Well here I am recovering from T Day. I actually have sore muscles. It was the aerobic vacuuming and clearing out of my son’s old room for my daughter and significant other the day before T Day that started everything. I often need a deadline to get motivated in the housework department. As you can see, I let myself get dangerously close to the deadline to begin.
The futon couch is in my son’s old bedroom and it really was the best sleeping accommodation available for my guests. So there I was the day before T Day clearing boxes out of that room. It has become a partial storage room. Since my kids moved out our stuff has spread out around the house. So I am feeling it today.
The dinner was a success. One of my criteria for success is that my turkey is not dry. Check that one off the list. My husband made some good homemade cranberry sauce. My daughter made the mashed potatoes, fresh roasted green beans and a nice kale with pear and goat cheese salad. My stuffing was good as well. The decision was made to forgo making a sweet potato casserole this year. I don’t think anyone missed it. We had enough food.
The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the start of the holiday season in America. People will start putting up there Christmas decorations and outdoor Christmas lights on their houses. It is traditionally the start of the Christmas shopping season as well.
The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday by retailers and has become the busiest sales day in the year. Black Friday refers to the hope the retailers have for making enough sales to put them into the black ink. Or to show a profit and not a loss in their accounts. Recently holiday shopping has begun even earlier. Some stores are opening late afternoon on Thanksgiving day and a few stores are open during the day. It is all an attempt to attract even more holiday shoppers.
You will definitely not find me at the mall today for any Black Friday sales. The idea of crowds of people and long lines at the check out is a major turn off. I am not into mega gift shopping at any rate. I can not afford to be buying gifts for a lot of people. I will buy a few gifts for a few close family members.
Plans for quiet visits with family today and leftovers.
|Nano Poblano| just chillin’ today.
Loved your thoughts – and the photographs. So glad you had a brilliant day. And, today, I didn’t buy a thing either. Instead, I went to my creative-writing group gathering and, in the evening, to a wonderful concert by our local choir – beats shopping every time! xxx
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Thanks Anna. Your choices of activities sound much better than fighting the crowds and shopping. xoxo
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I love your photos! Everyone looks joyful and the menu sounds delicious… And I agree about the stores today… I’m relaxing at home… The best place to be today!
Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks Lia for your kind words. Relaxing at home is the best for today all right!
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Am working my way backward here. Want to comment on yesterday’s Blog, “Gratitude.” Which I will. Meanwhile, seeing the photo of your turkey, Deborah, naturally tends to confirm to me it’s the same turkey. How else could it be so perfect from year to year. And seeing photos of family gets me a little teary. Am so glad it was a successful day! xx
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Thanks Audrey.I know it is hard to tell the turkeys apart. I have to be standing in front of them and then you get a time lapse. It was nice to be with the kids. xo
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Look at that bird! It’s perfect! Great pictures, you have a lovely family. It’s nice to just chill the day after, who needs the headache of the crowds when you could be home with the family. Thanks for sharing 🙂
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Thank You for your kind words. Chilling out is good. 🙂
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I usually need that deadline too. I love this time of year though. Lotsa time off and good eatin’.
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Time off and good food is great. And we usually have special foods for the holidays that we don’t make every day. So it is a treat. 🙂
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Such a lovely time and photos too. Thanks for sharing. I learned quite a bit about Thanksgiving day and it is really wonderful to have such a day for family and friends to get together in the spirit of gratitude. It is quite like our Chinese New Year celebration. The shopping part unfortunately is the same here for every festive season and it’s too maddening.
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Thank You Theresa for your kind comment. Yes the holidays can get very hectic. I work hard to avoid the hectic part and just enjoy as much as I can of the times spent with family. There are Chinese New Year celebrations here within the Chinese American community.
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Great! The Chinese Americans have more opportunities to be thankful for 😊. I hope to post about it when comes in Feb next year… but we know we are thankful for each new day too 😆
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I’m glad to hear of your successful big day! And thank you for sharing the moments with the photos of your beautiful family, Deborah. I feel honored to have stepped into your pretty house. 🙂
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Thank You Mark for your kind comment. I enjoyed seeing your Thanksgiving photos as well.
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🙂
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I enjoyed the pictures: thank you for sharing them with us. The turkeys look equally delicious to me. I can relate to the “aerobic cleaning” syndrome 🙂 Glad you got to share the day with your kids, and your meal sounds delicious.
I confess to shopping with my daughters on the afternoon of Black Friday. I was brought up to bargain hunting — what can I say? I was pleasantly surprised that my older daughter wanted to go: she did bring a book (John Milton’s poetry and prose!), in case she got bored. Because we went later, the crowds weren’t bad, although the “good deals” I got were probably offset by the impulse buys that I made.
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Thanks Sandi! Appreciate your kind words. I am glad your shopping trip was successful. I know what you mean about impulse buys. Sounds like your older daughter is following in your footsteps in her interest in literature. Wishing you a Happy Holiday weekend with your family. 🙂
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Beautiful turkey!
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Thank You. The big photo is actually from last Thanksgiving. I was making a remark that all the turkeys from year to year look the same. The only way I can tell the difference sometimes is that I am getting older in the photos. 🙂
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I enjoyed all of your photos. It looked like you had a wonderful day. Thanks for sharing!
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