(Heavy Sigh)
The Houston Chronicle delivered a tree in paper form to my house this morning with all the advertising inserts. Black Friday.
I glanced through them and I have to admit that I didn’t see one damn thing I would be willing to go stand in line in the rain for or to get into a fight over.
I guess the greatest thing about getting old is that I don’t need much. I need my computer, a comfortable chair to watch the news, chocolate chip cookies, shoes that fit well and don’t pinch my feet, a coffee maker, a Bubba to tell me I look pretty even when I know damn well that I don’t, a warm blanket that’s cozy, and did I mention chocolate chip cookies?
The blessing of today is that my sons and their families and my brother and his family are all coming to my house for Thanksgiving because of a water pipes problem at the planned location. It will be crowded, loud, and fun.
We are all hardcore Democrats. I am thankful.
Tell us how how day went.
Wishing everyone a delicious and happy Thanksgiving.
I like REI and other stores that close on Thanksgiving giving employees a full day off from work and no major black Friday events.
1This year, I decided to decorate the front door celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all at once, using the Nightmare Before Christmas as inspiration.
Watch: Making Christmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyeHlZ_kPtU
A full sized Jack Skellington illustration on foam board beside the front door with witches, lights, etc. Hey, I’m allowed.
As for junk mail, I place it all in the transporter (dumpster) and set it for deep space.
2I’m thankful to be in a family of progressives so holidays are mostly harmonious, the only argument being whether dressing should be wet or dry.
3Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
(would it be ungrateful to say I’m thankful Trump’s not in the USA today? It’s only one day, but I believe his absence has Made America Slightly Better Again!)
4Enjoy your turkeys!*
*both the type you eat and those with whom you eat…
5We do it a bit differently. Today is for cooking pie and other dishes that will hold until tomorrow. Tomorrow we cook the turkey, etc., and then eat. No shopping, no crowds, just food and family.I
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Ted in Olympia.
6We were coming to Houston today anyway. TPC just sent us a little early. We left after the mandatory evacuation order expansion yesterday afternoon. We know some who stayed, but all are safe so far. And yeah, everybody here is liberal. Hope y’all all have a great holiday with your family. I’ve already eaten way too much and need a nap.
7Maybe after just one piece of pecan pie.
Turkey was unusually good this year…and I’ve made Whipped cream (for only the second time in my life….what have I been missing!?!) for the pumpkin pie. When my daughter turned up with whole wheat braided herb bread, I decided I’d died and gone to heaven, until I realized my in-laws all voted for His Orangeness. Oh well….it was a NEAR-perfect day! Hiking tomorrow for Black Friday!
8And chocolate chip cookies.
9Happy Thanksgiving! We are still roasting our Peking Duck (I grew up with Chinese neighbors. Damn, I love authentic Chinese food). We have refused to subscribe to the LAustinAmericanStatesmen for years now, and yet their 1/2lb of “straight to the recycly bin” mailers invade our mailbox weekly. Thankfully,all this Sh*t goes straight in to our recently created Municipal Mulch Pile.
10Alice’s Restaurant 1969 – 1:54:25 Arlo Guthrie – cult classic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP05C_agI3k
11I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and have so much to be grateful for. I’m writing so that others like me know they are not alone. I have no living biological family, but wonderful friends, some of whom consider themselves family by different parents. Two of those came to my house today while we all missed their son. We called him on a “conference” call of the three of us in the living room with three cordless phones. It was wonderful. I made a 20 lb turkey so that I have leftovers not only for them and me but also for two friends who are elsewhere, will have no leftovers, and are thrilled to have some from me. I’m so blessed to share love (and food) with so many.
12Chocolate chip cookies are okay but you should try my made from scratch chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing 🙂
I didn’t have to eat meat from a mutant flightless bird, and I won’t be lining up in the dark to get 40% off on an XBox in a store the size of a municipal airport. For these things I give thanks.
Now on to not doing Christmas stuff.
13Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Tomorrow on Black Friday I will turn 65.
14I will spend the day with my better half and grandson. Going to a Whaling museum and zoo if it is not too cold.
I will not be going in one store.
And I will have cake!
I took an hour this morning while my wife was still sleeping and went through my own small tree converted to ads. Wrote down a list, then lost it. Oh well, I don’t really need anything except a 50 cent poinsettia from Lowes.
15The Washington Post delivered two papers today: the regular paper and one with a bunch of advertisements/inserts, the latter of which went promptly into the recycling bin. My Xmas shopping is all done. Nothing to do but wrap up everything and box it up to send out. Oh, and writing the annual letter to go with the cards. Every year my plan is to avoid stores beginning at Thanksgiving and ending in the New Year.
16Happy Thanksgiving y’all! Here, it was snow shoveling, snow shoveling, and more snow shoveling. Then good old American Thanksgiving meal cooked by Estonian. After that, some more snow shoveling.
17Black Friday shopping? Nope. We are in the same ‘don’t need much’ party as JJ.
Home from our daughter’s house, all of 2 miles away – we are thankful to have her family with our two grandkids nearby! Her husband’s parents came from the Bay Area and, by clever timing, only had only a little over an hour’s drive each way. I contributed an apple pie and a lemon meringue pie, each with a small twin (tradition in the family, using the same mini-pie plates my dad used to make ones for my sister and me) and green beans with garlic, all made using farmers’ market ingredients.
Politics? A little discussion among this hard-core all-Blue crowd of which of the current candidates we prefer – but general agreement that we’ll be out there voting for whoever winds up on our side of the ticket.
And a special blessing: the predicted rain for today was only some showers. One just as we drove over, mixed with sunshine. I always remember my dad, who in such weather would immediately look for the rainbow. I figured at 1 pm the sun was likely too high for a rainbow, but no! There it was, arcing across the sky across the fields north of us. As soon as we got there, we had the whole family run out in the rain to see the rainbow, just visible by then against the blue sky. Family tradition!
18“We are all hardcore Democrats”.
Can’t think where my invitation went but it’s a good job I’m not there, I might inadvertently start a riot! Anyway, why are you giving thanks considering the horrors of life under ‘The Ginger Ninjah’ with which you regale us so regularly? It was sounding so bad that I, an elderly Brit, almost considered sending you a ‘food parcel’, er, packed with chocolate chip cookies, natch! Anyway, enjoy, and don’t even think about next year when he wins another four years!
19Peace and quiet! Slept in. Thats always and forever a good start. We did not have turkey this year. No matter how small, the carcass would not really fit in the frig. Instead we had an absolutely perfect beef roast and sides. Outside of cooking and making my bed, I lazed the day away, THANKFUL that I could actually do that. Now its clean up day, preferably done slowly. THANKFUL for that as well. As usual it could have been a better year for us but we are still here complete with original body parts – damn THANKFUL for that! The roof is still over our head with walls that are obsessed with holding it up and a strong door against the “wolves” of the world. Weather the past four days or so has seen a lot of wind that blow the leaves off my lawn – yes, THANKFUL for even that! And THANKFUL for all the folks who gather at the world’s best beauty salon! Their perspectives have been THANKFULly therapeutic! Bless you all!
20David Duff, whinging doesn’t start riots. Mostly it just illustrates how much of a pissant the whinger is.
21Maggie:
22That sounds good. And therapeutic.
And you might have been referencing it, but there’s a great song called “Keep The Wolves Away” by an Austin band called Uncle Lucius that should be required listening.
At least once.
The video’s cool too.
My older son and his fiancee flew in from the East Coast and her parents came to dinner. We met them last May and were happy when my son divulged that their biggest concern was that we were not Trump voters. So happily, all parties at the dinner table were die-hard Dems. And son joined us in glee that the English bulldog won Best in Show at the annual Thanksgiving Day dog show in Philadelphia. Thor was indeed a credit to his breed. It’s not Thanksgiving Day without the dog show or a playing of Alice’s Restaurant Massacree!
And JJ, I wholeheartedly agree with every single damn thing you said in your post. Getting old has its charms.
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