It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like...

It's beginning to look a lot like... a tornado hit the inside of my house. But first, a Thankskgiving recap:

We had a great holiday. We stayed with John's brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Laurie, and the best part... Grandma kept all the kids! The four of us had the house to ourselves and it was almost like a real vacation. Mike and Laurie hosted Thanksgiving for the family, so John managed to take control of the Thanksgiving turkey again (with excellent results, I might add). I also had fried turkey for the first time, which was really yummy, but I still prefer John's turkey. Really! After dinner, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles and kids all sat around playing Dominoes or Sequence, and Mike and John went back to their ongoing attempt to humiliate the other at chess. After everyone left, Laurie and I dissected the Thanksgiving ads to plan our attack on Black Friday.

I have never before pulled myself out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to go shopping, but I decided to give it a whirl just this once. I went to Kohl's first, and the cash register line on each side of the store snaked all the way around to the back of the store, where the lines overlapped. I stood in one of these lines and now I can say "Been there, Done that"- and never again, thank you very much!

That evening, we took all the kids to see "The Polar Express" at the Imax Theater, where it was in 3D. Totally cool! I have never been particularly impressed with 3D movies, but this one was a real thrill. Go see it if you have a chance; it's an annual event at Imax theaters now.

We took a detour to Lexington on the way home to visit my grandmother, and now we are back home and are thoroughly engaged in decimating the house in the name of Decorating for Christmas. What an ordeal! I was really Scrooge-like about this last week, but my shopping adventure did have the effect of getting me into the Christmas spirit. I think I can endure another season of tearing my house apart so we can enjoy all the pretty lights. The kids are thrilled, and have spent the day playing with the Playmobil nativity set and reading through all the Christmas storybooks. They are oblivious to the fact that it looks like a dozen elves moved in and unpacked in the middle of my living room floor. And I guess that's why John and I keep doing this to ourselves every year... Christmas brings out the kid in us too.
I love this time of year!