This was a lovely Thanksgiving holiday. Didn’t get to celebrate with my sister or Rachel (they were off in Maine with Rachel’s folks), but other than that, had a lovely time with the folks and with dad’s family.

We let Kroger (a grocery store chain) cater our Thanksgiving supper. They provided the turkey, mashed potatoes, “traditional” stuffing, sweet potato souffle, broccoli rice casserole, rolls, and cranberry fazooti. Or something. We supplemented with a few other things. I made my Thanksgiving cheeseball and Amy’s chestnut stuffing (but with hazelnuts since we couldn’t find any chestnuts). Bill made noodles. Cheryl brought veggies. Becky brought pies. (Oh yeah, Kroger provided an apple strudel pie, too.) I brought red velvet cake I’d gotten from Market Day. Deanna brought beverages. Dinner was nice and there was plenty of food. We even got a game of Crazy Rummy in before the night was over.

For “Black Friday” we managed to miss the major stores. Well, we popped into Kohl’s 12 hours after they opened and the lines were still ridiculous, so we headed on to Downtown Troy for some shopping. And then onto Downtown Greenville for more. I finally got to try chocolate covered bacon. I’m glad I got to finally try it, but I don’t think I’ll buy it again.

For “Small Business Saturday” I decorated the outside of my house (like Friday, it was a gorgeous day – warm enough to go without a jacket) and then joined the folks for more Downtown Shopping – this time in Tipp City. Today has been a “clean the house, already!” and do laundry day. I got the tree out from the basement, but it’s only lit, not yet decorated. And I’ve not put out my friendship lights yet. Ah well. I’ll get it done. The living room has been re-arranged so that the tree is front & center in the big picture window again.

Still haven’t seen The Muppets yet. Hoping to see it and a few other films before they leave the theaters. But I’m quite pleased with how the “start” of the holiday season has gone.