So, as most of you know, I worked 72 hours in 6 days right before Thanksgiving. I worked Wednesday night, 7pm-7am, and got a free Thanksgiving meal for working the shift before Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving #1). Right after my shift ended, I came home and had to prepare for a weekend out of town. Cooking mashed potatoes, packing for myself and little Penny, and even throwing my Christmas Cards in the mail before we left!
First stop on Thursday was Tyler's grandmother's house in Longmont (Thanksgiving #2). She is so funny because she is always so prepared for the mayhem that a gathering at her house will bring. She literally tapes down tarps on all of the exposed carpet so that spilled drinks and food (which are inevitable) won't be a big deal. Props to Grandma! Now, when I say mayhem, I mean the kind of noise and crazed wrestling that only 7 children under the age of 10 can bring to the table. Did I mention they are all from the same family? These adorable children (I'm not being sarcastic) go from cute to Energizer Bunny on crack in 3 seconds flat. I do my best to stay out of their way as they gang up on one family member after the other until they have bruised them all. Luckily for me, they know I don't play "band of monkies" (as I have titled them). As for Penny, she became the center of attention for quite some time. In an interesting turn of events, they actually didn't terrorize her like I thought they might. They were actually a little scared of her at first! But then, one of the boys decided to throw a snowball her direction. She happily pounced on the snowball and ate it up. The children were thrilled, and soon she had 7 kiddos tossing snow at her, much to her delight! Then one child decided to toss a stick in front of Penny. Penny was thinking these kids were the greatest! First snow, and now a stick! Once they saw her reaction, they ALL picked up sticks and started waving them in her face. I may have been a little worried she was going to take a stick to an eye, but I was mostly amazed at how one little puppy could tame the lot! This went on for over an hour and then it was time to leave Longmont and move on to Fort Collins.
We got to my parents' house and settled into our old room from the summer (yup, we both lived there over the summer), and I immediately hit the advertisements for Black Friday. I had my shopping list on hand, and I went through each ad to see what time the store opened, what items I may "need" from said store, and how much each item cost. At the end of this, I cross-referenced my store needs to see who offered what for a lower price. A little OCD? Maybe. Productive and effective? Yes. Then, realizing I had been awake for 24 hours, I tooke a 45-minute nap before heading to my Aunt's house for Thanksgiving #3. The good thing about having a lot of Thanksgiving meals, is that I know I will have the opportunity to eat all this stuff again, so I managed to eat a normal meal each and every time. No gorging myself this weekend! At my aunt's, I was finally on my home turf for a Thanksgiving so I could really relax and enjoy the holiday. Penny attended as well, and played with her cousins Copper and Eli. The boys really like to gang up on her, but she holds her own mighty well. During the Thanksgiving prayer, she clearly wanted to chime in, because she provided a little background noise as her nails were digging at the back door, her plea to come inside, throughout the entirity of the prayer. We got back home around 10 and finalized the plan of action for Day-After-Thanksgiving-Shopping. Tyler, in need of a new laptop, was to hit Best Buy at 1am and get a voucher for a cheap laptop. Lindsey (my beautiful little sister, for those of you who don't know) and I would take care of Penny and get up around 4 to be ready to hit Wal-Mart at it's 5am opening time. As we settled in for sleep (Tyler for a mere 2 hours, and the girls for 5 1/2 hours), I pretty much zonked out.
With Tyler being long-gone by the time I woke up at 4 am, I began to wonder what I was going to do with Penny while we went shopping. Tyler was supposed to be back by 5:30, and we were heading out around 4:30, so surely she would be fine in her crate for an hour. Oh...the crate...which is in my car...which Tyler took to Best Buy. Hmmmm. Well, surely she will be fine shut in a bathroom for an hour. Yeah, no sooner had we planted kisses on her head and shut the door, we heard yips then full-on howels. Sorry, parents. So we decided she could come shopping with us. Of course, while I was getting ready to go, Penny took it upon herself to go say good morning to her beloved Grandparents!!! I'm in the bathroom, and I hear, "Kaity. Kaity. Kaity...your dog is in our bed." Ooops. Sorry mom and dad! She licked you across the face? My bad. We piled into the car with all of our supplies: dog, water, water bowl, treats, advertisements, coupons, shopping list, coats, Starbucks gift cards. We went to McDonalds for some sausage biscuit sandwiches and OJ to get us the pep to shop our hearts out. Only after we were trapped in the drive-through line did we realize this wasn't a good plan. The line wasn't even moving. By the time we got to the place to order, the most monotoned-I'm-So-Pissed-I'm-Awake lady said,"We're only taking cash." Well, seeing as how I only have a couple of bucks on me (at best) at any given time...that wasn't going to work. See ya later food. No time for another stop, to Wal-Mart we go.
We get to Wal-Mart and park far away so that Penny possibly won't freak out with every person that walks by the car. We give her a kiss and march bravely into Wal-Mart. It is literally 5:04am, and people are already wheeling their carts out of there, packed to the brim with electronics and toys. Lindsey literally stared in amazement and asked, "How did you do that?" Giggling ensued. We head in, hearts set on the $2 movies! Found what we needed, bought about 20, and saw that there was a McDonalds in Wal-Mart. Perfect! As we hop in line, Tyler calls to say he is in the Wal-Mart parking lot to pick up Penny and drop off the computer vouchers (seeing as how I'm the Sugar Mama, I had to go back and buy the laptop). Foiled again on the food front. Oh well. We walk out to my mom's car (which we kind of hijacked for the morning) to meet Tyler. Oh, awesome, my car has a headlight out. Can't worry about that now though, we've got to get going to Target!
We get to Target and go to the movie section again! $4 new movies here! Yay. We also pick up $5 Jersey scarves just because we haven't gotten anything to match since our slippers we got last year. We get in line - such a long line - and I decide to hunt down some food for us. Amazing, the food court is open and has 2 sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit sandwiches left! It was fate, I tell ya. I bring back the sandwiches to find that my best friend has joined Lindsey in line! Sydnie! Yay. She is every bit the Black Friday go-getter that I am, except she shops a little more for other people and a little less for herself than I do. Oh well. Target:check.
Moving on to Staples to buy an office chair! Our current chair was about $15 4 years ago, and kind of slopes downward now. That, added to the fact that it is about as soft as a wooden board with a t-shirt draped over it...means we are due for a new chair. Found a plush brown leather chair for $45 (regularly $90!) and waited in line...again. As we are in line, I notice little stands of random products along the way. I think to myself, "Hmmm. I bet they strategically place these products here so that shopping fiends will buy them just because there is nothing else to do." As soon as we get to the stand, my resolve to not buy anything else soars out the window, because they are wipes to clean computer screens! Incredible, how could I pass that up? I'm always griping about the fingerprint smudges and dust on my computer screen and don't know if Windex is an appropriate solution. And at 2 for $10...I was hooked.
Vouchers in hand, we head to Best Buy. THANK GOODNESS at this point it is 7:30am and the early crowd at Best Buy has gone. Early Best Buy scares the crap outta me. Not going to lie. We pick up our laptop that had been so patiently awaiting and a movie or two (duh), and head to the Geek Squad checkout. Success. A really awesome laptop for $400. To celebrate, we go to Starbucks and get holiday drinks: me, a peppermint hot chocolate, and Linds, a caramel brulee frappucino. Yum!
Moving on, we decide to go to the mall. We didn't really need to, but I accidentally on purpose didn't pack an outfit for Sydnie & Brad's wine party the next night, and therefore I had nothing to wear. We get into the mall, and they say that with every $100 we spend, we get a $10 mall gift card and a year subscription to Martha Stewart's magazin! Wow! Not that I would have ever subscribed to that magazine had it not been for free. But, wow! We head to the Limited, where I find an adorable version of the LBD, normally $80 on clearance for $54! Plus an additional 40% off! Yay! Perfect! Limited dress for $30. My sister ,being the great influence that she is, insists that since I got a dress on clearance, I can afford to buy accessories there. Well, what do I do? Buy earrings (for $4) and a necklace (for $12). haha. We then head to Macy's to buy some stuff for Tyler, and to Bath and Body Works to buy the Twisted Peppermint body cream I have been craving all year. I get there and ask for the body cream, and they calmly say, "Oh, we aren't carrying the body cream this year." Simple as that. EXCUSE ME??? It is a beloved nightly ritual of mine to use the Twisted Peppermint body cream!!! Ugh. Ruiners. So I buy two bottles of body lotion instead. I guess this will have to suffice.
Sitting in the car in the mall parking lot, amidst the bags and boxes piled up behind us, we decide to head home and call it a day with shopping. I love that annual tradition with my sister, amidst the craziness of the holidays! We get home, and Lindsey suggests we watch Stepbrothers, one of our newly purchased flicks. I eat some left over mashed potatoes, and get maybe 45 minutes into the movie before I pass out. I sleep pretty much until 4pm, when I have to get up to go watch New Moon!
I had been waiting and waiting to see the hotness that is shirtless werewolves, and the time had finally come! Lindsey, my mom, my aunt my cousin, me...and Tyler (what a sport!) set off to Cinemark. Now, Twilighters, don't hate me, but New Moon really isn't a good movie at all. Either Kristen Stewart is the worst actress alive, or Bella was the most annoying character ever created and Ms. Stewart does a fantastic job at interpreting her role. I don't get the appeal of Edward, and Bella and Edward's relationship just annoys me. Period. But the rays of light in the movie come in form of young Taylor Lautner. He is so HOT. Like, so very hot. Yes, he's only 17, so I feel like a total cougar. Oh well. And the Volturi was pretty awesome, including Dakota Fanning (one of my favorites actresses), so at least the movie had that. That being said, there is no doubt I will be seeing Eclipse this summer, even if I gag at scenes with Edward and Bella.
Friday night, I went to Lucky Joe's to meet up with my fantastic friend in town from California! She is one of those really hilarious people who has incredibly strange things happen to her, and she recreates the stories in the best way! Heard many stories that night! So that was fun :) Getting into bed at midnight, I was exhausted.
Saturday morning I woke up early, and made breakfast for my family! A Mexican egg casserole. YUM. One of my favorites. Topped with tons of cheese, of course! Tyler and I then decided to finally move the last of our belongings down to Aurora. We went to my in-laws' house and borrowed the oldest, and probably most unsafe, van ever to carry our gym equiptment, a spare bed, and a grill to our home. Hole in the floor of the van near the driver's seat? Check. It rattles like no other vehicle I have ever been in, due to the tools jostling like crazy all over the van. Needless to say, little Penny (who is scared of loud noises), was pretty uncomfortable and anxious for the duration of the ride! We got to Aurora, unloaded our loot, and then went to pick up my new glasses! They are awesome! Wine/burgandy colored rectangle rims, they look so great! I love them. I have glasses that I never wear because I got them sophomore year in high school. Yeah, a little outdated. So, I was stoked! Glasses on face, we head back to Fort Collins in previously described deathtrap.
Not a good picture (at all!), but it's the first one of me in my new glasses!
Once back to my parents' house, we lounge around with Penny and Tyke, and *gasp* fall asleep! Thank goodness my responsible little sister woke me up at 6:15...we had a party to go to at 7pm. I hop into the shower, put on my new hot little ensemble, grab our wine, and head to Syd's. Thankfully my sister agreed to puppysit, and my mom sent me this hilarious picture of Tyke and Penny together. Tyke is kind of old and grumpy, and Penny is kind of the opposite, but they got along for the most part! Here is Tyke babysitting Penny:
Penny loves and adores Tyke! She follows him everywhere and pounces on his head at all hours because she loves him so much! She is definitely not scared of the size difference...
Anyway, so this party at Syd's was like party of the preggos! There were 4 pregant ladies, and only like 4 non-pregant ladies! haha. That was a first. But I loved the happy glow on all of their faces! For the time being, I am content with my little Penny...but I know that someday I'm going to want to experience that joy! We went to bed at like 11pm that night because we had to get up the next morning and head to Hugo.
Hugo - never heard of it? Neither had I until I married into the Weigangs. Located about an hour East of Aurora (near Limon), it has a population of maybe 800 people. It reminded me of the town Radiator Springs from the movie Cars! Pretty run down, with a lot of abandoned buildings and homes. But the people that live there are hilarious! Since it is such a small town, they live to gossip. They know everything about everyone who has ever set foot in their town! So, I had Thanksgiving #4 and was honestly glad it was going to be me last one for another year! Penny was whiny, because the dog hadn't really slept much or eaten much all weekend. But she was a hit, nonetheless. We left around 4pm and headed home. Penny and I promptly passed out in the car and left poor Tyler to his own devices to stay awake. We got home, and Penny and I proceeded to fall asleep on the couch until 10pm when Tyler told us to come upstairs. I then slept again, so soundly, until 5am! At least 12 hours. And I am at last finally rested! I can't say the same for Penny though! As I drink my peppermint tea with honey (I feel a cold coming on :/), she is snuggled into me, asleep still.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed my Thanksgiving weekend description...possibly the longest blog post ever! haha. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, too!
Cheers!
First of all, you and Linds are CRAZY to go out soooo early on Black Friday! lol. I'm seriously jealous of your bargain-hunting dedication, though...and I still love you even if you are crazy. :-)
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I am in love with your new glasses!!! They look fabulous on you, my dear!