Turkey Overload

Happy Day after Thanksgiving!

Again, too much time in between posts -- what can I say. Hubby and I have been working like crazy lately. I've been going in to work early (like 6:00 am or 6:30 am) and we've both been staying late (like 6:30 pm or 7:00 pm). A lot of projects to try to wrap up before the end of the year.

Turns out that, despite our great two-week trip to Europe, we both have a bunch of vacation days to use up before the end of the year. (At our company, we are allotted "x" number of Paid Time Off (PTO) days. We can carry over 5 days to a new year, but have to "use or lose" the other days). I've scheduled some days off between now and December 31st, but still have six unscheduled days to play with. Hubby has about the same. We are trying to figure out what to do -- since those project deadlines don't go away and we don't want to sacrifice our time off. I'll probably end up taking some time off and still logging in to work during part of my days off. That seems like the only realistic compromise.

It was a really nice holiday this year. Started out the day running the annual Turkey Trot 5K with 7,500 other of my close personal friends.

Actually, I ran with my marathon friends, who I have not seen since October 1st! The event was very fun, even if I was slow as molasses. It was great to see my friends and catch up a bit. Plus, the race gave away a great shirt this year, which is always a plus.

For Meal Number One: We spent part of the day with Hubby's parents, siblings, niece and nephews. (Hubby's kids spend Thanksgiving with their mom -- we spend the Easter holiday with them. Seems reasonable, except that every year, the kids forget to call their dad, which ticks me off to no end. (Hubby and ex-Mrs. Hubby don't get along very well and if he calls their house, it is always very uncomfortable....One of the kids text-messaged his sister (their aunt). We had her text back a message "Call Santa at this number". THEN Hubby got the finally got the call. I love those kids to death, but sometimes am just mystified about how forgetful they can be when it comes to their dad - my Hubby...)

I digress: After spending part of the day with Hubby's family, we went over to my sister and brother-in-laws and had MEAL NUMBER TWO. We planned to spend the night there, and Hubby's sister came over too. After dinner, we watched some movies, played poker and sat outside by a fire.

Yes, SAT OUTSIDE! The weather in Minnesota has been great this last week -- highs for the past four days in the mid-fifties.

It was soooo nice, that Hubby and I got out and played four holes of golf at the course near my sister's house. The course is officially closed, so no one was out there but us. We got to take multiple shots, practicing chipping, teeing and approach shots. Who would have thought it possible to golf in Minnesota the last week of November.

The other last holiday note: I actually participated in the craziness of Black Friday today with my sister-in-law. She makes it a tradition to hit the stores before the crack of dawn to take advantage of those early bird specials and discounts that kick off the holiday buying season. I've never done this before, so I told her I'd join her.

We left my sister's at 4:50 am and went to Best Buy. Parking lots every where were jammed. The store was packed with hundreds of crazy shoppers. I just stayed out of the way, while my sister-in-law went to find her purchases. Once she was ready, we got in line to check out. We were in line for 50 minutes! The line snaked through the store before we made our way to the registers. I could not belief it.

I'm glad I went along to experience it, but don't think I'll be doing it again any time too soon. At my age, I think I may need the beauty sleep more than the DVDs for $2.99