It does not take long for my wife to get into the Christmas Spirit. Longtime readers of this blog know that she listens to Christmas music all year round. Once November is here, the season is “officially” underway according to her.
I took advantage of a semi-warm day over the weekend and took down all of the Halloween decorations. I hadn’t planned on putting up Christmas stuff, but there is this big archway we have and I figured I would get that out of the way. Once it was up, that was the last I really thought of doing anything more.
Then, we woke up to the first snow of the season.
When the kids saw snow on the ground they went crazy! They HAD to go out and play in it!
They played outside for a little while in the morning and came back in for breakfast. As the morning changed to afternoon, the sun took care of what snow was left on the ground. It actually wound up being a bit mild the rest of the day, so I decided to put the rest of the outdoor lights and decorations up.
Our Christmas tree was given to my wife when she moved into the house a few years before we got together. It was old and on its last legs last year. We had talked about getting a new tree last year after the holiday and just never got around to it. We really didn’t want to spend more than about $100 on a new tree and most are a lot more than that.
My wife heard that Home Depot was having their Black Friday sales until the 26th of this month. One of the deals was a 7.5 foot tree that was pre-lit with LED lights. It was on sale for $99. I went and checked it out and decided to bring it home. What is really nice about it is that because of the LED lights, you can make it all solid white or multi-colored if you wish. It’s actually very nice.
It was a pretty good deal and I’m glad that we won’t have to look for a new tree for some time.
Perhaps this year we can put the ornaments on the tree. So far, the cats have stayed out of the middle of it. I may wait a week or so before deciding for sure ….
Thanksgiving 2020 is now a memory. It was very different from Thanksgivings of the past, to be sure. It was, however, a very wonderful day!
Thursday – Turkey Day
Ella was up bright and early! I had to put the turkey in water to finish thawing it. We got her dressed and ready for her “First Thanksgiving” pictures, which came out great!
Once the turkey was thawed, prepped and in the oven, I realized our meat thermometer was broken. The last thing I wanted to do was head to the store. I didn’t even know if there were stores open! I lucked out and the little grocery store down the road was open. I walked over to the aisle with the kitchen stuff, only to find that all the meat thermometers were gone. Someone had even stolen some from the packaging and left the open package on the hook.
I went to the deli and asked if there would be any other place in the store that there might be a meat thermometer. She said no. I began to walk out of the store when a guy tapped me on the shoulder. He asked if I was looking for a meat thermometer, and I said yes! He had one in his hand and told me to follow him. He explained that they had just moved to the area and they actually had one, but they couldn’t find it because it was still packed in a box. He said it was his only reason for being in the store! He took me over to the candy aisle, where there was a small rotating rack with a few kitchen utensils on it – and two meat thermometers! I was so grateful! He wished me a happy Thanksgiving and we parted ways.
While I let the turkey cool, Sam finished up the mac and cheese and mashed potatoes. Ella sat in her high chair and anxiously awaited her first feast!
By the time she finished, she was wearing her meal! She had mashed potatoes in her ears, her nose, and her eyes!! She really enjoyed her dinner!!
Thanksgiving was typical in that the Detroit Lions lost miserably! This led to the GM and head coach being fired. One can only hope that someone will finally hire the right people. I would love to see them reach the Super Bowl (and hopefully win one) in my lifetime!
Friday – Black Friday
I am not a Black Friday shopper! However, I was this year – not by choice! I needed to get tires for our car. I shopped around getting prices and found that Belle Tire had some Black Friday rebates, and had the best deal. I used to go to this mom and pop tire place who did great work, and had great prices, but sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic has put them permanently out of business.
I was shocked at the line of people waiting to get in at 7am! I was lucky to be fourth in line and I was in and out in just over an hour! Kudo to those folks!
When I returned home Friday, I checked off another project I had on my list. We bought some canvas pictures to hang in the baby’s room months ago. They have been sitting in the box, awaiting me to hang them. Before I went to pick up my son, I measured it all out and got them hung up on the wall. I just love these pictures!
We spent the evening last night watching Christmas movies. My son and my wife had both mentioned that the sequel to The Christmas Chronicles was now on Netflix. We had all enjoyed the first one (Kurt Russell stars in it) and we decided to watch the first one again before watching the second. I found that I still enjoyed the first one very much. I can see it easily becoming a Christmas tradition.
Recurring Dream With a Twist
I am closing in on test time for my Bible classes. I have a week’s worth of classes to finish and then four tests to take! I mentioned this to my wife, so it must have been on my mind when I went to bed. At any rate, I often have a recurring dream where I am at school and I sit down to take a test and my mind goes completely blank! I panic! I freak! I usually wake up with my heart racing.
So I had a dream last night that was similar. Sure enough, I am sitting in a classroom (which is odd because my classes are on DVD and I take them at home) and the teacher passes out the tests. The first thing I notice is that the tests are about 45 pages stapled together! I open the test and I can’t even read the thing. I turn the page and there are some words I can make out, but nothing makes sense. With each page turn, I feel more and more scared. I have no idea what I am looking at! I begin to pull my notes out and try to cheat!! The teacher comes over and obviously has caught me . Needless to say, I wake up at this point with heart racing and glad it was just a dream!
Now I’m wondering how hard these tests are going to be!!
I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday!!
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 