Guilty as Charged

Yes, I went shopping on Black Friday. But it wasn't the same as in times gone by. Our crew didn't leave until 6. There were no lines, or crazies as far as I could tell. In fact, there seemed to be a lack of people in general. It was a nice morning to shop and snag a few great deals.

We have some theories as to why things were different. Are more people shopping online? I know it is easier and I myself have ordered plenty online this season.

Or did all the crazies go out Thursday evening? I think it is wrong for businesses to tempt people out on a holiday simply to beat out the competition by a few hours. I don't care how good a deal it is, I will NOT be shopping on Thanksgiving. But if it weeded out the truly insane, it wasn't a total loss.

So I freely admit to venturing out on Black Friday, but I am also almost finished with my Christmas shopping. Are you?

Black Friday

Apparently most people shop today. Bah!

That's what the corporations want us to do. And since there are far too many sheep parading as humans, loads of people spend their day traversing shopping shelves in search of those great “door-buster” deals that corporations spend such time and coin hammering at us during this holiday. There are even some—dare I say some who are either among or related to the readers of this blog—who even, *gasp*, campout to get some righteous Black Friday Deal.

It has become a feature of pop culture to go shopping on Black Friday. To me, it has become a ridiculous feature of a ridiculous tradition, that I love to ridicule.

But this post isn't about the misdirected monies and efforts of masses. Believe me, I could arm-chair quarterback that game all day long! No, this post is about what you do when the day after Thanksgiving isn't Black Friday.

I spent the day with family who I don't see very often.

My Dad and I spent the day swapping stories about my mission and his. Mom and I talked about extended family. This included a list of who's divorcing who, who's in prison now, for what, who's on trial, and who just got out of re-hab. Ah, the thing's that pass me by because I'm in Utah!

My girls spent a leisurely day gliding between movies, computer games, board games, playing with the dogs, playing with the cousins, and grazing on Thanksgiving leftovers.

We played music, some danced. Some cried, and everybody laughed. We talked about the great challenges our society faces, and we talked about the simple solutions that keep challenges at bay—or at least in check.

There was a loose plan to go shooting today, but we just didn't get to it between all the activities. Mostly I spent the day catching up on everything that's been blowing through the family tree; and being constantly amazed one the one hand of the excellent caliber of some of my relatives, and on the other hand of the depravity of character of some of my relatives.

In all, I enjoyed the slow pace of the day. It allowed me to really slow down and match the rhythm of my life to the rhythm of my family. It's an enjoyable exercise that should be undertaken regularly, and I dare say it should be more often.

Of course, Maleen was involved in most of this. She missed a bit though, because she took a short nap this afternoon on account of the early hour at which she rose...to go shopping with her sisters-in-law.

I'd better keep my rant to a minimum.

Turkey Day

It was really a great day. Games, food, good company, more food. It all begins around here with pie for breakfast.

The day was low-key. People trickled in and out. Friends and family. I spent some time making some dishes to share. Try this one. Very yummy, and I even made it gluten free for my new SIL.

Tyler helped Renaldo (pictured with the pie up there) fry a turkey. Look at this bird cooking away.

Three minutes per pound, I think. And very tasty. Look at this finished product.

JR does our turkey carving.

Look at the spread. Amazing.

And the people didn't look bad either.

Some kids from the branch came as well. It was a full house. Kat and I browsed the ads because we are venturing out on Black Friday tomorrow. (Yes, we are brave souls.)

We played some fun games. Jami introduced us to Wackee Six. You really have to have your wits about you to compete. And Uno Attack is always fun.

I hope your turkey day was a good one. Now for a long winter's nap.

I Would Probably Be Happy with Peanut Butter Sandwiches

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I will admit that this isn't my favorite holiday. The best part is getting together with family; that never gets dull. But the feasting part?? I am not much of a feaster. When I go to a restaurant, I can never finish my meal. (Tyler and I have gone to splitting a plate. We look cheap, but hey...at least we aren't wasting food.) And I don't really like to stuff myself. I like lots of small snacky size meals throughout the day. I would be happiest with a bit of turkey on a roll with a dash of cranberry dressing. Later I could dig some mashed potatoes with gravy. I'd happily take a sprinkling of salad on and off during the day. And I could finish the evening with a midnight helping of pumpkin pie. (Best eaten right before bed, curled up on the couch.)

But NO. I'm expected to eat all this stuff in one sitting. Crazy, I tell you. And don't even get me started on unlucky people who have to see two families in one day and stuff themselves twice. Ridiculous.

Family makes it all worth it though. (Although family is part of the problem. Don't you feel obliged to eat more food when someone else has gone to all that work to prepare it?) I guess I am willing to overeat once a year in the spirit of familial unity. And I do like that everyone stops to think a little more about what they are grateful for and the blessings they often take for granted.

And thank heavens for leftovers. The day after you can get to the true grazing.

Mixed Emotions

Blogging from my phone tonight, so I'm making it brief. June came home today with a medal. Her science fair project was one of twenty five that continued on to the next level of competition. If I estimated correctly, there were around 120 students participating.

Yay for June. She is very excited.

But, I'm a little sad too. Really, we have to start this whole process again? Granted, the bulk is done, but I was content to put it all behind me.

Oh well.

Gobble Gobble

Today was the day. We ignored the Christmas decorations around us and made a thankful turkey. Daisy was the genius behind the design this year. (Probably why we have a baby turkey with rainbow feathers, but it is unique.) He has some blank feathers because the Houck's were visiting family tonight, but they get to contribute later. Check him out.

Daisy kept trying to convince me it was a girl turkey, and I had to keep explaining...not possible.

We also came up with a new game tonight inspired by a game I saw at a store. (Sometimes it seems odd to be why people pay money for items they have on hand at home.) I don't remember what the game was called, so we named the game, 'Caveman Telephone.'

Everyone knows how to play telephone. Well, this game is similar without any talking. Grab some paper, and cut enough squares for each person to have a booklet with the same number of pieces as people playing. (In our case, each person had a booklet with six small pieces of paper stapled together.) I think this game works better with at least 6 people, but who knows?

Each person writes a word or words on the first page. Then everyone hands their book to the right. Each person reads the word(s), flips the page, and then draws what they read. After pictures are drawn, everyone passes their booklet to the right again. Each person looks at the picture, flips the page, and writes a word(s) for what they saw. This scenario alternates back and forth between describing a picture, or drawing what you read, passing a booklet each time. At the end, you will get your book back and see if the message was able to survive. Most of ours changed quite a bit, but we had a few that made it intact.

It was really fun! The kids were amazingly good at this game. Some of their pictures were hilarious. Even Daisy could draw well enough to play. And I love that all you need is paper, pens, a stapler, and some family members. We'll have to try this one Thanksgiving day.

Can It Be??

I kid you not. I am basically caught up. No huge posts hanging over my head. And it is not even the end of November. (What am I going to do with all these extra posts to fill?)

I did skim back through my folders to pick up any pictures that I have missed. I will probably be sad that I am using them all in one post. Most likely I will wish that I had spread them out for another week. But really, if my goal of posting every day was to catch up, then I have accomplished my mission. Huzzah!!

So, here are some fun pics that I deemed blog worthy.

Tyler snapped this picture back at the end of summer. It is soooo June.

My bathrobes are a hot commodity around here. Everyone likes to take a turn wearing them.

I have no idea why Robyn has pirate makeup on. This picture wasn't even taken close to Halloween. Hmm.

Anyway, June and Robyn have started playing violin. There will probably be more info about this when they have their first concert in December.

Yep. We still love to read together. If I start reading to one kid, most likely a few more will have settled in by the end of the story.

After the kids Halloween party, we played with the glow sticks in our room. Yes, we adults are just large children.

Ivory made these cookies at someone's house and wanted evidence of the fact. There. Evidence.

First 1000 piece puzzle we have ever done. The kids did a great job on it.

Behold... a flower in my front yard decided to bloom this month. Does it not know that it is almost winter? Or perhaps I do not know what type of plant it is. (Well, that is a given. I DON'T know what kind of plant it is.) I assumed it was a rose because there are thorns on the bush, but roses don't bloom in November, do they? Um...a little help please. Still, it is cheery to see it out there.

And finally, I came outside one day to hear Ivory chatting at me. But for the life of me, I couldn't decide where she was. Turns out she was across the street in the neighbor's tree. Really HIGH in the neighbor's tree. Like, high enough, that my mothering panic levels started to rise. I watched her pretty closely as she climbed down. And then after she was safe, I went back and took a picture. Since she wasn't still in the tree, I kindly drew her in, so you could see why my blood pressure was rising. If she had climbed any higher, the branches probably wouldn't have held her weight. Whatever, let's not think about it.

She was probably just fine. I think it is my job to see more danger in things than really exist. It comes with the territory.

With that, we are done for today. Glad you stopped by.