TGIBF

TGIBF?? Am I really thankful it's Black Friday?? Well, yes, for a variety of reasons...

Holiday: Naturally I love that my company gives us the day after Thanksgiving off so we can enjoy an extended weekend with family, friends and a disgruntled shopper or two.

Deal or No Deal (the Brown version): OK, we weren't planning to shop on Brown Thursday or Black Friday, but we took the bait. Last night after our dinner guests left, Jim, Carter and I ventured to Wal-Mart to witness the strange humanity that encompasses the hunt for the "DEAL"! Jim suggested we just hang around and watch. I wasn't in that mood after the long day and I wasn't dying for any deal. Carter did have something on his list so we got that without too much trouble or waiting and got the heck out of there unscathed.

Deal or No Deal (the Black version): As is tradition, we drew names among us adults in Jim's family. There were a few items that were Black Friday and Grey (?) Saturday deals. He got his taken care of this morning and I got mine done this afternoon. No craziness involved with that at all. And we can cross that off our list. I must confess, though, I did set my alarm...

Deal or No Deal (Caving to Pressure :: Part 1): OK, so I got up by 6:30 a.m. to be at the cell phone store by 6:45 a.m. for their 7 a.m. opening. I got there with my long underwear, boots and coat but did not have to wait outside. They opened early! So I got to wait in line -- and be all toasty and over-warm -- inside! After much discussion and/or debate, Mr. and Mrs. Claus decided to add Carter to our smartphone plan. We were going to wait until it was closer to his birthday in May since we would want him to have a reliable phone when he gets his driver's license. But the big DEAL today allowed me to get his phone for "free" (ha) with a few extras thrown in, plus a reduced amount for his monthly charge, etc. So I caved to pressure. And it gets worse...

Caving to Pressure (Part II): Once you have a phone activated, you really can't sit around and not use it for a month. If we waited 'til Christmas, we'd be so close to that 30-day trial period, it wouldn't be smart or prudent consumer move in case something was wrong. This is what I told Mr. and Mrs. Claus. So we caved and gave it to him today. I put his phone on a chair and called it and said, "Hey, Carter, isn't that your phone ringing?" He's like, "No, not mine." I said, "Are you sure? Look at it!" So he picks it up with a big smile and answers the only number programmed in there, of course -- mine! -- and I say "Merry Christmas!" I actually got a free-will hug out of that one!

Cranberry Classic: We didn't just go sauntering about spending money all day. Honest. This weekend every year is the Cranberry Classic basketball tournament at Assumption. So while Carter plopped down on the couch to figure out his new "toy" all day, Jim and I had to work concession 10:30-12:30. We stayed for the girls' varsity game after that. Our defending state champions won quite handily, thank you very much. I don't always get to see much of the tourney because Carter and I are usually heading Up North for the cookie bake. But since he had to work tonight, we will leave in the morning.

All Work, No Play? No Way: While Carter was working at the golf course restaurant washing dishes, Jim and I were there in one of the banquet halls for a 40th wedding anniversary party. We just had to have Carter come find us when he was done working and see if we were done playing.Since it wss 10, we were definitely done.

Family: I am still riding a high of having all three of our boys together last night for the first time in 2 years. It warmed my heart and will carry me through the Thanksgiving weekend and beyond. As I mentioned, I also get to see MY side of the family this weekend, too. We'll head up to my twin's house -- Hedberg Cookie Bake Headquarters -- tomorrow and leave Dad home alone for his "Jimmy Weekend." It's our annual tradition. And he hasn't once over the years complained that he was too lonely. Nothing black about his weekend outlook!

Pitch Black: Finally, it is only fitting on this particular "black" Friday that I express how thankful I am to a higher power and some very special people who saved me in my darkest (probably pitch black) hours 15 years ago on this date. I have been blessed with second chances and people who have supported me on a sometimes rocky journey to where I am today. I am blessed beyond measure and so thankful God (not me) is in charge of my life!

I love it "on the light side."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well our Internet is down at home for some reason.  Probably jammed with all the Black Friday shoppers mapping out their morning routes.

I am taking it as a sign I can take a holiday from blogging,  rather than type it all from my phone!

So I'll just say for now I had a blessed Thanksgiving and enjoyed hosting Jim's family for dinner. The big boys came, too, and that made my day.

That and the fact I pulled off a tasty turkey dinner with no help from Martha Stewart. Even my sister called me for some advice on mashed potatoes.  Now you know the world is coming to an end!

Good thing this undomestic goddess got in one final, albeit abbreviated, blog.

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope it was a blessed day for you,  too!

Maximizing Your Minutes

Just to be clear. A day off is not necessarily a vacation day. But, as far as productivity goes, it was a good thing I had the day "off."

My ETD (estimated time of departure) from the house was 11:15 a.m. No, that did not entail sleeping in. That just meant I had things to get done on the homefront while I was, well, home. Then it was go time. I had to maximize my minutes to get everything done.

I did manage to get the sweeping, dusting and vacuuming finished before leaving on my errand run. That involved several stops: dropping hubby off at an establishment for "lunch" with the Armory boys, then delivering an Advent calendar in town, stopping off at school to drop off an envelope Carter forgot on the kitchen table this morning, dropping off a few household items at Goodwill, doing a fact-gathering mission at the cell phone store, then getting milk and pickles for Thanksgiving dinner (my remaining two items!).

By the time I got home, it was time go get hubby, run him home, start on some basement cleaning then go get Carter from school. Let me tell you. By 5:30, I felt no guilt sitting down and watching back-to-back Hallmark movies I'd DVR'd. No ice cream (this time) but they were enjoyable nonetheless. It was good to have a few minutes of down time.

I have to remind myself that maximizing your minutes does not always mean squeezing the most into each one, but making the most of each of them.

Today marks 6 months since my dad passed away. At times it feels like years since I've seen him. Then other times, like this morning when I realized the significance of the date, I feel like it just happened and I shed some tears.

I miss him. Want to see him. Want to hear him talk silly. Want to feel his firm hugs.

I am also saddened by his absence. And by the fact that I did not maximize my time with him. Sure, I saw him at the end. But he was so sick. That was not good quality time. I regret that I didn't see the need to make our relationship more of a priority early on. When there would have been better minutes to maximize.

But we all make mistakes, right? The point is to learn from them.

I am keeping in much better contact with my mom now. I'm not making the 4-hour trek up to see her any more often, but we talk on the phone regularly. Part of it is to check up on her and part of it is to just let her know I care. My whole family does. At the end of each call, she says how much it means to hear from me. I could say the same.

Thankfully, God gives us more minutes to make things right.

Time to Chill

I will thank you in advance for not judging me... For eating ice cream when it's 11 degrees out.

Hey, it's the limited edition Peppermint Stick. And hey, you did kind of commit to not judging me, didn't you? Plus, I have something to celebrate. I am officially out of the office until Dec. 4. It is time to chill out!

I got the items on my work "to do" list crossed off so I can take a half day off tomorrow, enjoy the paid holiday in the afternoon, Thursday and Friday and then a must-use-or-lose vacation day on Monday. I have to work in the home office next Tuesday since I have a church meeting over lunch hour. So really, I am "off" the premises for a week.

Whoo-Hoo!

I'm not going to get too excited. It's going to be a whirlwind of a pre-Winter Break.

I am going to couch potato it tonight. Tomorrow I'll have to do some cleaning and prep work for Turkey Day. Thursday we'll have Jim's family over. Friday I will pack, maybe catch some high school hoops at Assumption, hopefully not HAVE to do any Black Friday Shopping. Then Saturday and Sunday are Up North for Cookie Bake.

Come Monday,  I will need a day to chill out... On the couch... Under a warm blanket... Watching Christmas movies...

With Peppermint Stick ice cream.

Monday Mission

I haven't heard too many reports on how the opening weekend of deer hunting went, but apparently they got them all. I didn't see a single deer on the road, ditch or nearby fields on my way to and from work. And that's a first in quite some time.

Hope that means it was good for the hunters. Or that they at least scared the deer deep, deep into the wild -- as far away from the roads as possible. That's just a bonus for us drivers if it lasts all hunting season. Not that I am commuting much this week.

We get Wednesday afternoon plus all of Thanksgiving and Friday off as company holidays. It sounds good -- except the part where you are squeezing 5 days of work into 2.5. Or in my case, 2 (if I'm lucky).

I was on a mission today. Well, actually starting last week, trying to get things done ahead so I can enjoy all of Wednesday off, not just a half day. Since our almost-weekly magazine will have a rare Monday off next week, I am hoping to make it a 5-day weekend.

My mission, though, if I choose to accept it, will involve wrapping up a whole lot of details and projects tomorrow. Worst case scenario, I will have to work from home Wednesday morning to finish up. But I do not plan to spend two hours driving for a four-hour shift.

So I should probably get to bed early, go in early and stay until my impossible mission is accomplished.

Just knowing there is pumpkin pie at the end of the tunnel is pretty good incentive. Throw in family time and some Christmas cookies, too, and we are on a mission to complete this mission!

It's go time!

Let's Call It Even

It's Border Battle Sunday! The good news is that the Packers didn't win. The bad news is that the Vikings didn't either.

I was witness to my first NFL tie.

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. On TV anyway. Typical of the Packer-Viking battle, anything can happen. They beat us once this year and today, when we had a significant lead, I thought, "Could this really be happening?"

Then the Vikings answered: "Of course not."

They blew their lead and it went into overtime. Under new rules I had to acquaint myself with, if either team scored a touchdown in OT, they'd win. They didn't. Both teams did score a field goal but time ran out before anyone crossed a goal line.

Weird.

In the past, my dad and I would have called each other, the winner giving the loser some grief. When the Pack won, he'd call and say, "How 'bout them Packers?" I'd innocently reply, "What? Was there a game today?" I'm not sure how our conversation would have went this year. I'd give anything to find out, though.

I was actually content with the game results. Sure I'd prefer a win, but the Packer fans can't say they beat us this time. And we, thankfully, don't have to add yet another one to our loss column. Oh, and thankful, too, I could watch on TV and not sit for some 4-6 hours in below-freezing temperatures!

When Carter and I left for church this morning, he informed me it was exactly zero degrees. What a good day to sit under a blanket and watch football. And maybe even a Christmas movie if I log off the computer.

Funny how those Hallmark movies are just like a Packer-Viking game. Everybody wins!

Cookie Monster

The opening day of the Wisconsin gun-deer season is the perfect day to stay inside. That and the fact the temperatures were in the single digits. God bless the hunters, but I prefer to gather my food in the warmth of my home!

I had one simple mission today: Make the last of my cookies for the upcoming family Cookie Bake / Exchange and get the plates of treats in order.

Mission accomplished.

While I did not reveal the other treats I made for the participants, I have to share this one. I made Monster Cookies for the first time.

Now Monster Cookies get their name for several reasons: One, people often make them monster-sized (which I chose not to do since they would have to bake longer and I'd be concerned they'd burn on the edges and be raw in the middle). Two, the amount of ingredients for the allegedly "standard' batch is monstrous. And three, there's a monster amount of tasty flavor in them!

You know I love to bake, but this recipe created quite a challenge. I found the two biggest mixing bowls I had and used one for dry ingredients and the other for the soft stuff -- like, for example, the pound of butter, 3 pounds of peanut butter and dozen eggs this recipe called for. When I mixed the dry ingredients -- which included 4 cups white sugar, 2 pounds brown sugar and 18 cups of oatmeal -- it didn't take long to fill up one of the mixing bowls. And I hadn't even added the pound of chocolate chips and Christmas-colored M&M's.

If both monstrous bowls were full, how was I to marry the two?

I called my girlfriend who gave me the recipe and she suggested a pot like our big soup stock pot. Not big enough. I ended up taking out the Nesco roaster pan and mixing it all up in that. That worked smoothly. And 17 1/2 dozen cookies later, I had more than enough for the Cookie Bake, a handful of neighbors and any holiday-related potluck in the foreseeable future.

Needless to say, nothing else got done today. I didn't even squeeze in a Hallmark Christmas movie! Thought I did DVR about 5 of them.

Guess I'll have to enjoy one of them tomorrow with milk and Monster Cookies -- to recover from a certain football game that is bound to get ugly. I don't think our Purple People Eaters are big enough monsters.

But I hope I'm wrong.