Thanksgiving, Black Friday and my Birthday

I only got out of my pj's on Thanksgiving long enough to take a shower and then back in the jammies until it was time to leave the house to shop at 10:30 at night.

It was a relaxing day.  Jenn and I had a nice dinner and I even made her real mashed potato's.  I always took the easy way out and made instant.  After dinner, I was just getting comfy when Jenn reminded me it was time to get ready to shop.  We have gone Black Friday shopping for years and this was not the time to break tradition. We left the house at 11:00 and headed to Target.  It wasn't too bad there since they had opened at 9.  Then we headed to Kohl's.  The line was in front of the store, down the block and around the store.  We waited for the store to open and went in after the line was gone.  It wasn't horrible inside but when it came time to go to the cash register we found out where all those people had gone.......it took over an hour to get to the register's. We got home at 2:30.  The alarm clock went off at 5:45 and we were back out shopping by 6:30.  By noon we were home.  Done until next year.....

We decorated the outside of the house and Jenn loved my "if the whole set of lights isn't working ....pitch it out" mood.  By the time we were done, the 5 bins of decorations was down to three.....not bad.

My birthday was fun.  Jenn has gotten very good at knowing what I like.  A few weeks ago she asked me about what gift did I want as a kid that I never got........the game Mystery Date.  And what my favorite toy was.......Coloforms Miss Cookie's Kitchen.  She got me the 1965 version of Mystery Date.  The only thing that might have changed is I told her getting the nerdy guy might not be too bad since it could be Bill Gates.  She found me Miss Cookie's Kitchen on e-bay but when the bidding got up to $40 she dropped out.......good thing she did or I would have had a fit.  She also got me a sign that said remember to dream.  I love that!!!! There were also some pineapple themed items which reminded me of Mom.  Mom's wind chime kept ringing all day and made me think of her.  We had sandwiches from Publix while we watched the Carolina/Clemson game and each had a cupcake for dessert.  All in all not a bad day.

Tomorrow or since it is now almost 2:00 AM....today, we will decorate the inside of the house and tree.  Hard to believe Christmas is just 4 weeks away.....

I thought a lot about Mom these last few days......on Thanksgiving and how the whole family used to gather and somehow she would get the turkey and every vegetable out to the table hot and ready to eat.  On my birthday......I thought of her as the almost 19 year old Mom, of the cards she sent each year, her birthday phone calls and how hard it was this year without her.  I am dreading her birthday next week, Christmas and the New Year when she will have been gone a full year.  The last few weeks have been so hard, I have broken out in tears at the drop of a hat thinking about her.  The sound of her wind chimes does remind me she is still here.  I am sure my neighbors would think I was crazy if they heard me saying "Hi Mom" some days when I either am leaving the house or returning home.   The chimes blowing in the gentle breeze reminds me she was here.........I just wish I could have one more conversation, one more hug, one more smile......but then again would that be enough.....probably not.......I would still want more......