Black Friday...Another Year of Chaos, Another Year of Bargains!

Well, Thanksgiving has been and gone already. I hate when that happens. One minute, it's Wednesday evening, I'm heading to my parents after having left work early and the next, it's Sunday evening, the turkey's all gone and it's back to normal tomorrow.

I did have a good Thanksgiving though. As always, it was a nice calm day where my mum and I worked together to get everything prepped and ready for the meal. Then people started showing up, the food started being ready and chaos ensued. It's always getting the food from stove to table that seems to be the hardest part of a large meal.

However, it all turned out fine in the end. It was a delicious meal, I got to see almost my entire family- my poor sister had to work- and find out some ideas of what gifts I wanted to shop for on Black Friday.

Black Friday, of course, is definitely part of my Thanksgiving traditions. This year, due the annoying schedule of the stores, my sister and I did things a little differently. We did make it to Walmart at 10 p.m. Well, actually, we got there around 10:40 p.m. since my sister had to work until 10:30 p.m. Amazingly enough, my sister got everything on her list- quite a surprise considering we weren't there for the mad rush of the beginning of the sale.

Though Walmart was much busier than normal and the aisle with the electronics that were to go on sale at midnight was already a scary, scary place with people waiting, the rest of the shopping experience wasn't too bad. The trick is to know where to look for items. Sure, Walmart puts the specials in the middle of the aisles and provides a map but they don't go to the actual shelves and remove those items. Thus, though the salespeople said they were out of the Leapfrog Tag system my sister wanted for my niece, we merely went to the shelf, found the same item sitting there, price checked it to make sure it rang up at the Black Friday price and moved on. It was a little too easy, actually. I didn't buy anything at all. The only thing I wanted was a wireless media player for my TV but since that was part of the midnight sale, I wasn't about to stick around.

Besides, we had to be up and at 'em early the next day. We were up and out by 5 a.m. Our first major sale started at 6 a.m. at Menards. We were part of a line that wrapped around the building. However, in previous years, due to Walmart's 4 a.m. sale, we've never quite made the opening of Menards and always got there late. This year, we actually got there as the doors opened AND we secured a basket. Never before, in the history of our Black Friday shopping have we secured a basket in which to put our stuff.

Unfortunately, the basket soon became full and also, my sister decided she wanted to purchase a rather nice spa box for my sister-in-law that appeared to be on sale for less than $10. It was about 24 inches by 24 inches and weight about 6 pounds. Due to the fact that my sister is pregnant and I'm a little overprotective, I gave her the lighter basket to carry and the spa set became my carrying vessel on which we piled stuff that wouldn't fit in the basket. We were almost 100% successful at Menards. I purchased two rather nice 1.5 quart crockpots for $2.97 each! Now THAT is a bargain for me. I'm not greedy enough I wanted both- I got one for my mum. I also got dog toys, slipper socks and various other useful items. While some of them were for gifts, I also find Black Friday to be an excellent way to get items that I actually need/want at bargain prices. I only buy things I don't ask for as gifts, by the way.

However, even with the triumph of finding everything on our lists giving us energy, by the time we got to the checkout, my forearms were rather tired from holding the spa box and all of its cargo around the store. Also, Menards was a madhouse- people WILL fight to the death for a $3 Snuggie. (I don't buy Snuggies, for the record). THey also fight for $1.49 fleece blankets. I did join the fray for one of those. The girls and I like to snuggle on cold winter nights and last year's bargain could easily be replaced.

By the time we were next in line to checkout, I had jelly arms. Finally, success! My sister and I seperated our buyings so that she could pay first. I was not unhappy to release the spa box. Unfortunately, when it rang up, it was $29.99, not the $7.50 it was labeled on the shelf. We did think it was an awfully good deal but it also was Black Friday. There turned out to be no rebate and suddenly, $29.99 did not seem like a deal so my sister asked the cashier to take it off her receipt. I didn't blame her but it would have been helpful to know that I hadn't had to carry that rather heavy item around the entire store for 30 minutes.

Ah well, we moved on to Target which had started its sale at 10 p.m. the night before. Surprisingly enough, with the exception of one board game, my sister also go everything on her list. We moved on. Since there was a different Walmart there, we stopped in so I could see if they had my wireless media player. Lo and behold, they did. In fact, aside from the $2.99 chopper and $9 griddle that eluded us last year also, Walmart also appeared to have almost everything from their ad except for the HDMI cable which I needed for the media player.

After Walmart, we went to the local mall and managed to get several gifts checked off our list. By this time, it was 10 a.m. and the insanity of the die-hard, early morning shoppiers had died down.

We ended our day with a tasty lunch and headed home. It was a very successful Black Friday. I even ended up getting my $10 HDMI cable- I wanted to look at Christmas trees so my parents and I headed back up to their local Walmart after I'd had a bit of a break. Lo and behold, they had lots of the $10 cables which the other Walmart did not have.

The moral of this Black Friday tale is that while it's sort of fun to join in the chaos of being one of the early morning shoppers, it's not always necessary to score a deal. Just like we weren't the first customers at Walmart the night before but still managed to get a Wii for $99 (my sister's purchase), we managed to get everything on our lists at almost every store without being there at the opening. Menards was the exception. That's the one store that has such good bargains that you do have to be there as early as possible. People tend to really go for the $2.97 crockpots, $1.99 unstuffed dog toys, 99 cent furry slipper socks, $1.49 fleece blankets and, of course, $3 Snuggies.

When all was said and done, my sister and I finished another Black Friday successfull. I am further ahead in my shopping than ever, have ideas for gifts and am well on my way to being ahead of the Christmas shopping game. While I love Thanksgiving with my family, eating yummy turkey and cooking the meal, I also love Black Friday. It's a tradition between my sister and I and I enjoy the lunacy of being up, awake and shopping at 5 a.m.

It ended up being a good weekend. However, like all good weekends, its followed by a return to work tomorrow. Since I like my job, I'm not dreading it. I do wish I had another day but, well, that would be greedy. Now it's time to relax with the pups, review my Christmas shopping, check out Cyber Monday deals and settle in for the night.

There could be far worse way to end a weekend!

Weekends...Holidays and...Everything in Between

This has been a strange weekend. We are in that strange period between Halloween and Thanksgiving where it's no longer Halloween but not quite Thanksgiving but Christmas is trying to usurp the territory of both.

I still haven't figured out where I should fit. I know it's too early for Christmas but the Christmas lover in me is gravitating towards the music and glitter of the holiday displays. I hate it and yet part of me is, like, "CHRISTMAS!!!" and it's easy for me to want to start sipping hot chocolate, singing carols and decking the halls.

The other part of me is "BAH HUMBUG! It's not even Thanksgiving! WHY would "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle Bells" be good things for me to hear? Exactly! IT's TOO EARLY!

So, you get it. The commercialism of the holidays is starting to infect me. My rational brain has taken over but it doesn't mean that the minute I hear any interpretion of anything remotely Christmas by Transiberian Orchestra, I'm not going to go out, buy a new tree, bedeck it with candy canes and toss iciles upon each and every undecorated branch.

I'm trying to fight it. Sure, I bought another Christmas gift this weekend as well as a couple of ornaments for the tree..but it doesn't mean I'm into Christmas....right?

Just kidding. Sort of. I tried to fight the Christmas spirit the weekend. I did so by embracing the Indian summer we sort of had and enjoy the outdoors. This involved taking Sookie and Rory for a walk over in the park. It went well at first. On the way back, however, Rory decided she'd walked enough and sat down. When Rory sits, this means no one else walks. She's quite good at sitting her bottom down and refusing to move. As a result, I ended up carrying her. I wanted to be amused but when you've already walked two miles and you're carrying a 20+ pound dachshund and alreay out of shape, being amused comes in second to being out-of-breath and annoyed that I parked the car so far away.

Still, Rory and I both made it. I spent the rest of the weekend...being productive.

Sometimes, I long for weekends where I do nothing but, the truth is, I'm not good at doing nothing. I like to be busy. Thus, for the remainder of my weekend, I was busy. I cleaned out the garage for the first time since I moved into my house. It was a mess to say the least. However, in spite of quite a few extra doors and window screens, I managed to come out on top. While I know the old lady who owned the house before me meant well by preserving every extra door...and screen, the truth is that I have no extra room. Thus, I now have six doors I need to lose. I'm hoping I can put them out with the rubbish on Wednesday but we'll see. I emailed Rumpke to check....I'm not sure what to do next.

However, in spite of the extra doors and screens, I have a clean garage. This was a triumph of my weekend. In addition, I managed to write 4000 words towards my new novel which may not seem like an accomplishment but when you're competing in NaNoWriMO and it takes 50K words to win, every word counts.

In short, it's been a good but productive weekend which seems the way good weekends go these days. I anticipate them from about 7 a.m. on Friday morning and then when Saturday hits, it's a blur until Sunday.

Still, for now, I don't mind the rushed blur of a weekend. As always, I wish they lasted longer but I'm ok for now. However, ask me when I get closer to Christmas and I might be in more of a panic. It depends how many store I enter/commecials I hear that tell me that I should be decking the halls, baking cookies and being done with shopping. I'm not usual so suspectible but this year, it seems a lot more serious. I'm trying to avoid it but, well,I can't lie and say it's working.

Ah well, next there's still another weekend before Thanksgiving which means an extra weekend to get Christmas stuff done.

There's something weird about that,isn't there? Surely it should be turkey before tree....right? Unless it's tree before turkey which is rather confusing since we British ex-pats eat turkey on Thanksgiving and>

Ah well, I love Christmas. I love turkey. I love Halloween. I guess this means that anything goes...right?

Deck the halls...with turkey and pumpkins...that's the way I like it...

I think.

Happy Monday!

The Power of Positive...Peeing and Other Small Pleasures

I’ve decided to continue my positivity and not spend any time today complaining about it being a Monday and a stormy one at that.

We did, for a brief moment, lose power at work but, alas, it came back on. This is not to say that I sit at work hoping the power will go out like I did at my last job but there’s a certain level of excitement that such things add to the work day. It’s the power of the unexpected, a little ‘present’ that life throws at you.

Since our power didn’t actually go out, I missed out on today’s present. Still, it made me realize that life is full of little tiny gifts that we don’t stop and properly appreciate. Thus, in honour of my attempt to stay positive and not focus on negative things, I’ve decided that today’s blog will be a blog lauding the things that make life just a little bit better.

My first one is a little, uh, odd. Also, by some standards it’s not very ‘proper.’ It is, however, very necessary to life. I’m talking about having a very, very full bladder and being able to alleviate the problem in a timely fashion.

I told you it sounds odd. It’s also not very ladylike to discuss urination. However, if you’ve ever really, really, REALLY needed to go but you’re not close to a toilet, you might understand how finding a toilet at the very last second when you feel like your bladder is literally going to explode can feel like a gift.

Trust me on this. It’s happened to me. I’ve witnessed it happening to others. Case in point, my friend Saz and I once took a trip to Los Angeles. We decided to go explore Mulholland drive up in the hills. We got lost. About ten minutes into the drive, Saz realized she really had needed to go. Long story short, we were lost. There are no restaurants, gas stations or any places to stop and go to the loo. When it was to the point where Saz was literally in pain, we finally found a Burger King. To the day, I believe Saz holds that Burger King with fondness in her heart. For my part, I felt awful that I’d made her wait that long.

I hope Saz doesn’t mind me sharing her story in my blog. I’ve had several Mulholland Drive moments myself since then and each time, I find myself whispering “sorry, Saz,” to myself because of the torture she suffered. However, whenever you finally, FINALLY get to relieve your poor, aching bladder, it’s seriously one of the best sensations in the world. If you don’t believe me, try it sometime. It really puts your priorities in order. Nothing else matters once that seal is broken and you absolutely, positively HAVE to relieve your bladder. All you can think about is finding a toilet.

This is an odd and slightly crude thing to blog about, I know. However, I think it does illustrate my point that sometimes it’s the small things that get the most appreciation when they happen.

It’s the same with sneezing, honestly. If you need to sneeze but it won’t come out, it’s very, very irritating. You can stare at a light and try to trigger the sneeze but if it won’t come, it suddenly becomes one of the Most. Irritating. Feelings. Ever.

And then….it happens. The sneeze comes and a tiny, insignificant reaction becomes the best feeling in the world. No longer do you have that twitchy feeling in the space between your nose and eyeball. The sneeze is done, it’s out and you can go back to your life without even remembering it happened.

But it did. It’s another small thing to appreciate.

Want another one? How about spending the day surrounded by noise and chaos. In my case, it’s Thanksgiving at my parents. The day passes in a whirl of trying to get everything ready before people start arriving. When they come, my parents decent sized farmhouse becomes one of the smallest places in the world. The kids are running around, the dogs are whimpering because four young children seem to have multiplied and there is nothing but noise, trying to get the dinner on the table while trying not to step on cowering dogs and trying not to spill the gravy jug on your nieces head because she’s obliviously chattering away to you without realizing you’re doing something…else.

And then, the food is eaten, the dishes done, the people have finally left, the TV off and….

…there is quiet. Blessed quiet that can only be appreciated after hours of loud laughter, squealing, running and barking.

The quiet makes the chaos good. I like seeing my family all together but halfway through trying to figure out where everyone will sit, watching my nephew chow down on his Oscar Meyer wieners instead of the turkey that’s been cooking all day, the urge for quiet comes over me and when it finally arrives well….that’s another gift. I wouldn’t swap the chaos and confusion for the world because that in itself is a gift but that quiet…well, that’s far more unexpected and comes when it’s most needed.

Then there’s the food itself. If you’re on a diet and you’re trying to be good, treats become much more meaningful. Having one piece of chocolate after four weeks of not eating any is far more rewarding than eating five pieces every day. Splurging and eating a big slice of cheese pizza is a lovely thing to do if you haven’t had anything but Lean Cuisine pizza for a month or two.

I could go on and on. I suppose really what it comes down to is that old cliché (and Cinderella song): You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. Whether it’s the need to relieve your bladder, the ability to sneeze, the quiet and tranquility of a calm day or whatever food item you’ve forbidden yourself, when you do finally get it back, it’s that much more special.

Thus, I think once in a while, we should acknowledge the everyday things in life and stop to appreciate how much they bring to your life without you realizing it. I’m not talking about big things like food, clothing, shelter…I’m talking about things like toilet paper, deodorant and underwear. Certainly, we could get by without them but they make our life much more pleasant with their very existence.

Sometimes, you just have to stop and think about the things in life that we take for granted because they’re part of our everyday life. We don’t think of them as gifts because they just seem so tiny. Yet, try not being able to find a toilet on a long and winding drive and you’ve had two large cokes. You’ll see what I mean.

Although I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It does, however, make you appreciate something you don’t usually consider much.

That’s all I’m saying.

Happy Tuesday!

No Mini Chopper for Me!

Well, Thanksgiving has already come and gone and it seemed to be far too quick. It seems like it was just Wednesday morning and I was loading the pups into the car and driving off to my parents. I love being able to do that. For too many years, Thanksgiving involved a red-eye flight from L.A. and landing in the wee hours of the morning on Thanksgiving day, being tired and irritable and never recovering quite enough to really feel like eating a ton of turkey.

Nowadays, it's a luxury to hop in the car and be there in just over two hours. It's nice to unload the puppies, sit down and relax the day before Thanksgiving so that when the day arrives, I can help cook.

It was fun this year although, as always, when it came time to serve up, everything got chaotic. Trying to get everything into serving plates while 14 hungry people await including four young children leads to a bit of chaos. In the end though we were all fed to our hearts' content, even the puppies who were treated to a little bit of turkey of their own.

Traditionally after Thanksgiving, we all retreat into the living room and pour over the ads for Black Friday. This year, my nephews and nieces decide to have a lot of fun running around, burning off energy. They weren't any trouble...just a little loud.

By the time everyone was gone, I have to admit the silence was a treat. My parents and I sat in a bit of a haze, letting the calm wash over us. The puppies were also a little traumatized. Usually, it's just me, Rory and Sookie at home. It doesn't get very loud and chaotic. The most chaos they're usually around is when they rile up the neighbour dogs or, if we're visiting my parents, when my pups chase around my parent's dogs and make them all hide.

Thus, a Thanksgiving evening filled with the squeals of childish joy, coupled with the overloud sounds of the TV as my older nephew watched "Kung Fu Panda" combined with a room full of adults conversing....well, it was no wonder Sookie was a docile as a teddy bear and needed to be soothed from her slight case of trauma.

Still, it was a fun day as was the next day. My sister and I followed our annual tradition of getting up for the Black Friday sales. Aside from the fact this year I managed to come down with a nasty cold on Thanksgiving night, we had a lot of fun.

We were a little irritated, however. We generally start at Walmart at 5 a.m which is when their big sales usually start. After that mass of chaos and confusion, we usually venture up to the other stores and do the rest of our shopping there. This year, however, Walmart decided to start at midnight with most of their specials and put only their electronics on special at 5 a.m.

This may not seem like a big deal but when most of the other stores we frequent on Black Friday don't start their sales until 5 a.m., the midnight specials are a little...inconvenient. We'd either have to go at midnight and then try to catch a couple of hours sleep before heading out- an idea which in theory sounds good but, in reality, would result in us being groggy and crabby all day- or just head out at 5 a.m. as planned and hope that they still had some of their sale items left.

We opted for option b, although my sister did send her husband out at midnight to Walmart for one item they absolutely wanted to get. He was successful. My sister and I...not so much. I didn't have a huge list of items but I've been wanting one of those mini choppers for a while. Every year on Black Friday, Walmart has a ton of them on sale for about $3. I was excited and had decided to buy one. I didn't think there'd be an issue. After all, for the past four years, at least, these choppers have been on sale on Black Friday for that price and every year for the past four years, you've been able to go to Walmart several hours after the craziness of the 5 a.m sale is over and still get yourself a mini chopper for $3.

Not this year, apparently. No, the one year I really want one, there seemed to be a run on the blasted things. There wasn't one to be found. Nor crockpots. Nor hand mixers. They were all $3. They were all sold out by 5 a.m.

Needless to say, I was rather perturbed. Why this year was there a run on mini choppers? I was so annoyed that when my dad went to Walmart later in the day on Black Friday, he asked an employee if they had any. By this time, my sister and I were deep in the middle of our shopping but I'd called my parents to check on the puppies because they were kind enough to puppy-sit and relayed my woes of not getting my chopper.

According to the store employee, people were buying the choppers by the cartfuls. Apparently, many were going to put them on ebay.

To this I say, um....really? Ok, so it was a great deal. Who doesn't want a mini food processor that can chop onions in a matter of seconds? Obviously, I wanted one so they're a hot item.

However...eBay? Really. As much as I want a mini chopper, it's not the kind of item I'm going to go try to outbid someone for on eBay.

All I can say is people are a little crazy. Granted, I was up at 5 a.m. to buy a $3 chopper so I also may be a little crazy but buying them for eBay? Huh. All I can say is that when my parents' town hosts their annual Garage Sale Day in May of next year, I guarantee there might be a few mini choppers to be had.

Still, even though I was thwarted in my chopper as well many of the other items I had on my list, my sister and I managed to put in a good, solid ten hours of shopping and managed to take care of much of our Christmas shopping. It was a lot of fun, rather productive and worth every minute of having to blow my nose, wait in line and freeze while we ran into stores. For some reason, every year, Black Friday tends to be the first really cold day of the year. This year was no exception. When I got up at 4 a.m., the ground was frozen, the rain that had poured down for most of Thanksgiving day had frozen into icy puddles and the wind cut through us like a nice.

Still, we persevered, we shopped and we conquered. It was a good Thanksgiving and a good Black Friday.

Even if I didn't get my mini chopper.

Stupid Walmart.

Happy Monday!

Thanksgiving Traditions...

Today was my "friday" at work. I decided to take tomorrow off so that Thanksgiving wasn't so rushed and quick and the puppies and I could take our time as we drove to my parents' house tomorrow.

Weeks like this are nice but usually slightly frustrating because everyone's already slightly in 'holiday' mode and everything slows down. It's harder to get people to return phone calls, harder to get people to commit to meetings/interviews and harder to get people moving forward.

I can't blame them, I suppose. I mean, this is a short week for me and all day today, I had that sense of an internal 'countdown' that didn't stop ticking until the clock hit five p.m. and I was officially on vacation until Monday.

Of course, it's not going to be the most restful vacation but, really, is thanksgiving ever really restful? As the self-appointed soux chef to my mother in the kitchen, Wednesday is usually spent with me and my notebook, planning each stage of cooking Thanksgiving Dinner in a Dinner Impossible style. My mother and I plan how long things take to cook, what needs to go into the oven when and how we can keep things moving so that we don't run out of oven space. This is usually coupled with trying not to panic because people are arriving and coming to say hello by standing in the kitchen and being social. Since my parents' have a relatively small kitchen, this makes movement and smooth sailing quite impossible.

Also, there always tends to be the issue of the carving of the turkey. My dad, naturally, likes to do this. We generally let him because otherwise, he sulks a little. One time, we let my older brother do it but he ended up taking three times as long as my dad usually does because that's just the way he is. He's very meticulous and quite a perfectionist. It's the same when you ask my brother to put lights on the Christmas tree. It ends up taking him several hours to position each individual light correctly on the tree branches. It ends up looking fabulous but by the time he's done, you're just wanting him to hurry up and you've sort of stopped caring how it looks.

Anyway, when it comes to carving the turkey, we let my dad do it. He usually picks the most inconvenient time possible. He's either much later than he should be or he decides to come and claim it when my mother and I are doing a graceful dance around the kitchen, moving plates, dishes, etc. to get everything in order.

Still, in the end, it all comes together. The meal always turns out delicously. It gets eaten far quicker than it gets prepared but that's always the way, isn't it?

After thanksgiving, it's become a tradition for everyone to grab the newspaper ads and start talking about what they want for Christmas, particularly the children. This is quite handy since my sister and I are Black Friday shoppers and it gives us ideas for our shopping trip.

We're planning on being at WalMart at 4 a.m. I'm not a huge fan of Walmart in general but it's a tradition. It makes you feel like you're part of something to be there at 4 a.m. waiting for the announcement that it's time to start shopping. That you're not be something sane per se is irrelevant. It's a tradition and it's fun to see all of the other nutcases who are there for the early-morning deals. It's just best to stay away from the big screen TV's. Big Screen TV buyers are a little scary.

I don't know where else we'll end up but I know we're likely to make a day of it on Friday. Chances are by Friday night, we'll be exhausted but in the meantime, it will not only be fun to be shopping all day but also to spend time with my sister and act like a crazy person.

Of course, she'd probably say that I generally act like a crazy person year round which may or may not be true but on Black Friday, I'm not alone.

That's a Thanksgiving tradition I just love.

Happy Thanksgiving- I'll be back next week!

Black Friday, Thanksgiving and No Complaining Allowed!

I'm actually writing an early blog today rather than wait until tomorrow morning. This is because tomorrow is the Big Day at work in which we leave our cosy, familiar office building and move into our more "professional" corporate style offices. From all reports of the new office space, our particular division of the company has now been given new cubicles rather than the nice offices that the rest of the company has. In addition, our cubicles are designed so that our monitors face outwards rather than give us any privacy. As previously mentioned, I, for one, am slightly jumpy. Also, while I try not to abuse the freedom I've had at work to surf the internet, there are times when the mind-numbing dullness of my job drives me to escape to the world of Facebook once in a while. Thus, I'm slightly concerned that I may end up going a little crazy because I have absolutely no freedom.

However, we are all assured that our new offices are absolutely spectacular. Also, if we complain, we'll get fired.

Sadly, this is not an exaggeration. I believe the exact words were, "if you complain, consider it your last day at [insert company name here]."

Now, while I am not an ungrateful brat, I do understand that great expense and time was spent on our office and I'm sure it's splendid. I'm sure it's the best office that ever existed.

I just have to admit, I don't particularly care for the fact that we are, essentially, being threatened if we dare use that dastardly right to freedom of speech and express even the slightest negativity.

Of course, I would never do such a thing. Ever. Since my boss made a slight reference to the fact that he knew I had a blog, I'm wondering if that whole complaining thing applies here. If so...I'm doomed. Doomed, I say.

Unless, of course, I do what I'm doing now and write when I'm NOT in the office and thus can complain as much as I like.

As you can see, I'm already feeling a little negative towards the whole situation. I simply don't like being threatened. Also, I like to have a little freedom while I work instead of feeling like I'm being carefully monitored.

Still, I'm lucky enough to have had an entire week away from the office due to the fact that were were moving and, also, there was that lovely Thanksgiving holiday.

I enjoyed my holiday immensely. Even the actual Thanksgiving dinner turned out rather well thanks to some rather absurdly organized scheduling. I believe I can officially say that I watch too much Food Network. By the end of Thanksgiving Eve, I had managed to plot out the time table for prepping the food, cooking the food and plating the food.

My mother and I cooked the meal. All together, it took about five hours of prepping, roasting, sauteeing and roasting. It took approximately 20 minutes for the family to eat it.

I suppose that's the point. It's just that when you are actually the one who helps cook it, it's a little painful to watch those stuffing balls that took quite a long time to prepare, cook, cool, shape and roast disappear quite so quickly. It's also just a wee bit painful because you just want to hold onto the food for a while and admire the fact that it all got cooked with only one teensy little incident with roasted root vegetables and an electric skillet and one minor over-boiling of the mashed potatoes.

Still, it was a good holiday and any excuse to make roast turkey is ok by me.

Of course, cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 14 people is nothing compared to the chaos of the day that follows it.

Yes, once again, my sister and I were among the insane folk who were waiting at Walmart at 4:30 a.m. for Black Friday to begin.

Once again, I got to witness the chaos of a segment of the population who were going to get that 32 inch big screen LCD TV for $249.

Fortunately, neither my sister or I did not need a TV. We focused on the smaller items. Unfortunately, some of them were in the same aisle as the TV so there were so near misses with crazy people. Let me just say that being hit in the thigh with a shopping cart hurts a bit. Nevertheless, by 5:30 a.m. we were on our way to our next stop.

In the end, we spent 13 hours shopping. We saw humanity at its finest and most bizarre. For the record, if there is no parking spot in parking lot that's within reasonable walking distance, it is NOT ok to park on the sidewalk outside a store. Also, it is not smart to just abandon your mini-van wherever you want to because, chances are, there's a reason no one else was parked there.

Nevertheless, I have to confess, I love Black Friday. I love the chaos of Walmart at 5 a.m. and I love being done with shopping around noon. I also love having the freedom to continue shopping for a few hours after lunch, even though you've already been at it a very long time.

It was a good weekend. Not only did I get to spend time with my family but I got to catch up with friends and see "New Moon."

Yes. I confess. I willingly saw "New Moon." Regular readers know how I feel about the Twilight saga. I think it's asinine and dumb. I think Bella Swan needs to be tied up and yelled at for being such a pathetic role model for women. Also, I think any man named Edward is never going to be particularly masculine and tough no matter how much he sparkles in the sunshine. So why did I see the movie? Well, for all the reasons above. I have decided to embrace the fact that the movies are terrible. I am fortunate enough to have a friend with whom I can see the movies who understands why, sometimes, it's good to see a movie purely because it's going to be so silly, it's delicious. Thus, rather than write tomes regarding the creepiness of a shapeshifter (formerly known as a werewolf) who falls for an infant and the ickiness of a vampire who chews through his wife's placenta to deliver said infant, I'm just going to embrace the daftness. Also, sometimes, you just need to mock and "New Moon" was perfect for this. I don't quite think the Twi-hards in the theatre appreciate my friend's and my own snickers at the melodramatic dialogue and need for Kristin Stewart once again to play second fiddle to her hair but I, personally, had a great time. Isn't that really the point of movies?

Anyway, now it's Sunday night. Tomorrow morning begins a new era at work. It may mean I will have to be a good little Monkeypants and not blog quite so much from work. However, I will continue to blog regularly because I have to have an outlet of some kind. Also, because it's fun. Also, because I'm not permitted to speak my mind at work. Not that I think there'd be any reason to complain because it's perfectly natural for a company president to send a warning email like that...right?

Of course, the way my mind works, it's kind of like having someone who looks a little unusual and being told NOT to stare...the first thing you want to do is stare. Or being told that it's a serious occasion and you are NOT to laugh...yes....I'm the one that's trying to stifle giggles because the mere act of not being allowed to laugh suddenly seems funny. Not being allowed to complain means...I might be in trouble.

Oh dear.

Happy Monday and thanks, as always, for reading.

Lightbulb Fights in the Office....

It's day two of working from home and I'm liking it rather a lot. I have to admit, I'm being a brat about it and rolling out of bed ten minutes before work and mock-chiding myself, telling myself I'm going to be late if I don't get a move on. I know, I know, it's probably childish but it's just nice to be able to get work done like this. I admit, yesterday I actually probably got more work done in the morning than I usually get done all day.

Of course, it does seem that people are just as chatty online as they are in the office in the mornings. I've only been logged on for just over 30 minutes and I've already had two coworkers drop in for an electronic chat. Not that I mind but when I am actually trying to get my browsers ready to work, it's a little interruptive to have that chat window pop up.

Nevertheless, I have some work to do today which is rather nice. It shouldn't be too challenging but it's the type of work that's perfect to do like this. It sounds sad but I don't have to leave the house today at all and I'm actually excited about that. Last night, I actually had a date which not only involves leaving the house but also involves actually getting ready and trying to look nice. When you've spent the entire day at your computer wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt, this is actually somewhat of a task. Still, it was a nice date and worth getting a little dressed up for it.

Today, though, I'm hoping not to be summoned to the new office. I did tell my boss that, being local, I'd be around if he needed physical labour. Apparently, he decided not to harass me and called another coworker in who lives much further away. To that, I merely sigh. What else can I do, honestly? As an invisible employee, I really shouldn't expect anything else. Being invisible has its advantages; it means I can come and go without too much hassle.

Still, there are times when I'm oddly not invisible. Friday in the office for example. Being that it was the last day, it was a little weird. After we finished our final testing on the software we were releasing that day, there really wasn't much to do so my coworkers and I sat and tried to look busy.

Then, mid afternoon, our boss sent one of the programmers to get beer. We all got to drink beer at our desks. To me, this is a good Friday. I mean, who doesn't want to drink beer at work?

After this, our president came downstairs to check our storage closet and he found some fluorescent lightbulbs. Now, to you and me, that'd be sort of like an "Oh, nice. Can we take those with us?" Not to my boss. He picked them up with a look of glee on his face and he looked at me and my two other coworkers. "Know what I'm thinking?" he said. Inwardly, I groan. He's a man. He's one of those men that is sometimes like a adolescent-grown-up. I can see where this is going. My coworkers look at him with puzzlement. I, however, don't. He says, "40 Year Old Virgin." I knew he was going to go with that or Star Wars. Star Wars would have been better...safer. He sees me shaking my head and says "Monkeypants" (naturally, he uses my real name but I prefer Monkeypants here), "You in?" I say, "No, but I'll watch." He squints at me. "You're in," he announces.

He goes away and I think he's forgotten about it. Then I get summoned outside. I get handed a lightbulb. My president has recruited another employee to join in. They hold long, skinny lightbulbs. Mine is a short, stubby one.

We go outside to the car park. I watch as the two men idiotically hit each other very hard on the back of the legs with the lightbulbs, which proceed to shatter with the blow. Then they turn to me. "I'm not hitting you with this!" I say in horror. They close in on me. I show them my lightbulb. There is no way it's going to shatter with one blow because it really is twice as thick as their's. Also, it's shorter which means it's far more likely to shatter in my hands causing a nasty injury than it is on their legs. Finally they give up and tell me I have to break it against the dumpster. That, I do. I admit, there was something satisfying about that and I didn't hurt anyone or hurt myself. I think the men were disappointed that I was a chicken but, at the same time, I'm the one that did not have a giant welt across the back of my knees for the rest of the day. Thus, there is something to be said for being a chicken though I prefer "Intelligent One."

So, that was my last day of work in the old office. It was, obviously, a little surreal. It was also sort of fun. It's not everyday you see your company president whacking someone with a lightbulb. Ironically, he doesn't even drink beer so that wasn't a factor.

I don't expect life in the new office will be quite like that. We're actually going to be surrounded by other companies in our office park so I'm not sure lightbulb fights will be sanctioned. Nevertheless it was one of those most fun, if strangest days at work I'd had in a while so I wouldn't be opposed to it. As long as I didn't have to be whacked.

Today, it's quiet at home. I don't forsee me having the desire to go break another lightbulb. Besides, I only have the normal screw-in kinds and that's just not the same. Also, there's glass. Glass makes a mess. It made a huge mess by the dumpster in the car park on Friday but our president didn't seem to mind.

No, instead, I think I'll focus on getting my work done in a decent time frame so that I can stop and do domestic-y things. Yesterday, for example, I baked a quiche. That was quite fun. Today, I'm not sure what I'll do but I'm sure I'll find something. I'm heading to my parents tomorrow morning having decided to take Wednesday off from work and use one of my precious PTO days so, at the very least, I can figure out what I need to pack.

Thus, since I'll be driving when I'm normally blogging tomorrow, this may be my last blog for the week. And thus, I shall wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope it's a time filled with gratitude (since it is THANKSgiving), family (without drama) and good food. I thank you for reading, you make blogging fun and I appreciate the time you spend with me when you do read.

Happy Tuesday and Happy Thanksgiving.

Finally, a Good Monday Morning!

I would like to begin this Monday morning blog by NOT complaining that it's Monday and that I didn't want to get out of bed. That is a rare, rare statement and one I had to log for posterity's sake.

I'm late blogging today. I find this rather ironic since I'm actually at home, working from my personal computer. You'd think this would mean I'd be able to get my blog out as soon as I was logged on.

Sadly, this is not the case. For the most part, I've become accustomed to my computer booting up, given me a strange flicker of relief at knowing I have an open window to the virtual world as soon as I bring up an internet browser only to laugh at me and present me with one of Microsoft's infamous Blue Screens of Death (BSOD).

For the most part, I have narrowed down my BSOD issue to the fact that I have a hardware conflict, specifically with my wireless router or my sound card. Since, currently, it usually restarts and lets me in eventually, I am working around it, being sure to save whatever work I'm doing.

So, I've already had one of those this morning. Also, it's important to be online on our office Instant Messenger system so people know I'm actually logged in, ready to work. That way I can't be accused of being a giant slacker even if, in fact, I am abandoning my computer for a few minutes to put a load of laundry in. I've even done a little bit of work which, I know, is shocking.

That's the thing about working at home. I have a cup of tea in my favourite Harry Potter mug, my iTunes is blaring and I'm wearing old sweat trousers because my jeans are in the laundry. This is my type of workday.

I know, I know, I'm rubbing it in for all you folks that have to work in an office. Believe me, this is a huge treat for me and one that's not likely to happen again in the near future. Thus, I'm intent on enjoying it as much as possible.

Even though I do have the luxury of working at home for two days this week, I do still feel like my weekend flew by. To be honest, I'm not even sure where it went. I know I did a lot. I mean, I got my car serviced, I wrote...I cleaned. I did manage to get my Christmas lights up outside. I had planned on hanging those icicle lights on the roof. I bought these nifty hooks and bought two sets of lights. Then it occured to me that those two sets would only cover 16 feet. So I got another set. Then I realized that even three sets was not going to be enough. To top things off, I climbed up to the roof on my rickety ladder only to discover that the hooks I had bought weren't going to work since I didn't appear to have a normal overhang and there was really no good place to hook them. Thus, I ended up returning the icicle lights and just using regular mini multicoloured lights on my juniper bushes instead.

Of course, it turns out that I'm allergic to juniper bushes. As I boldly wound the light strings around the prickly bushes, my hands began to sting. I thought it was just because the needles were scratchy. By the time I had finished winding the lights, my hands were rather sore. When I got inside, I realized I'd developed a rash that stings when you wash your hands. On the plus side, I've finally realized why, if I've been working outside, my hands sometimes sting when I wash them. Next time, I'll wear gloves.

My yard looks quite nice though. I used my timer to test my lights last night and I got to look at them in the dark. I quickly turned them off. Given how much I've complained about people decorating early for Christmas, I don't want to be a hypocrite. I just wanted to get them up before the weather turns cold.

It's supposed to get cold this week, just in time for Thanksgiving. I've even heard my favourite "s" word I'm supposed to call it now. This superstition my family and friends have of my doing the snow dance or even just saying "Snow, Sausage!" and then having it snow seems to be a little silly. Still, I fully intend on doing the snow dance and trying to make Sausage join in when I'm home for Thanksgiving. I think I've been very patient. This time last year, we'd already had several snow instances and I'd probably started my blogging obsession with the stuff. This year, I've enjoyed the Indian summer but now I'm ready for snow. I want to break out my Cocoa Latte machine and make my first steaming mug of Williams Sonoma peppermint hot chocolate. I want to build my very first snowman in my own backyard.

Of course, I'm not expecting that amount of snow...yet. I'll wait until December.

I love the holidays. I know that as a Singleton, the holidays are traditionally supposed to be hard. I won't admit that it's not a lonely time but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy everything that goes along with Christmas. In some ways, I think I am a little lucky to have so much freedom. I mean, I can watch "Elf" and "Love Actually" as often as I like without anyone throwing a pillow at my head. It's a trade off, I suppose; being alone and having freedom or having to compromise but have someone to share the holidays with.

Right now, though, the holiday that lies in front of us is Thanksgiving, not Christmas. Though, I confess, I have plans to be up at 4 a.m. with my sister on Friday morning to go Christmas shopping. I don't actually need to buy that many gifts but, as insane as I am, I actually rather enjoy that pandemonium. It's the thrill of the hunt. I love to be out and about but be home by 1 p.m. and have had a full day of shopping. I'm strange like that. For as much as I complain about getting up in the mornings, once I'm up, I'm up. I love to do things in the morning. I'm much more productive. Then I can spend the rest of the day being lazy if I'm so inclined.

For now, though, being that it's morning, I suppose I should be productive at work. This silly work ethic of mine is getting in the way of a perfectly good potential day of slacking off. Perhaps if I get everything done, I won't feel quite so lazy. We'll see.

Happy Monday!

Thanksgiving and the Insanity of Black Friday Shopping

And so, the week begins again.

Not that I can complain. After five days off from work, some quality time with friends and family and some rather tasty food, returning to work should seem fairly easy. Naturally it's not. I think time off makes us a little greedy and shows us a side of life that we often try to cram into the two weekend days. There's something rather delicious about not having to set an alarm, about eating whenever you like, about being able to pick up a book in the middle of the day and curl up with it. However, on the flipside, without work, those luxuries would no longer be luxuries, they'd be routine. So, in a way, work isn't so bad. Most of the time.

Yet, I did have a lovely holiday. For the first time in about four years, it was organized chaos instead of pure chaos. We had a few kid-wranglers to keep the little ones out of the kitchen, we had the table set and ready to go by the time the guests arrived and aside from my father's attempted coup of the kitchen, everything went well. My father is a good cook, as I have mentioned. However, he has terrible timing. This year, despite my mother's highly efficient pre-preparation and cooking schedule, my dad decided he would not only be Vice President In Charge of Roast Potatoes but that he'd also take over the cooking even though my mother was on top of it. Fortunately, my mother managed to triumph anyway. Never underestimate the power of turkey carving to distract a man.

Aside from the traditional eating part of Thanksgiving, I also participated in another newer tradition: Black Friday. Yes, I was one of the nutcases who decided to get up at 4 a.m. to go shopping. In my defense, my sister really wanted to go and since she had accompanied me last year at my request, I owed her a trip.

So, on Friday morning at 4 a.m., I crawled out of bed, defrosted my car, picked up my sister and went to Walmart. It's an adventure, I'll tell you. Our local Walmart was (fortunately) not one of those in which people went nuts and trampled security guards to death. I also didn't see any guns. Instead, it was just a store full of hungry-eyed people, ready to fight for the death for a $25 pre-lit Christmas tree or a $2 DVD.

If you've never been to Walmart on Black Friday at 5 a.m., you've missed out on an experience I can only describe as insane. We arrived at 4:55 a.m. There were no carts except ones with baby seats attached. We took one of those but managed to find a normal cart when we were inside. Inside Walmart at 4:56 a.m., it was a bizarre sight: Hundreds of shoppers were just standing there, their carts poised but mostly unmoving except for that wolfish look in their eyes. It was almost like an episode of Heroes in which Hiro had frozen time and people were standing their, frozen. We grabbed one of the last remaining spots on an aisle and waited. I was hoping someone would blow a whistle at 5 a.m. but, instead, an announcer calmly informed us it was now 5 a.m. and shopping could begin. And it began. And ended. It was complete chaos.

My sister and I aren't big on crowds but we do like a bargain. Thus, we have a few rules that we recite in the car as we drive to Walmart. They are:

1) Never Abandon the Cart
2) Always Stick Together
3) If one of us does have to leave to go snag a bargain, Rule #1 is still in effect. One of us must always stay with the cart and NOT MOVE from the spot in which we wait. Only when the other shopper shows up can we move again.
4)Always know what you want BEFORE 5 a.m. A list is vital.

You'd be surprised how effective these rules are. And how necessary. You wouldn't believe how many people actually try to steal from other shoppers' carts. It's really like a Darwinian experiment. If you manage to snag a much-coveted copy of The Goonies and someone else wants it, well, you better watch out 'cause if you turn your back, that movie is gone.

Another trick to a successful Black Friday shopping trip is to do some research. For example, this year, I wanted one of the coveted $25 pre-lit trees. Two days before, I had made a trip to Walmart and checked out the trees to make sure it was worth the fight. I also took note of where they were normally kept. On Black Friday, about five of these trees were placed out for the shoppers to fight over and, let me tell you, there was no fight, there was merely a metaphorical cloud of snoke in the air as we watched the shoppers attack the trees. Let's just say that by 5 a.m. and thirty seconds, those trees were gone.

But they really weren't. There were still hundreds of them but they hadn't been brought out into the aisles, they were still in the Christmas section. I grabbed one, making sure it was the same one as in the ad. It was. We were the lone renegades for a while until, finally, the Walmart staff finally started to let people know where they could get their tree. By this time, my sister and I had secured almost our entire list.

If you want a mental picture of what the experience is like, picture a Walmart. Then picture the normal aisles. In the middle of these aisles are organized stacks of all of the items that are on sale for Black Friday. Then take away the organized part, throw in hundreds of people, fighting to the death to get their Flat Screen High Definition TV and then picture them using that TV as a weapon to shove people out of the way. Yeah, that's about it.

Aside from a minor injury- my sister got rammed very hard on her shin by a Woman in Search of Hannah Montana items- we escaped unscathed with a cartload of our items. Since we were up, we decided to keep shopping and hit some of the other sales. We got the best bargains and it was also relatively fun. Best of all was a shiny new Target, recently opened, in which a strange aura of calm lay. It seems that not everyone knows this Target is there yet and we managed to steal some peaceful shopping without having to fight our way through.

You might think us crazy, you might think us strange but both my sister and I now have about 80% of our shopping done. We saved money. Best of all, we got to hang out together and have fun doing it. Our one mistake was thinking that going to the mall was a good idea. It rarely is, even when it's not Christmas. Aside from that misstep, all in all, we managed to make a day of insanity into a day of fun.

Now I'm back at work, the turkey leftovers are gone and with it almost all the traces of our Thanksgiving holiday. (Except for my sister and her Black Friday bruise. It's a war injury- be proud!) It's gently snowing outside and the big fluffy flakes are settling. I know I said that it was too early for Christmas but now that pumpkin season is over, I think it's ok to enjoy the season. I confess, I put my tree up yesterday and lay under the lights, Grey's Anatomy, style to appreciate the beauty and peace that only 200 mini multicoloured lights can provide.

And so, today, though I'm back at work, I have my tree waiting for me at home. I can turn on the lights and let the day slip away as I relax in the peace of my freshly-decorated apartment. It's the small things in life that make it good.

Happy Monday.

Luggage Locators and Priceless Commercials...

I'm heading home to the warmth of my parents home tonight so blogs may be a little few and far between over the next few days. And while I'm being poetic about the warmth of my parents home, I'm also being literaral. You see, I have discovered that my lovely apartment has one slight problem: It has a nasty draft coming through my patio doors. This is all very well and good when the sun is shining but when I sit on my couch to watch the very silly but entertaining Prison Break or the suddenly awful Grey's Anatomy, I suddenly feel the draft.

It's time to make some draft stoppers, I think. Fortunately, I have a very crafty friend who can always offer tips on how to do these things. She even has a blog. I plan on attempting making a draft stopper or two this weekend based on her tips. But, for now, my living room is drafty which makes being a couch potato a little chilly.

Anyway, while I was sitting on said drafty couch last night, I was flipping through some store flyers and I found something that intrigued my Monkeypants Brain: A Luggage Locator. It was in the Bed, Bath and Beyond brochure. Apparently, you attach a thingy to your luggage and then you have this handy-dandy remote control activator thing that you hit when you lose your luggage. Naturally, this got me to wondering a few things. Firstly, what happens when you hit the button? Does it emit a high pitched alarm that only the owner can hear? Does it have something like a car-alarm that goes off when you lose it? If so, can you imagine Airports of the Future? Getting your luggage would be even worse than it is now. Already, it becomes a question of trying to position yourself in front of the carousel so that you can dive in should you spot your luggage. The diving in is usually complicated by someone who is far more aggressive shoving themselves in front of you in order to hoist themself practically onto the carousel, pulling the luggage off with a vigourous swing that inevitably accidentally clomps you on the leg, head or whichever body part you couldn't move fast enough, only to discover that it's not actually their luggage.

The Luggage Locator I have created in my mind would simply add a horrifying "BWAM-BWAM-BWAM" sound to all of that in efforts to locate its lost owner. Do they all make different noises? If so, do you have to have practice sessions so you know which noise yours is making?

Maybe it doesn't make noise. Maybe it flashes a light which then leads me to wonder what the point of that would be. What if the baggage is facing the other way? You wouldn't see the light, right?

And how far is the range on this thing? Is it like one of those car unlocky things where you have to be in range in order to hit the button and hear your car toot back as you unlock it? That's really not going to be helpful if you're in an airport full of people? What are you going to do, shout "HEY, EVERYONE, CAN YOU ALL BE QUIET FOR A MOMENT, I'M TRYING TO LOCATE MY LUGGAGE?" I don't think so. I mean, anyone who's ever been to an airport knows they are full of crotchety people who really just want to teleport instead of flying but since that hasn't been invented yet, they have to wait while their plane from Chicago to Fort Wayne, Indiana is delayed yet again even though the sun is shining, the plane is at the gate and it's already been delayed five times. Uh, not that I'm projecting.

What would be cool is if it were like a remote control device that would find your luggage anywhere it might be lost and wheel itself to you. The problem with that would be luggage that lacked wheels. However, I'm quite certain that I might just have been reading too much Harry Potter lately. I always did fancy that Accio spell that brings items to you. I've tried it a couple of times when I can't be bothered to get up and retrieve the remote control from where I left it. The spell doesn't work. If it did, there probably wouldn't be a need for a Luggage Locator in the first place.

I'm quite sure all the answers to my Luggage Locator questions could simply be answered by Google. However, sometimes, I like to remain ignorant because I like to make up things and visualize things the way I've made them up in my head. Reality is so much less entertaining once you know how something works.

Advertisements always get me thinking. Have you seen the latest Mastercard ads? I used to like those "Priceless" commercials. They used to be sweet and entertaining. Now they're just dippy. The one they keep showing is this perky little ad where a lady goes into a store with a basket and grabs scary things that make odd noises that the calm and reassuring Voiceover Man says are "smiles", "hugs," and "contented sighs." I won't go so far as to say the hugs freak me out but, really, I don't think I'd be quite so excited as the lady with the basket if that's what hugs looked like. They look like Sock Monkey mated with Kleenex Box and may have had an affair with Ms. Potato Head. Then again, the lady in the commercial then takes her basket full of weirdness and sits on her beach with her family where she divvies out the smiles, hugs and contented sighs which is the Priceless part of the commercial. I find that weird. It's like one of those Stephen Spielberg Alien Futures in which everyone has robot children that are programmed to be happy but then go bad. Maybe that'll come in a later commercial: The Dark Side of Mastercard.

As I've said before, I like commercials. I find them entertaining. Now that the holidays are approaching, there'll be more of them and more brochures to flip through. I'm curious to learn more about this Luggage Locator. Usually, I'd be flying back to the Midwest from L.A. this time of year; I'm thrilled I can just drive home to my parents now. However, I will miss the inflight magazines. I'm addicted to SkyMall. I bet there are Luggage Locators in there this year along with other weird products that are targeted for the Bored Travelling Executive Who Has Everything but a Brass Plated, Personalized Massager that Sings. Or something to that effect.

Still, without SkyMall, I'll survive. There's always TV commercials to get me thinking. I'm quite thankful for that. And since it's almost Thanksgiving, isn't that a nifty tie-in?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Thoughts of Thanksgiving Dance In My Head....

Oh, I am so glad it's Friday today. It's been a long week and I'm not even sure why. It's one of those weeks in which not much has happened which is not a bad thing at all. Maybe it's because it's the week before Thanksgiving. Next week is the Official Start of the Holiday Season.

I'm very much looking forward to Thanksgiving. This is because I love turkey. I love my mother's turkey. Though we don't really celebrate Thanksgiving because we're British and all, we have enough American Interlopers in our family that we host the dinner. Which I suppose means we do celebrate the holiday really, doesn't it? I love that my mum makes it with all the British trimmings, roast potatoes, sage and onion stuffing, brussel sprouts, Bisto gravy and parsnips. I love the smell of the turkey, gently scenting the air with its meaty goodness.

I think this is the part where I'm supposed to say I love having my family around on Thanksgiving day. The thing is, Thanksgiving Day is chaos. I think it's supposed to be, that it's a tradition to have a nutty family gathering or something. Our gathering is truly nuts. There are four children who are five and under. I love these children. They're my nephews and nieces. Singularly, they're sweet (most of the time), nice children who are fun to play with. Collectively, they're a hurricane of energy and noise that suddenly stops hearing and comprehending the word "No". The house is too small for this hurricane. Add five small dogs that get excited by excitement to the mix and you have all the elements to a backdrop of absolute havoc.

I like Thanksgiving night. I like that sudden quiet lull that falls over the house as soon as my oldest brother and his family leaves. Sometimes my oldest brother stays until almost midnight. I usually wait up. There's something about that inevitable lull that I need.

This is not to say I don't love my family because I do, very much. I love having them around. It's just something about Thanksgiving that is this huge crazy blur of activity in my mind. It gets in the way of the food.

But that's a week away. At the moment, the weekend lies ahead and I'm looking forward to that. I think it's mostly because of sleep. I like it when I can stay in bed and not have to get up for work. Then again, that's sort of a given for everyone, isn't it? The only thing better is when it's rainy because the beat of the raindrops on the windowpane and the howl of the wind is the best thing in the world to listen to when you're you're lying in bed and you don't have to get up.

I don't think it's supposed to rain this weekend. It was supposed to snow but the forecast has changed. Which is probably good for you because then I'd probably have to wax poetical about snow in at least one more blog.

My goal for the weekend is to email a query letter to at least 10-15 agents. Again. I'd love to say "This is it, this is the one!" but, frankly, I'm also rather jaded. I've done this before. Granted, it was with another book but I've still done it before. The nice thing about email submissions is there's no postage required and there's no delay in getting the letter to the reader. The bad news is that rejections also come more quickly. I've had rejections less than ten minutes after sending the email. I'm trying to thicken my skin, to not take rejection so personally but, well, frankly, that part is hard. When you put a little bit of your heart and soul into a book, it's really hard to condense it into the perfect query letter. It's also tough to read contradicting advice from agents: One says the query letter is everything, another says that he'd rather effort went into editing the novel rather than be spent on crafting a great letter. It's disheartening. What's even more disheartening is when the rejection letter has a spelling/typo in it. That's happened a couple of times, believe it or not. That does not make things easier.

However, I will try and continue to try though I sometimes hear a little voice telling me to give up. I can't listen to that voice, no matter how loud it gets because, at the end of the day, I love writing and that's ultimately why I do it. Sometimes it's hard to remember that but, fortunately, I've got good people around to remind me.

So, on this Friday morning, I shall look forward to the thought of sleeping late tomorrow, of the hope of snow and of the lazy, crazy day that will Thanksgiving next week. I shall put a little piece of my heart in that query letter and hope that it resonates for someone out there. And, if not, I will keep trying. Wish me luck.

Happy Friday.