Giving thanks for the weekend

This not having a camera thing is very annoying, especially when it comes to awesome things like Thanksgiving and game nights and shopping and the-blizzard-that-wasn't (okay, I guess there wasn't much to take pictures of there). Ah well. I will still "post" pictures and I encourage everyone to use their imagination.

Ready? Here we go!

Thanksgiving weekend was lovely, except for some rather expensive car repairs (as car repairs tend to be). Thankfully, we had only one car to repair, and that is something worth putting on the gratitude list. Thanksgiving day was spent with my parents and my dad's extended family. I realized that I haven't spent Thanksgiving with my own family for three years so I really enjoyed being here with them. It was very strange not to my have little brother with us, but we managed.

[Insert mental picture of a long counter filled to the brim with good food, and another of Tim and I playing Uno with my cousins, including Hazel who is four and very nearly beat us all... She is sharp, that one.]

Friday I did the almost unthinkable--I got up early for Black Friday sales. I know, I know, what was I thinking? Well, there were a couple of amazing deals on things I wanted to get Tim for Christmas and a really amazing deal on an external hard drive (which are generally quite expensive), so off I went. And...drumroll...I succeeded! I got a great deal at Kohl's on Tim's gifts, stopped by Jo-Ann's for a few things I've been wanting to get for a while, and then I swung by Best Buy on the off-chance that the hard drive might still be in stock, and it was! I was amazed and incredibly pleased with myself. I spent a total of an hour and a half out and about, hardly spend any time in a check-out line, and then I was back in bed to sleep a little longer and be exhausted the rest of the day. It was kind of exhilarating to get such good deals, though I'm not sure I'll ever do it again.

[Insert mental picture of me holding three shopping bags with a triumphant smile, then insert a picture of Tim hugging his new external hard drive. Yes, he was that happy to get it.]

Later Friday, Tim and I went to see The Scarlet Pimpernel at the Hale Center Theater again, and though we didn't get to see that cast we wanted, it's still an amazing show. And the best part? Now Tim is familiar enough with the music that we can listen to the CD in the car!

[Insert mental picture of a scarlet pimpernel...no, of a guillotine...no, of Tim and I singing along to the soundtrack in my car. Yeah, that one.]

And last but not least, Friday night we had a game night with some of my mom's extended family, and it was hilarious. I have the funniest family in the world, I'm pretty sure. Let it be known that my team should have won Cranium Turbo even though we technically came in last.

[Insert picture of the family sitting around my parents' dining table with cards in front of them, then insert a picture of Jase and Rachel doing a "sideshow" challenge for Cranium, then insert the picture of all of us laughing so hard we could barely breathe. That one's my favorite.]