LOST A SOCK: Thanksgiving Weekend, in a nutshell

Over the four day Thanksgiving break I ate too much. How's that for an opening? Right out the gate, I grab you - shock you.

(Not so much shock, eh?)

We kicked off Thanksgiving with fresh-baked cinnamon rolls as part of a complete parade-watching breakfast, and things snowballed from there. We ate two dinners at two houses in a matter of a few hours (we being Kevin and I, as our children decided to hunger strike all day, which they do practically every day of the week that ends in "y" anyway). There were two sets of desserts involved, also. I felt like I could die (happy) as we drove home.

We had the chance to visit with both sides of our family and had an enjoyable time at both places. I was introduced to some sort of cheese-oil-spices-sundried-tomato-oh-holy-salted-Townhouse-crackers-did-I-overdo-it before the first dinner. Before the second dinner, I met my new true love with my aunt's introduction of veggies and dip - but wait - not the typical ranchy dip. Instead it was a flavorful, textureful bowl of unbelievable made with dry vegetable soup and sour cream. Who knew? And why will I never lose another pound? Ever?

The answer is simple. Because I will be dreaming of the cheesy-oily-sundried thing and devouring crunchy veggies smothered new and improved dip, every day, for the rest of my life. The end.

By 3:30am when we were supposed to wake up to join the massive masses in shoppingland, we had gotten up with each child seventeen times and had collectively managed 47 minutes of sleep. And we were still full. (A plus! Who needs breakfast when they are still digesting stuffing from four hours ago?) For the first time since we said our I-do's, we joined the slightly-more-sane Black Friday-ers at 9am.

I have to say, it is a very different crowd at 9am. People are a bit less edgy, and a bit more showered. It was pleasant. The lines were shorter, circling only once around the perimeter of stores rather than the 5am three times. Our best deals came from Kohl's this year. We were thrilled to score three sweaters apeice at 60% off and toys at 50% off. They also decided to honor my 15% off anytime coupon turning those numbers into 75 and 65 percent, respectively. And to make things even more wonderful, we received a $50 gift card at the end of check out for ~~practically taking a second mortgage on our home~~ being good customers.

We completed nearly all of our Christmas shopping by dark and headed back to my mom's for more stuffing.

Glorious.

We spent Saturday ~~on the toilet~~ putting up the tree, lights and all of our holiday decorations, which both children were absolutely in awe of. Then we spent the evening watching Notre Dame have their asses handed to them in their final game, ending the season with a 10-2 record. ( Not too shabby.)

To wrap up the weekend and not miss a moment of the unseasonably warm weather, we spent Sunday downtown, taking in the gorgeous Christmas lights and windows. The smell of ~~money~~ ~~Garret's Popcorn~~ Christmas was in the air.