Happy Thanksgiving!!

As usual, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The flurry of preparation and activities began Wednesday night for us. Somehow Carie and I managed to get all the necessities, which seemed like the entire house - including the kitchen sink, packed and loaded into the van. Only a small list of items remained to be gathered and loaded Thursday morning. It was nice waking casually Thursday morning, watching the Thanksgiving Day parade with the kids, baking that last pie, getting everyone through the bath/shower and then loaded into the van. We were off and on our way to celebrate Thanksgiving with Carie's family, 12 people in all.

After enjoying the most delicious meal, the girls sat around and played a game, the boys (i.e. grown "men") played some shoot em up game (or that is what it sounded like), Grandpa and the kids watched movies after they had played outside, Spencer took a nap, Carie's BIL dozed in the chair for a bit, and Arwen took her nap. Once all the napping was out of the way we headed up to the neighborhood park. The kids had a blast swinging, sliding, and playing on the merry-go-round. I, however, got a little sick from the merry-go-round. I don't know what I was thinking getting on it to begin with! We then enjoyed delicious Turkey sandwiches, fixings, and more dessert than anyone really needs. After hanging out and playing some more, we got the kids all jammied up and we were on our way.

Our weekend was extended by both Carie and I having Friday off. I tackled "Black Friday" shopping and succeeded! Other than being pooped from the earlier than usual rising and all the hustle and bustle, I really enjoyed it! People were very pleasant. Lines weren't terribly long, no longer than I had anticipated. The stores were prepared for the volume of people. I had lists ready to go, managed to stick to those lists (a huge accomplishment for me), and found some amazing deals. We are able to gift some incredible gifts, we think, solely because of the Black Friday deals. Even better, we have a lot of our holiday shopping complete. That says a lot given the amount of shopping we do each year.

If all that wasn't enough, I managed to score some great deals for Carie and me. I was able to use my birthday money and got a really cool external hard drive for next to nothing. Then I stumbled on a Laser Printer that I thought would fit Carie's needs. I wasn't looking for a printer as our cash flow doesn't warrant such a purchase at this time. But I couldn't help but notice this deal as I walked in the door. Needless to say, I scored huge! Partly because it was a floor model (still in excellent shape), partly because the sign was way wrong, and then partly because the cashier wrung it up way way way wrong. Given my other purchases and rebates involved, I didn't notice that she had made that error until later that day when I was looking at the receipt. In the end, I walked out of the store with this printer for $120! I got it hooked up last night and it works awesome. Better yet, it fits inside our computer desk... in place of our two non-working printers. And now we have a very clean and clutter free desk!

Saturday was round two of our Thanksgiving celebrations. We had tried to get everything together the previous night, and mostly succeeded. Most importantly we had all the food prep (turkey, green bean casserole, and 4 pies) complete so we could just load that and go the next morning. Again we were able to wake fairly casually, watch more of the Thanksgiving Day parade, and get everyone ready to go. We were off and on our way to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family, 13 people in all this year. We arrived, helped mom get the food pulled together, and ate a delicious and incredibly filling meal. The little kids, Spencer and Haleigh, took their naps while the bigger kids happily played on the back patio. Carie, I and Spencer took my grandma to a couple of stores near my folks place, hoping we could pick up the last sale item I couldn't find on Friday. Mostly it was good to get grandma out of the house, get a little walking in, and get some fresh air. We returned to my folk’s house in time to watch part of the big football game of the day (OU vs. OSU), ate some pie, talked, got Spencer an unusual but needed 2nd nap, and began getting dinner fixings out.

As we are eating dinner we determine that there is an available Husker Volleyball ticket available. Carie assures me it would all be fine and I should go. I'm not so sure, feeling guilty about leaving, and worried about the kids and the late night. Long story short, I go to the game. So with only about 15 minutes before the game started, we left. Dad dropped me off at the coliseum and I found my seat before the players were even announced. It was a great game and I had a great time. Though, it would have been more fun if Carie or the girls were able to go with me. As it turned out, it was the final game of the season and the Huskers were awarded the Big XII Conference Title. Post season play begins this week and the Huskers are the top seed. YAY! After the game we helped my niece get all the players autographs on her mini volleyball. It was fun to see her excited and having fun.

Today was a much needed low key day. I did grill another turkey, the 2nd in three days. We were able to give attention to a few areas of the house that needed it. Now only if the rest of the house could magically become clutter free and clean while the newly cleaned areas remained clean, we'd be set. I can dream, can't I?