Veni, Vidi, Vice OR Why Black Friday is Not for the Faint of Heart

I submit that the following schedule is a surefire recipe for certain insanity (and exhaustion).

TUESDAY
I sat down and typed out a thorough Christmas gift list--complete with columns and everything. Very official.

WEDNESDAY
I ran a recon mission to Target (you know, to scope out the items on aforementioned list). May sound crazy to have found the presents but not actually purchase them while I was there. (That would have stolen the fun from the whole event, silly!) I thought of it as a dry run-through. Besides, I'm no fool. I knew that SC would have no sales tax on the day after Thanksgiving. Made perfect sense to me to spend $5 in gas to make the trip to Target in order to save .30 on Friday. Duh.

THURSDAY
Before lapsing into tryptophan-induced stoopers on Thanksgiving, we spent quite a while pouring through the myriad sales inserts in the paper. We made mental notes of the best deals, etc. Went to bed early in order to be prepared for the next day's competetive shopping event.

FRIDAY
3:00 a.m. -- the alarm went off (No, that wasn't a typo!)
4:00 a.m. -- we arrived at the mall to find a very full parking lot. People had already been shopping for 3 hours.
5:15 a.m. -- we left the mall to head to Target. Although it wasn't scheduled to open for another 45 minutes, the parking lot was full and the line of people (supervised by police) wrapped around the building. Sure. Any sane person woulda turned around and left. Yeah. Not us. No sir. We went to the back of the line and grumbled with the rest of the crowd. (You know, as if someone was actually holding a gun to our head to make us stand in this line.)
6:00 a.m. -- the madness began. We entered the store (along with hundreds of other red- bullseye-worshippin' fools!) and ventured into the belly of the beast (a.k.a. the electronics department).
6:20 a.m. -- we exited the store (victorious!) and purchased caffeine to keep us going.
6:30 a.m. -- we entered a surprisingly peaceful Sam's Club. We were glad to have a little respite from the craziness. We took this opportunity to stock up on essentials for upcoming parties and entertaining. (Nothing says holiday like buying cheese in bulk.)
7:30 a.m. -- we visited Best Buy to pick up another planned purchase. Although the place was nuts, I'm sure it was MUCH worse a few hours earlier. We heard tales of folks grilling in the parking lot in the middle of the night as they waited in line.
8:30 a.m. -- our final stop was at the local Christian bookstore to pick up a couple more gifts.
9:30 a.m. -- we unloaded our bags and bags of "finds" and collapsed in a heap on the couch. There was a great football game on. Needless to say, we missed it, you know, with the snoring and all. Sheer exhaustion.

Can't say we'll do the same thing next year. At least we can say we did it once though.

THANKSGIVING DAY CONTENTMENT

I'm sitting here with a full belly and a full heart and four walls providing warmth around me. The space heater is glowing, Bama is sleeping at my feet, football is on the television. I spent the day with family. David is "puttering" about in another room. *sigh* All is right with my world.

The big things (for which I can be grateful) are pretty obvious--the health and well-being of my family, etc. However, in the hustle and bustle of life, I may not always take the time to notice the not-so-big or obvious things.

I'm grateful for . . .

• **the fact that our older home has "quirks" and aggravations that make it unique.
• **the Sunday paper.
• **a one minute commute to work each day.
• **an unbelievably considerate and attentive husband
  who loves to find ways to surprise and delight me.
• **two sons who make me laugh constantly.
• **a knack for finding "fierce" shoes on the clearance rack.
• **my DVR, which allows me to watch copious amounts of television
  (at my convenience, of course).
• **a love for books and the fact that I always have a stack waiting in the wings.
• **a "slew" of nieces and nephews...of all ages.
• **the smell of lavender.
• **that first fizzy cup of diet coke each morning.
• **blue jeans that fit and don't have to be altered to fit my nubby legs.
• **my new mattress topper (heavenly!).
• **the fact that olive oil is actually good for you.
• **spotting that magical red sticker on "end cap" items at Target
• **an endless supply of Extra Polar Ice gum in my purse.
• **music that makes me dance. think. cry.
• **coming home and putting on my Ugg boots each evening.
• **the ability to watch hours and hours of the Food Network from time to time.
• **those rare occasions when we get to smoke cigars and laugh on the back deck
  with my sister and brother-in-law.
• **a clear day here in the foothills--the Blue Ridge Mountains are visible in the distance.
• **the fact that my iPod is never far away because it's always in my purse.
• **parents who love each other and who have done so for over forty years.
• **a wireless internet connection which allows me to blog from the comfort of my couch.
  
  Sure, these may seem pretty superficial. Maybe. But they're simply the little things that make me smile each day.

WHAT I'M READING AND LISTENING TO

Jesus in The Margins:
Finding God in the Places We Ignore
by Rick McKinley

I ordered this book last year but only picked it up recently. I really enjoyed it--was an easy read. The book explores the fact that when Jesus came to earth, he purposefully landed "in the margins" because that's where the outcasts were...that's where broken lives were mended.

Rick McKinley is a cool guy. He's pastor of a very cool church in Portland, OR (Imago Dei). I hope to visit someday!



Once Again
by John Legend

My favorite current R&B singer,by far! Mmmmm.Mmmmm.MMMMMM! In a word...smooth. Very soulful CD.

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME

David and I took a wonderful (and always much-needed!) escape this weekend. I won a door prize (a two-night stay at a nice hotel) at my office Christmas party last year. It was "use it or lose it" time so off we went! The Galt House is an amazing hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Although the drive was quite long, we both decided it was worth it.

The drive alone was beautiful. The rolling landscape and beauty of the Bluegrass State wasn't lost on either of us. We enjoyed soaking up horse country on our drive to and from.

[Side note: As a child, I used to visit the state often. "My people" are originally from Kentucky. The charming area they called home rested somewhere between Booger Branch and Snot Creek. Nope. Not making it up, y'all. Do you honestly think I'm that clever?!]

Um, I'm sorry. What was I saying? Oh yeah...

We especially had fun Friday night. Got dolled up and hit the town! For the past three months, we've been seriously watching what we eat--that includes making fewer trips to the various troughs around town. Therefore, going to a restaurant was a major treat (although it used to be something we did almost nightly).


Grinnin' L, ready to hit the town
(Why yes, yes those are new red heels. Thanks for asking!)


Suave David, ready to wear his new "skinny" duds.
(Isn't he handsome?!)

HANNAH'S HOPE

I don't know Hannah. I never met her. Although we had many, many mutual friends, we never officially crossed paths.

How, then, could this 18-year-old girl have such a profound impact on my life? I mean REALLY profound. Because of her life, I feel like things in my life have been brought back to center. I've talked to many others who feel the same way.

This should have been Hannah's senior year of high school. She should have been on top of the world. Instead, Hannah spent this school year waging an unbelievable battle against a rare and nasty form of cancer. She courageously endured not one but six rounds of chemotherapy. Despite taking extremely aggressive measures, the cancer stubbornly grew larger and larger. (I venture to say, not the way that any of us would choose to spend our senior year of high school.)

I, like thousands of other people, have followed Hannah's highs and lows daily via her website. (Since May, I've logged on first thing every morning!) Our entire city seemed to adopt her. It wasn't unusual to read articles about her in the newspaper or to see large billboards asking the town to pray for her. "Hannah's Hope" bracelets even became the fashion accesory of the season!

Hannah was an attractive young girl. She was never as beautiful as she was just a few weeks ago when she walked across the football field to be crowned homecoming queen of her very large high school. There wasn't a dry eye in the stadium. Her doctor released her from the cancer center just long enough to accept her much-deserved honor that evening. The crown looked beautiful perched on top of her long, brunette wig. Although she was weak, her smile was strong.

Despite much prayer for healing, Hannah passed away this afternoon. She was lovingly surrounded by 50+ friends and family.

I venture to say that the crown she received this afternoon, at 4:30 p.m., was much more brillant than anything she could have imagined on earth.

II Timothy 4:7&8 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day..."

"IT'S THE MOOOOOOOST WONDERFUL TIIIIME OF THE YEAR!"

Okay, now that we've gotten through the Luciferian Festival of Death (a.k.a. Halloween!) let's move on to something more important. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Halloween. As a child I LOVED it. It was always a great excuse to wear waaaaay too much make-up and jewelry and call myself a gypsy. And the cool bandana. Gotta have the headwear.

As I've gotten older, I've really, really, reeeeeaaalllly grown to like Thanksgiving. It provides a lot of the warm fuzzies of Christmas...only with a lot less stress.

Fall is by far my favorite season. The weather. The sights. The sounds. The smells. The anticipation. I love it!!!!

I've even learned to cook a fairly decent Thanksgiving feast. Okay, I must give credit. David and I have learned to cook it together. (We're a GREAT team in the kitchen.) Okay. Okay. Get off my back. I also cheat a little by pre-ordering a few of my sides from Wade's Restaurant. But still, it ends up in MY Correlware. That's gotta count for something, right?

I like pumpkins on the front porch. (Pumpkins...not jack-o-lanterns. Pumpkins don't sneer at you. I find that comforting.) I adore the smell of burning leaves. I like sweaters, boots and corduroys. A fire in a wood-burning fireplace makes me wanna curl up in the fetal position and suck my thumb.

Have I mentioned that I like Fall and Thanksgiving? ;-)

Today, as I drove home for lunch, I took a moment to soak up my sweet little neighborhood. The trees are gorgeous. They've created a canopy that says "welcome" every time we drive home. Nice.

Thought I'd share my pics from lunch . . .