Bruce and Em and ALL of Them: Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Decorating

My house has typically been the home where much of our family has congregated for Thanksgiving. If you know me and my lack of skills in the kitchen, you understand the anxiety that can cause. However, Thanksgiving is the one meal that I truly enjoy preparing and apparently, I do it pretty well (according to my husband). We have always loved having family around for the holidays, especially me. I was an only child and so growing up, our holidays were always spent as a quiet family of 3. Although having just 3 of us has it's merits too, such as knowing there would always be enough food available. I will never forget the first Thanksgiving I spent with Beau's family. All of the food was beautifully placed in the center of the table and a loud "Dig In" was the call. I had no idea that meant everyone was on their own. You had to be quick and ready, constantly eyeballing which dish you were going to grab before someone else got to it. For years after Beau and I were married, he ate with his arm "guarding" his plate. I guess this was a habit he developed from his childhood. Needless to say, I went home that first Thanksgiving hungry. Thankfully a Chinese take out place was open.

This Thanksgiving, however, was very different. It was just our little family. It was nice, not quiet because we do have 4 boys, but very low key. I still prepared our normal "fixins", the family was well fed, and everything went well. However, I spent time reminiscing our previous Thanksgivings and missing them, yes, even that first one with the Bennett family. But I realize that living away from family now means that our previous traditions will have to be replaced by new ones. We spent the afternoon, after our turkey dinner, watching Brave. We had a nice and relaxing evening.

For years, I have been a Black Friday shopper. Not one of those "crazy" shoppers where I would be willing to knock you down over the hottest item, but one that enjoys being out in the crowds in search of good deals. I remember going shopping with Beau's 2 youngest brothers and we always had a good time. Zander asked to go with me 3 or 4 years ago and I reluctantly said yes. I thought what would a 10 year old boy enjoy about shopping in the wee hours of the morning. But as it turned out, he had a blast and I did too. So that has become our new little tradition. I peruse the ads, make my lists of things that I would like to get, and then Zander and I head out in search of these items. He and I have a great little system. We stand in line waiting to enter the stores and that is time spent talking, laughing, and truly bonding. Once we actually make it into the stores, he has a part of the list that he is to find. I go my separate way and pick up other things on the list. I have become a pro at hiding things in the cart that are meant to be presents for Zander. We then meet at the end and check out. It works great. He is a great helper and teammate.

This year, however, stores were opening earlier that they ever had in the past. I was actually looking for excuses to skip this year. We were all enjoying the family time and the thought of standing out in the cold didn't seem appealing to me this year. But Zander was getting excited about going. As a mom of a teenager, I look for any way to spend quality time with him. Yes, shopping isn't quality time, but it was something I could have to connect with him. So I'll take it. We had the best time together and he was very helpful. There was lots of talking, laughing, and I even think there were moments of appreciation for each other. SCORE! We left the house at 7:30pm and headed to our first store. We waited outside the store in line for an hour, met a mother/daughter who have shopped Black Friday for many years, and we had the best time. That hour went be very quickly. Seriously, it did. Zander and I went to many stores though out the night, but by 4am, I was done. But Zander had his sights on returning to the mall.......again. So, as I apparently like to be punished, he and I headed back out to the mall. By 5:30am, I found a spot to sit and relax. Zander continued to shop and was even thoughtful enough to bring me a candy bar and a soda (so that I could have enough energy to drive us home). We got home at 7am. On the way home, Zander was full of energy. He had either gotten his second wind, or he was so deliriously tired. Either way, I could barely keep my eyeballs open. He declared he was fine and had every intention of staying awake for the rest of the day. I was too tired to argue. I went to bed the moment I got home. I found out later from Beau that Zander went to bed too. That child didn't wake up until 8:45pm. My energetic shopper wound up getting almost 14 hours of sleep. Lucky kid. But, I now had a new year of shopping memories with Zander.

The tree is up, now we have to decorate it.

We have always decorated for Christmas on the weekend after Thanksgiving. I love this part of the season as we prepare the house while listening to Christmas music. I enjoy looking at the ornaments and remembering their significance as Beau and I relay the stories to our children. Such sweet times. Last year was such a blur as I was in a slight depression. I missed my family and my friends. Decorating the house didn't even occur until about a week and a half before Christmas. That is very unlike me. The decorating that took place was minimal at best. My Christmas spirit was drained and even though I didn't want to feel that way, I couldn't change it. I have made it through that fog and I made a vow that this year my family would not suffer because of me. We decorated the house this past weekend with enthusiasm. We had so much fun and the boys were very "helpful". Well, as helpful as a 3, 4, and a 5 year old can be. Only one ornament got broken, which is a miracle in itself. Beau took the boys to the store earlier that day to pick out a new ornament each. I stayed home to clean and rearrange the living room in preparation for the tree. Each boy was really proud to place their new ornament on the tree. This year our Christmas music was replaced by the Florida vs. Florida State game, but that's ok. It was a great game.