Black Friday Bloat (or: Adventures in Holiday Shopping)

So yesterday, Uncle P cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal. It wasn't nearly as large a meal as in some households. It was just me and my mother for dinner. But it was certainly more food than I usually prepare for a single meal. I roasted a small turkey breast, made two kinds of dressing (my grandmother's Hungarian-style liver stuffing for me and more traditional stuffing for Mom); mashed potatoes; mashed turnips and carrots; candied sweet potatoes (which I actually tried and liked for the first time in my life); gravy and crescent rolls. Yes, there was canned cranberry sauce (my kitchen is small and I didn't have the time for anything fancier). For dessert, we had carrot cake (purchased from a day-job friend as part of a fund-raiser for her son's school) instead of the traditional pumpkin pie. Carrot cake is my personal favorite cake and this one, while a bit expensive, was exceptional. Everything turned out wonderfully, despite painfully bending back my thumbnail while attempting to open the tube of crescent rolls (which resulted in blood spoiling about half of them, but then there were only two of us, anyway). I worked off most of the calories in the clean-up, though I still have plenty of left-overs.

Of course, today was Black Friday. Unlike my sister, who left her house at 4AM in an attempt to catch some bargains, I slept in and didn't go out shopping until noon. No camping out, no stampedes, no lunatics. Well, some lunatics, but not many. My first stop was actually the grocery store to take advantage of a two-day sale on paper towels and toilet paper - practical, if nothing else. I then made stops at three other stores in search of specific items, most of which I found at reasonable prices. I came home, had a meal of reheated leftovers (which barely made a dent) and caught up on this week's DVR'd programs. Of course, most of the rest of this weekend will be spent working out the final details of my upcoming show, though I do have a lunch scheduled with some very dear friends on Sunday.

My holiday shopping is about 50% done, which is late for me. Back in the day, when I worked in retail and went to Florida every October, I was 90% finished by this time of year. And while I buy gifts for less people now than I used to, it seems to be getting harder and harder to find the "perfect" gift for some folks, especially those I've known the longest.  Oh well. I still have 27 days to finish and plenty of stores and websites left to visit. 

I hope all my American friends and readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I want to wish everyone a fabulous Holiday season, no matter what holiday it is you may be celebrating in the upcoming month or so. This time of year always seems to turn Uncle P into more of a sentimental old fool than he usually is. Maybe a trip to a spa is order. At least I wasn't part of something like this (via):

More, anon.

Prospero

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