Highlights of our week:
- On Monday I caused us to miss a field trip to the Southern Pines Police Station...just crazy and didn't check my calendar Sunday night (maybe I was too psyched about seeing Jack Ryan again?). We ran into friends who didn't forget the field trip at W*endy's for lunch, so that was a nice bonus...and when I remembered I had forgot. We finished our errands and our last minute Thanksgiving shopping for cream cheese, 1/2 n' 1/2 (well, not really for Thanksgiving, but you gotta have the cream w/the coffee!) and butter (Land o' Lakes on sale for $2!!) and 25 other things that weren't even on our list. Oh, and felt for cow spots...that's where Nate turned the cart over on himself by standing on the side in the craft department...and where I think I talked to B. (I'm still having PTS flashbacks from the moment the cart and Nate hit the floor!) When Joe came home...he suggested we eat out and check out the "F*urniture Liquid*ator" store I had discovered last week with 50% off prices (lost lease and going out of business) ...so the Veggie soup was placed in the fridge and we set out for Sanford. We're sleeping on our furniture decision for the den furniture we truly need, but came home with matching bean bag chairs that will be useful for the kids.
- On Tuesday, we had friends over to play and to share homemade veggie soup for lunch. This play date was for Nate (and his mom) and his new "buddy Jackson" (and his mom). They played pretty well together for three year olds (there was no body slamming or eye gouging involved). I think Emily felt a little left out, but honestly that's a life lesson she needs...Nate gets shut out often when the 'girls' are here.
- On Wednesday, the "girls" were here. We had Covenant Kids Choir practice for our Christmas musical on December 7th @ 6pm (consider yourself invited!), just one quick run through for the kids with no/little speaking parts. I brought home costumes to finish up...angel robes to adjust, cows for felt spots additions...and coveralls for the cleaning crew characters that I'm just not sure I can make work...but maybe an idea will hit me. We brought S&S home with us, while my friend J went shopping for the very last things on both our lists for tomorrow's cooking (I needed allspice, poultry seasoning, splenda and milk...$2.99 a gallon at the Teeter*...woo-hoo!). There are many things to be thankful for...especially a friend who'll trade child care for Wal*marting!
- I spent Wednesday evening procrastinating...blowing my getting-stuffier-by-the-minute nose...and trying to get my gumption up to go ahead and start the baking...I never did.
- Thursday morning, I got up early, about 6 am and started on the list: Momma's/Tutor's Prune cake, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, Loretta's Layered Salad (used to be 7-layer salad, but I've adjusted the recipe so much...it's not even 7 layers anymore), Roasted Pecan Dressing, Cranberry-Orange Relish, splenda-sweetened tea, and getting the turkeys ready for Joe to marinate and deep fry...It was really a low stress day, I had things planned out and really enjoyed cooking. It was such a beautiful day and the kids were outside a lot. I did keep feeling like a scratchy throat was beginning to develop. Judi, Kayla and Granma came over around 3, bringing their contributions to our meal. In all fairness, when I developed our menu, there was a possibility of 5 more guests...but it was still over-kill ;) We ate together, laughed together, napped together, played games and planned our black Friday attack while watching Holiday movies piled up in the den.
- Friday morning at 3 am...I rolled out of bed into clothes, glasses and shoes and heated up the car, gathered up the sales flyers and dragged myself over and picked my 15-year old niece up for a morning of BARGAINS!!! Just the two of us! As far as I know, we saved some money on some highly in demand electronics devices (ssshhhh!)...avoided a 5 am stampede in the electronics department of our local W*a*l*m*a*r*t (the clerk actually said into her walkie-talkie...."these people are goin' crazy back here!"...and were admonished by the security officer to "calm down people" I honestly got the giggles!)...we had a Starbucks for sustainment around 6 (and they weren't serving the Christmas/Holiday blend...what's up with that??? I was so looking forward to my first one of the season)...shopped some more and then ended up the morning with a breakfast burrito (sans green peppers) and chickn' minis at Chick-*fi-*la around 10 am. She slept the rest of the day...I tried to, but began to feel worse and worse and was getting the 'barky' cough of bronchitis by mid-afternoon and we cancelled plans with friends for Friday night..blah, blah, blah. By bedtime, I was looking for the Ny*quil...
- I went to the medical clinic's Saturday morning walk-in clinic that they just started last month...just let me tell you, that should tell you how bad I felt...as a nurse I think it is my responsibility to visit doctors as little as possible, and especially not until you are at least near death...thank you PMC for your new Saturday clinic! It actually wasn't a bad wait...I just was so dizzy and my head was in a vise...and the cough caused people to physically step back... The Pharmacy, on the other hand, was a madhouse....an hour wait when I dropped prescriptions off at the drive-thru. That was okay, I could stretch errands to take up the time. When I went back, they let me know it would be another hour that things were backed up...anyhoo...I waited, visited with some folks from out of town getting scripts for a family member with a kidney stone (made me thankful for bronchitis and sinusitis!)...got a chair massage in one of those mizihitzu (whatever!) seats...and then visited with a nice lady whose husband is a diabetic and amputee and left his prosthesis at home (again...thankful!) and couldn't come inside...they had left to get lunch, but when she finally got meds, it had been three hours. So, I am reconsidering our pharmacy choices...I miss the local place that went out of business a few months ago...if there was that long of a wait, they would deliver! So I came home and lapsed into a drug-induced coma for a few hours....
- So sadly, no church for me this morning, but Nate still woke me up at about 6 after being unsuccessful with Joe... "Daddy, I hungy...Daddy, I thusty". The kids stayed home too... Joe had to be there early for prayer with the other elders, so it seemed the best idea...it would have been a little chaotic I think. Nate's got his own issues with a cough and 'boogies'. Although, I am sad about missing the first Sunday of Advent (and the lighting of the Prophecy candle by B, T & baby E), the first time of the season singing "O come, O come Emmanuel"...a new deacon installation...some special music sung by a friend who said the song fit her life right now, I was prepared to cry!....and a sermon in Genesis. Okay, so I can get all that on the CD/MP3...but, still...okay, no more whining! I will be grateful for the day that I did have! And what I did do... I've spent the day reading blogs, being thankful for bloggy friends, and facebook friends, and friends who love me enough to send silly emails and sweet emails about how they're thankful for me (snub, snub)...reading a book, sipping hot tea and coffee, and trying to truly rest...Our Christmas tree was delivered by the folks from First Baptist church in So Pines thanks to my sis-n-love for her faithful gift to us for the last 5 years...Joe lit up the gas logs, so I not only got to sip hotness, but got my toes especially warm by the fire...Emily (and I) missed choir practice (the cow costumes must still be completed!)...and our small group Bible study is cancelled for the evening...(there I go again...it's so easy to fall back to whining!).... I am spending some quiet time looking forward to next week...the first day of December...and Christmas decorations...and home-making some Christmas gifts...I tried to be an elf and briefly shopping on Amazon for the kids, until Emily got nosey (hum, the apple and the tree thing again).
Happy Thanksgiving y'all!
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