Merry Hallowthanksmas

I saw a facebook status from a friend of mine today, talking about the controversy surrounding businesses that are choosing to be open on Thanksgiving Day. The comments on that status ended up leading into a fairly heated discussion about who was right and who was wrong in the Shopping vs. Not Shopping and the Open vs. Closed  arguments for that day.

You want to know what I think?

Seriously folks - there are so many more important things in the world to argue about, you know? Whatever you choose to believe in this scenario is YOUR opinion. Yours. Not mine, not your friends', not anyone else's but your own.

I've got news for you - society doesn't define YOU as a person. You do.

If you don't believe that anyone should shop on Thanksgiving Day, then don't do it.

If you don't believe that a business should be open that day, then don't patronize them.

If you want to go shopping that day because you like the challenge and you want the bargains, go for it.

If you want to sit around in your underwear all day scratching your butt, guess what? You can do it. Just remember to wash your hands afterwards, ok?

I choose not to shop on that day (or Black Friday for that matter), and it's not to make some sort of crazed societal statement. It's for one main reason - I hate to shop. Seriously. Hate it with a passion. Mix that with a general intolerance of rude people and it's a deadly combination. So I don't do it. I don't need a bargain badly enough to deal with that kind of nonsense.

Those people who argue about "the employees deserve to spend the holiday with their family" - ok, do you personally know EVERY SINGLE PERSON who is working in that store? Do you know FOR A FACT that they didn't choose to work that day to get the holiday pay, or that they don't have family, or that their family is celebrating the holiday on a different day, or that they volunteered to work that day so that others could have the day off?

I'm working Thanksgiving Day. Why? Because to me, the holiday season isn't dictated by a calendar. It's a SEASON. We can have our Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving Day, the day after, the Saturday after (more likely because I'm off that day), or on the 4th of July - it doesn't matter when it happens. It's a season, it's a way of thinking, and just because it might not happen on the 4th Thursday of November at 1:00pm doesn't mean that it is any less meaningful for my family.

I'm working so that other people can have the day off because their families won't work around their work schedules for whatever reason. I'm working to suck up 8 additional hours of holiday pay. I'm working to sock a little bit more money into our "Home Sweet Home" fund to get us into a new home. I'm working because I don't allow the calendar to dictate my life.

We as a society have become conditioned that we must have the newest-biggest-best-shiniest-fastest-most-expensive things and we must have them first. Just look at the people who camp out for days in order to be the first to get the newest-fastest-best iWhatever - it's become a normal part of society. Some people like that sort of thing, and some people don't - doesn't make anyone wrong or right.

If you don't like it, then don't participate. If you do, then have fun and I hope that you get everything that you're searching for in that store while experiencing (and inflicting) the least possible amount of bodily harm.

But for crying out loud, stop with the judgmental crap. Leave that for the important stuff.

A delay and an ooops...

The delay...

So I've been hinting around for a few days about something really big and important that I was supposed to do today.

Yeah, well, the best laid plans....blah blah blah.

I went to do it as scheduled, and there was apparently a big breakdown in the communication, and it actually wasn't scheduled. So it's now scheduled for Friday morning. But, that's actually a good thing - because between now and then I'm going to have someone else who has done the same thing help me to write the post about it. And it's going to be really really awesome.

No, I'm not going to tell you what it is yet - because this is something really big and it's a really important message that needs to get "out there" - so I want everyone to be anxiously awaiting it. Evil of me? Maybe. Hopefully it's effective as well. I'm not usually the type of person who says "oh look at me,  I'm going to post something fabulous" but I really believe in this and I really want to get the word out there - and so does the person who is helping me.

So Friday - it'll be posted. I promise.

Now for the ooops....

The other day, I posted pictures from our Thanksgiving feast. And then a day or two later, when I was going through other pictures, I realized that I didn't post any of the pictures from the preparations for the feast - and some of those are classics. So.... here are some of them. Just because.

Now THAT's an onion!

The infamous peanut butter pie.

Potatoes with a little bit of garlic.

Prepped and ready to go.

That moment when you realize that your brilliant idea of covering your
23.5 pound turkey with the lid to the roaster overnight just
isn't going to work.

"Snap one more picture of me, and I'll wrap this lid around your face.
Darling."

All of it just sitting there, ready to be cooked.

"Mom! When's the turkey going to be ready???"

It was a feast...

It took lots of work, but we had ourselves an awesome feast yesterday! We ended up having 8 adults and 7 children here, and had to do some slight rearranging of furniture to make enough room for everyone, but it was so worth it.

Hey, wait! Where's my table?!?!?

Why, of course....it's in the living room.

I have to admit - probably one of the best turkeys that
I've ever made.

What's not to love about a guy willing to don a
Santa apron and get to work in the kitchen?

Let the feast begin!

Carnage in the kids' area.

Help doing the dishes.

Getting my 'baby fix'.

I got to relax a bit afterwards (notice the socks?) and watch the
Redskins beat the Cowgirlsboys.
Loved. that. game. LOVED.

We had a great time. It was pretty low-key - just lots of food and talking and playing with the kids. And lots of dishes. And - better yet -  lots of leftovers.

The Dude stayed here the night before and last night so that he could help me get everything ready and then help clean, and this morning he stayed here and hung out with the kids while Alex and I went downtown to help his Scout troop get their Christmas tree lot up and running.

The strangest part about the entire holiday so far? Yesterday - Thanksgiving Day - we had the windows open in the house all day long. We had the heat turned off - and it wasn't just because the oven was going non-stop, but it was because it was a warm and gorgeous day. Then I woke up at 7am today, and it was 60 degrees inside the house, and (I think) only in the high 30s or low 40s outside. We were freezing at the tree lot! Talk about a difference.....

As for being thankful? I can't even begin to list everything. I have an amazing life. I might not have money for a bunch of extra stuff, and I might not have a big fancy house or a new vehicle, but I have some pretty cool kids and an amazing man who loves me (in spite of me) and life is just good. Period. The Dude and I were talking about how this is our "last first holiday" together - but I'll go into that more in a few days.....

Right now - I think I *might* attempt to go to bed early. I do not have to get up for anything in the morning - so maybe, just maybe, I can actually get a little bit of sleep tonight.

Ha. Right.



(Oh, I hinted around on my facebook page about a lot of stuff coming up in the next few days. Some of it is goofy, some of it is sappy, and some of it is really important. And that's all that you're going to get for hints. You'll just have to wait and see. So there.)

Turkey and the tree

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving...

Ours was pretty laid-back. Lots of food...and a second attempt at the peanut butter pie. At least I finally got a piece (or two) of it this time, and yes, it was worth it.

Then it was time to do the unthinkable. I headed out into the ghetto-garage and dug out the Christmas stuff and we got to work. I have to admit - I believe that this is the first time that I have ever decorated the Christmas tree while I was wearing shorts.

Daniel got the honor of hanging the first ornament, and then it was a free-for-all. But it's pretty much done (of course I had to send the girls to the store to get more lights since half of mine decided to die) and now I just have to 'adjust' some of it and clean up the aftermath.

I still have to put the garland in the big doorway and get the stockings hung up and hang up the lights outside....

Where are the outside lights? I didn't see them in the boxes tonight....

So much to do....and although I hated doing it this early, I'm glad that I still have a month to get everything done. At some point I'll start doing some shopping, after the initial crazies get done doing their thing over the next few days. There is no way in hell I'll go shopping tomorrow. No way. Nope.

Tomorrow we get to get up early to get Sarah to basketball practice, then the older 3 are gone until Wednesday....Alex is supposed to go to his father's for the weekend....so I'm looking forward to some quiet time with just Daniel for a few days. Maybe I'll get some more stuff done around the house, including a sewing project or two that I *need* to get done.

My mother is now supposed to have surgery on her shoulder tomorrow morning, and then should be able to go home. Hoping and praying that all goes well in that department.....

Our exciting and eventful day

What did we do today?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

OK, that's not entirely true. We did go to church. Ex1 got here to get the older 3 kids, and then Jared asked if he could go to church with me instead - so I got to take all 3 boys with me, which was fun. Alex and Daniel decided that they didn't want to go to the nursery and wanted to stay in the "grown-up church"....that lasted about halfway through for Daniel and then he went to the nursery. Luckily, there are crayons and paper in the back of the sanctuary, so the kids have something to amuse themselves with, other than torturing each other.

They're growing up. *sigh* Soon they'll all be sitting in the grown-up church.

After church, there was a Thanksgiving dinner, so we got to eat there. Great food, great people, and I didn't have to cook or clean up anything - SCORE! Then Ex1 came and got Jared and took him home.

Then we came home. And we became lumps on the couch. Seriously.

Alex, Daniel, and I spent all afternoon on the couch. They watched their silly videos from the library, and I dozed off and on for several hours. I'm not 100% sure that they didn't nap a bit too. But it was a calm, laid back, uneventful day - something that doesn't happen around here very often.

I'm actually kind of thinking that Alex might be getting sick - he's never this calm. And I don't mean that to be funny - when this kid says "I'm tired and I don't want to do anything" it seriously makes me worry. So, I'll see what happens over the next few days. Maybe today's relaxing helped to head off any cooties that he might have.

So, now that they're in bed, it's time for me to get busy. I need to balance the checkbooks to see if I can swing a Christmas gift for the kids this week (trying to get that crap done early and cheaply), get the kitchen and living room cleaned, run the dishwasher, do a few loads of laundry, go over my schedule for the week.....and I'm sure that I'll come up with a few more things to do in there as well.