my thanksgiving

Hello again, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful, warm Thanksgiving, rife with good food and loving family and friends. Ours was very nice. We headed to Springfield Wednesday evening, stopping at the mall when we got into town. I had a couple of quick shopping objectives, and we decided to just eat dinner at the food court. So, after eating a yummy crepe with turkey, avocado, tomato, pepper jack cheese, and black bean spread (Nick had Chik-Fil-A), I split from Brian and Nick to do my shopping. I scored two fleece 1/2-zip pullovers for $13.60 (total!) at JCPenney - whoo hoo! I was walking along the mall when I noticed that Santa was there already, doing pictures with kids. Furthermore, the mall was rather empty, and there was no line. Now, we always like to get Nick's pic taken with Santa, but it had not even occurred to me that he would be there yet, so I hadn't thought about doing it that evening. Nick was wearing a non-photogenic shirt, and his hair looked rather bad. (We're trying to let it grow, but between his cowlick and other odd directional things going on at the crown of his head, he looks awful unless I get some product involved.) :) So, I thought on my feet. Before even tracking down Brian and Nick, I went into a hair-product store in the mall and asked the girls there if they would be willing to give Nick a free coiffure. They said "Sure!" So, I got Brian and Nick and sent Brian out to the car to get Nick's argyle sweater from the suitcase in our trunk while I took Nick to be styled. And, we got our Santa pic! Our incredibly, shockingly overpriced Santa pic. But at least that's out of the way.

After we got to my Dad's house and got all settled in and got Nick ready for bed, Brian and I decided to head to The Moxie, an independent movie theater in Springfield, to see Man on Wire - an absolutely amazing documentary about Philippe Petit, the Frenchman who tightrope-walked between the Twin Towers in 1974. It was awesome! I highly recommend it, if you have a chance to see it. The Moxie is really cool, and the best part is that they serve beer and wine. So, I enjoyed a glass of pinot noir with my popcorn. :)

Thanksgiving day was spent mostly being lazy and watching the Macy's parade. I was having some gastrointestinal upset and didn't feel 100%, so I just chilled out until it was time to make my sweet potato casserole and apple salad and head to my sister's house for dinner. It was the usual loud, crazy family gathering, and it was nice, although my stomach was still not feeling great, so that rendered me a bit grumpy. I ate plenty, though not as much as I might have otherwise, and it was all delicious! This was the first time I had made sweet potatoes, and they turned out great. And as always, my sister's sausage stuffing was delectable. Nick had a blast playing with his cousins. At one point, my brother (a drummer), my sister's husband, and my niece's boyfriend (both guitarists) went down to the basement to jam, and Nick grabbed a mic and proceeded to sing made-up lyrics in rhythm with their song. It was hilarious! He was singing stuff like "Oh my gosh, whaddya do?" :) Greg even let him try out the drum set.

When we got home, Nick and I were both exhausted and went right to bed at 9:00. I slept for 10 glorious hours, and my stomach troubles were gone when I arose. Yay! We packed up, visited some friends, and headed home. I'm just doing TCB this evening, and then tomorrow, the 2-day Christmas decorating extravaganza shall commence. Wish me luck!