Thanksgiving

[Photo of the DVD/Blu-Rays/Video Game bins at Walmart at 10:15pm in Amherst, NH]

Took the T into Belmont, MA on Wednesday after work and rode with my friend up to Groton, MA for Thanksgiving. This is my third Thanksgiving in MA and I am so thankful for having family friends to spend it with, they really are family. I've been drinking nonstop since I got up here Wednesday night. Wine, beer, pumpkin pie cocktail, hard cider, mimosas, more wine, Cosmos (made with a cranberry wine), more wine. We watched the Bruins game Wednesday night at the local bar where I hung out with Townies. Total rednecks up here, I often forget that I'm in the North East b/c it reminds me of Small Town, TX. Everyone knows everyone and people don't seem to leave. I love it up here though.

We started Thanksgiving morning off with some breakfast, I got to see the start of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (something that is a tradition for me, I still remember seeing it in person many many years ago). We took a 4.16 mile walk before coming back to peel potatoes and have mimosas. The turkey smelled so good, it not only made my mouth water but my teeth started to aches, like my mouth wanted some delicious, juicy turkey to chew on. I've been a vegetarian for 7 years now and this was the first year I nearly ate a piece, but in the end, I resist [I guess I do have some self control when I comes to dead meat]. I had plenty to eat: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, corn on the cob, broccoli and carrots, wine and my favorite Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter dinner item: crescent rolls!

We ate around 3ish and waited for the inlaws to come over for dessert. [Of course, the football games were one the TV so while some napped, others watched the Cowboy's game.] We had apple crisp w/ vanilla bean ice cream (oh so good!), variety pack cheesecake, pumpkin pie, cherry pie and this chocolate cream pie. I had a few helpings of the apple crisp with ice cream, a slice of cherry and a half a slice of Belgian chocolate cheese cake. I think I had 3 glasses of the Cosmo cocktail (cranberry wine, triple sec, sugar and lime juice) not to mention the glasses of yummy Trader Joe's Chilean Reserve Merlot [totally need to check if my TJs carries this $3.99 bottle]. I scouted out the sales for Black Thursday Night/Friday and there really aren't that great of deals this year. But, rode with Phil to Walmart at 9pm and it was insane with all the lines in certain areas of the stores for those waiting until midnight for the electronics sales.

I love Walmart and since I don't have one in the city to go to, I did some shopping while the clock ticked (since the deals didn't start until 10pm). I didn't get the 600 thread count sheet set b/c people got into those before 10pm, but I got a crock pot [but ended up returning later today after scoring a better one at Kohls for the same price]. Phil wanted to get some Blu-Rays and DVDs and man was THAT insane. I couldn't deal with it, so I just watched. They had cops standing by in front of me watching the crowd, so I felt safe. Phil was worse than me, he has never done a Black Friday, and he bought over $100 worth of movies and some other baking/storage containers because "everyone was buying them so they must have been a good deal". LOL.

We got back to the house at 11:30 and it was so clear out I stopped to look at all the stars before bringing the goods inside. I do miss star gazing and there were so many stars out last night, if I had warmer clothes [and weren't going shopping this morning] I may have stayed out to play the constellation game. But, I went to bed and got up at 7:30, ate breakfast and headed out for 8 hours of shopping. Bought a lot of games [2 of them being drinking games]/entertaining/home stuff, some heeled tall boots, clothes, the babies Christmas presents. I hit 11 stores in all: Christmas Tree Shops, Kohls, Target, Walmart, JCP, Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret, Modell's, Jo-Ann's Fabric, Dollar Store, and Costco. I got home at 4:30 and after going more than 8 hours without eating and only drinking a little water, I ate a smorgasbord of food and drank some water and soda before having 2 glasses of TJ's Merlot. It was nice driving around and shopping and I enjoyed listening to the radio.

I feel like I'm coming down with a cold. Started with itchy eyes, sinus aches and a sore throat, now I'm having chest problems and that freakin deep cough and losing my voice. I totally need to take better care of myself. This week's lost sleep bank is pretty full, looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow before we go running around First Night in Nashua, then back to the city for me tomorrow night.

If you're reading this, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and took time to reflect on what you're thankful for. I'm thankful for you [b/c if you're reading this you're someone I consider a dear friend]. I'm thankful for having family around the US and even though I wasn't able to spend the day with them, we were able to communicate. I'm thankful for the family friends I have in Groton; I wouldn't be in MA if it wasn't for them. I'm thankful for the fact that alcoholism does not run in the family [I've managed to marathon drink as opposed to sprint drinking and getting drunk/hungover this holiday weekend]. I'm thankful for having shelter and an abundance of food to stuff my face [which ends stuffing my stomach, ass and thighs]. I'm thankful for being employed and able to partake in this crazy Black Thursday/Friday madness that I do more so b/c by now it's tradition, but also b/c I love not paying taxes [and am quite thankful for the opportunity to borrow a car and drive to NH to shop tax free] and of course, I'm thankful for all the great deals I scored. Now it's time to bring out that tree, deck the halls, bake those cookies and enjoy this festive time of year.