Sunday, November 29, 2009

What I did on my Thanksgiving Break.

Hehe--doesn't that just sound like something a teacher would make you write?? :)

WARNING: this is one EXTREMELY LONG POST. If you don't feel like you can read what could most likely be considered a mini-novel, please feel free to click on that little "x" in the top right-hand corner of your screen. If you feel like you are up to reading something that may leave your eyeballs bleeding, fasten your seat belt and read on, dear reader. :)

I SO needed to have a week off from work. Have I mentioned lately that my job is rather sucky? I LOVE the kids and most of the people I work with, but there have been some changes that have made it, well, rather sucky.

Anywhoo. Last Monday and Tuesday we had a teacher's convention in Crystal City, Virginia. That wasn't too bad. I have some follow-up work I have to do for it, but it was a nice break and a few of the seminars I went to were really good.

Wednesday morning I got up, loaded up the truck, put miss raven in her carrier, and made my way to O-H-I-O. I went over the river and through the woods to my BFF's house. I pretty much always spend Thanksgiving with her family and it is wonderful because they treat me like I'm one of them. :)

Wednesday night we (and by we, I mean SHE) made our annual pumpkin cheesecake. I can take some credit (and by some I mean a teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy, little bit) because she used my spring form pan to make said pumpkin cheesecake. I really should have taken a picture of the beautiful thing. It really turned out well, if I do say so, my, errr, herself? Anyway, because she is the QUEEN of the kitchen, she also made two outstandingly delicious apple pies, a large pan of green bean casserole, and a large pan of cornbread stuffing, as well as a little skillet of cornbread stuffing with cranberries (YUMM-O!!!). Like I said...QUEEN of the kitchen.

Thanksgiving Day, after watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade...hey! I just realized that I missed seeing Santa!...we loaded up the vehicles and went over the river and through the woods...ok, up the road, to grandma's house. I would just like to say here and now, that there is NO PLACE like grandma's for Thanksgiving. Oh my word! Diet? What diet? Turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade noodles, stuffing, cornbread stuffing, corn, lima beans (ok..ick on that one), green bean casserole, cranberry/strawberry salad, rice pilaf, and bread from the Amish. I feel like I am forgetting something. Oh! Deviled eggs. How could I forget those? That's just the meal. Then there is dessert, which requires a whole separate table. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, baked apples, vanilla pudding pie, cherry cheesecake, peanut butter pie, and pumpkin cheesecake. Again...I feel like I am forgetting something. Needless to say....I was STUFFED!

Of course, no post about Thanksgiving would be complete without an homage to football. Those of you that don't like football (yes, you...you know who you are) may scroll down a bit as I pay my respects to the game I love best. :) The Packers/Lions game was a no-brainer. DUH! Who really expected the Lions to win. The can only beat the, ummmm, who can they beat? Oh yeah, lol! The redskins!!! How could I forget? Everyone beats the redskins! ;) The COWBOYS/raiders game was next. Not only did my BOYS win, they crushed, dominated, destroyed, owned the raiders. Who is in first place in the NFC East? Yep, you got it! That would be my COWBOYS!!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!! I was a happy, happy girl! The Giants did me a HUGE favor by losing to the Broncos Thursday night and the Longhorns also won to remain undefeated. (Note to all in charge of the BCS championship game....you had SO better make sure that the Longhorns play in that game this year and while you are at it, Colt McCoy had better get his Heisman this year. Nothing against Mr. Teabow, but he already has one. HOOK 'EM HORNS!)

Now, where were we? Oh yes, after sleeping off the turkey-induced coma, my BFF and I got up early on Friday morning to participate in the annual ritual of fightingthroughthecrowdstofindthebestpossibledealoutthere, also known as Black Friday. It was snowing when we left at seven in the morning (no, we aren't one of THOSE people who get up before dawn even cracks to go shopping) and yes, I said the "s" word. Blech and double, triple blech. By the time we got to Easton (in Columbus) it was still snowing, but not quite as bad. We hit Old Navy first and got some good deals there. I had major coupons this weekend. How I love saving money. :) The line in Old Navy was OHMYGOODNESS long. I think we waited in line longer than we actually shopped. It wasn't too bad, though, and it is all part of the experience that is Black Friday. From Old Navy it was over to Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body, Barnes & Nobel, New York & Company, and the Container Store. A store that is entirely devoted to storage and storage containers. Ahhhhhhh. :) We ended our time at Easton with a trip to World Market. We walked around Khol's but found nothing that was worth waiting in their lines. After lunch at Panera it was on to Newark where we visited Hobby Lobby (I bought NO yarn. I was a little afraid the world would stop and we would fly off, but thankfully that did NOT happen. Phew!) and Target. Dinner was of course leftovers. Duh! What else do you eat the day after Thanksgiving?

On Saturday I was SUPPOSED to take Miss H out for a girl day. Uh-oh. In the midst of our frolicking, um, line-standing, in Old Navy, my BFF got a phone call from her husband. Miss H was spotty. Very, very, spotty. Methinks she has the pox. Chicken, not small, of course. Poor girlie!!! She is soooooo spotty! Unfortunately, you can't go out with the chicken pox so we had to have a stay-in day. She rested, she whined, she itched, she got covered in calamine and doused with cornstarch. I felt so bad for her! We played Sorry!, we watched TMNT. She quite possibly will be out of school for a week. I hope that she gets better very, very soon.

And so we come to today. Sunday. My week of vacation is just about over. 15 school days until Christmas vacation. The countdown has officially begun. I left Ohio early this morning and got home in 5 hours and 53 minutes. Speeding? Not me! ;) miss raven is BEYOND thrilled to be home and is currently napping next to me. Did I mention that my BFF has three dogs one of which is a Boxer who is in LOVE with miss raven? She does not, um, return said love. At all. As a matter of fact, I think it would be safe to say that she rather hates him. And the other two. She doesn't really play well with others. I love her anyway. :) Since arriving back at my house I have not only unpacked everything, I have also done three loads of laundry (one to go), emptied the dishwasher, gotten a shower (there is nothing like your own shower), and am currently watching, what else? Sunday football. Don't make that face. You know it might stick that way. :P Oh...and I have also finished this marathon post. Thanks for sticking with me and have a Happy Monday!

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