It has been a fantastic weekend in Chicago. I pondered for about 30 minutes last night on heading out early to be one of the few, the dedicated, the crazy Black Friday deal hunters. I've never shopped on Black Friday. I hate shopping, except in rare moods. Although, I really love this time of year because I have specific gifts to buy for OTHER people. I love giving gifts.
In the end, though, I left the condo at 10:30 and was on Michigan Avenue by 11am. I popped into a few stores. Here's what I discovered in the 2 hours I was "shopping." Department Stores and even Apple were not overwhelmingly crowded. I wandered in to Apple to price check something and found that there were plenty of service people, including a guy on crutches wearing a Santa hat. I played with an iPad. I touched the Macbook Air (it really is light!). I checked out some of the other gizmos in the store. But in Macy's, Nordstroms and Apple there was room to walk, plenty of registers available with no line or very limited line. On other hand, places like Express and Banana Republic were lines that were at least 100 people long. I stood in one for about 15 minutes and then decided to just drop the gifts near the nearest shelf and buy them online. Really, is standing in an hour long line worth saving an extra $5 when I could just do it online (and probably pay cheaper taxes?).
But the best part of this weekend so far has been Thanksgiving Day. My sister and brother-in-law came over with all the fixings. Turkey, apple-raisin stuffing, cranberry, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and a mixed batch of veggies that included string beans, carrots and asparagus. It was perfectly delicious.
We then played a game. My mother, being a avid recreation specialist, wanted to start a tradition of playing games during family holidays. I'm all in. I love games. I really love when people sit around a table and talk or play and are actively involved in something together. That was one of the things that kept my high school friends and I so close. Whether it was Spades (which got us through countless weekends) or the Annual Gender-Team Trivial Pursuit game, we enjoy each other's company and always feel like we step away knowing each other just a bit more, even if that means how competitive they are.
Last night the game was Settlers of Catan, a Germany game that I learned 2 summers ago. I've hooked my teacher friends on it down in Champaign and introduced my parent's to the game on Friday. They liked it. But last night was fun. We had noises for different parts of the game (wheat was often said in a high pitched wheat! tone and Sheep were often followed by a baaa noise). My sister and Bro-in-law played as a pair and were so cute to watch. And mom won the game. We were all very close to winning, which makes it all the more fun.
I'm thankful there are 2 more days left to enjoy. I've got the place to myself tomorrow and I plan on doing all of my leftover grading. I'll probably read a bit more and I'm going to have to investigate whether or not there is another Sherlock Holmes film being made. We watched that tonight (another tradition - movie one night during the Holiday weekends). It was very interestingly filmed and acted. Odd plot, too. But all in all, pretty good.
So there you go. About 2 miles walked in the chilly but gorgeous city. A lunch with friends at a local pub. An evening with my parents. An afternoon with my whole family. And 2 more days to go. LOVE IT! There are so many things to be thankful for and if I wrote them all this would be a terribly long blog post. So to those of you who have weathered through the storms these last few years (and the ones to come) - thank you. To my family, I couldn't love you more. And last but not least, thanks to God. I couldn't do anything I do with out You.
On to Birthday, Christmas & New Years! It's the most wonderful time of the year....
KB
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