Black Friday

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

So how did everyone who braved the stores today make out? Get any good deals?

I ordered $228 worth of merchandise right from my computer chair. Amazon.com had/has some great deals today and I’m happy to report I got all my shopping done for hubby in one fell swoop. I also got about half the boy’s gifts and a quarter of the girl’s because, like always, she didn’t give us a lot of ideas. She is definitely the most difficult person I’ve ever have to shop for because she’s not as materialistic as the rest of us. I want her to have a lot of cool presents to open, but she is not being very cooperative!

Today is going to be a lazy day of playing games and not doing much else, save for some laundry. Tomorrow I’ll be cooking our own little Thanksgiving dinner. After all the food from my parents’ last night, we need a breather today.

Here’s what the menu will look like tomorrow: Butterball turkey breast, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, and crescent rolls. Can’t wait!

The password is…

We spent a good chunk of change this weekend. Damn you, holidays! I already got a few gifts for the kids and Joe’s coworkers out of the way, though.

Yesterday we went to a party store to get some plastic wine glasses and a few other supplies. There’s a Petland nearby, and while I’d never actually buy an animal from them, I like how you can touch most of them. There were a ton of little ferrets in one of the bins and they were massively entertaining. If you hung your arm over, they’d take a flying leap in an attempt to crawl up your arm. We probably spent 20 minutes watching and interacting with them. Joe was able to pick a few up so we could pet them. They were really calm and not at all like our hamster, Oreo, who starts screaming the minute she’s picked up, as if we’re trying to take her limbs off. In fact the ferrets didn’t make any noise at all. I’m considering getting one. They’re still no match for a cat, but they might be ok with the boy’s allergies and they are really fun to watch. A friend of ours has a ferret, so I’d like to see one in a home environment first. I just know I’m done with hamsters.

New board games Today we did our grocery shopping. Target had board games on sale, so we bought three: Trivial Pursuit 25th Anniversary Edition, Buzzword, and Wits & Wagers.

I’m bringing them all to my parents’ for Thanksgiving. I am a sucker for games, and they all look so fun, I don’t know which one I will want to play first! Well, maybe not Trivial Pursuit. I have a love/hate relationship with that game. We own four versions now and I never know the answers to any of the questions. We got this new one since it has different levels of difficulty. Maybe if I play on easy I’ll be able to successfully answer a question or two. The price couldn’t be beat on any of these games. Trivial Pursuit and Wits & Wagers were each $20 and Buzzwords was $15; I think all three normally go for $30+.

When we got home and I started putting the groceries away, I noticed the expiration on the bacon in the fridge was today, so we decided to have BLTs. Just a small problem – no tomato or lettuce. So off to the produce market we ran to pick up some stuff, including potatoes for the roast Joe has in the crockpot. As we’re driving away from the store, I realized we forgot the lettuce! So we stopped at Dominick’s to get that. I swear I never thought it would be so difficult to put together a BLT! Now I have to go eat one.

Party Planning Follow-up

Hey thanks for the advice everyone, especially about the ice because I did not think about that! My husband mentioned the no shoes thing to a few of the people he was inviting and they seemed fine with it, so we added it to the invitation just so no one is thrown off guard and shows up with holes in their socks or something. The invitations were passed out today and he said people are pretty excited. That’s always nice to hear. I am predicting we’ll have a good time. I’m really looking forward to it. I requested the Friday before off from work so we can clean the house real good and put up the Christmas tree and decorations.

Party Planning

My husband decided he wants to throw a Christmas party for his coworkers. We’ve never thrown a real party before, but we have hosted game nights. I’m pretty nervous, yet excited. I’m trying to think of everything we need. So far we’ve got:

styrofoam bowls (in red)
paper plates
napkins
plastic cups (also in red)
lazy susan (already owned this)
two 3-section snack trays (one in red, one in green) for nuts and candy
chip/dip serving platter (in red)
three kinds of crackers
cheeseball
mini wieners
chips
black olives
salsa
alcohol
ingredients to bake cupcakes and cookies
invitations, which are getting passed out this week

Items we still need:

festive tablecloth
gift cards
nuts
veggies (celery, carrots)
cheese tray
cheese knife (for cheese ball)
chicken wings (will get these fresh the day of the party)
mozzarella sticks
bagel bites
pop (in 2-liters)
utensils
toothpicks
a pie (or two)

My husband wants to make sure no one goes hungry. It’s a pet peeve of his when the food supply is depleted before the party ends. We’re expecting about 12 people so I think that’s more than enough; in fact I’m willing to bet we’ll have lots of leftovers.

For entertainment we’ve got board games, cards, the Wii, and music of course.

I’m a bit torn whether to ask that people take their shoes off, or just grin and bear it, then shampoo the carpets after. We don’t wear shoes in our house but some people do and might find it offensive to be asked to remove their shoes. I’ve searched online and that didn’t really help; some people think it’s poor etiquette to ask people to remove their shoes whereas other people figure if it’s your house you have every right. I’m still not sure what to do in regards to that.

Other than that, I think we’ll be prepared to have a great party. Am I missing anything?

Disappearing Acts

Have you ever been contacted by someone from your past who disappeared shortly thereafter? It’s happened to me a couple of times in the past few years.

I get an e-mail from a long lost friend, a dialog begins, then nothing. Just one day they don’t return my e-mail. Weeks turn into months and I begin to wonder if I just imagined it to begin with.

It’s bizarre. Kinda rude too. I mean, YOU contacted ME. Now you’re blowing me off? WTF?

My friend says I expect too much from people. I guess I do. I expect if you contact me after years of not talking that you won’t disappear without explanation. But what do I know? Maybe it’s an ego thing.