closed on Thanksgiving, and we were mostly stopping for soda, beer and snacks for home and for two XBox gift cards -- we did not go near any of the "doorbuster" or other prizes, and the kids were marveling at the people who had two or three 40" televisions on their shopping carts. I did end up buying a couple of dvds -- they had the Christopher Eccleston season of Doctor Who, which I have never seen, for $20, and the complete 5 season original run of Charlie's Angels for $34. I would have bought these at my own Wal-Mart this week anyway, if they had them. Those weren't sale prices, either, nor was there any discount at the register. If it sounds like I'm justifying shopping on Thanksgiving night ... I probably am trying to, because I do feel hypocritical and a bit dirty/scuzzy. I'm wrestling with that feeling.
Today, I was going to spend the afternoon at my sister's house writing, then was going to take my niece to visit our friends Michelle and BJ for BJ's birthday, and then we were going to drive back to NJ. I ended up trying to help (and by "help" I mean do it myself while she was at work) assemble a multi-purpose game table (air hockey, pool, etc). And that didn't go well. So after dinner and cake at Michelle's, we came back to my sister's for another try, which also has not gone well.
Tomorrow my niece and I are heading to NJ. My sister and nephew will join us on Sunday afternoon, and then on Sunday night we're all going to the Hollywood Ending concert in Freehold NJ. And then they will all sleep over and go home on Monday while I'm at work.
I'm still hoping to squeeze some writing in along the way.