Each year, my family gets together with my husband’s side of the family to celebrate Thanksgiving. My mother-in-law cooks an amazing dinner with all the fixings, everyone brings a dish to share, and there are pies, pies, and more pies. (Oh! And a chocolate cake because my brother-in-law doesn’t like pie.) We all meet up in the morning to help with the meal and to plot our post-meal adventure.
What are we plotting? Black Friday shopping, of course!
I know you’re thinking, “oh no, Laurel is one of those crazy people who is out shopping instead of enjoying time at home with family!” Well, yes and no. We are those crazy people and have been doing this for years; I repeat YEARS. But we go shopping as a family and enjoy our time together that way.
After dinner is cleaned up and the naps are done, we start sorting through the ads and making a list. We narrow down the specific stores we need to go to and make a plan, which includes the order of stores and the routes we will take to get to each one. I admit, since the stores have now added Thursday into the mix, it has changed things up a bit. We might now do some shopping Thursday evening, but we still pretty much stick with Friday morning. And yes, we have been out shopping by 4 am! Despite it being so early, I can tell you we have never ran into anyone who is cranky, pushing, shoving, or anything like you see on TV. We run into happy, laughing people that are out with their own families and enjoying their time together also. We find it hilarious when we start running into the same people store after store!
Once we are finished at a particular store, we share our finds and discuss what we still need to get. Sometimes we split up and divide and conquer. About the time our shopping has slowed, we meet up with the rest of the family and go to lunch and a movie. After that, we head back home for a nap! Once we are rested, we discuss any other shopping needs we have for the weekend. On Saturday morning, we generally head out for a few hours to finish up the lists. By the end of the weekend, 90% of our shopping is done.
That is the part I like the best; I don’t have to even think about more shopping unless it is for stocking stuffers.
Saturday afternoon is spent clay shooting. We head out to the pasture and shoot clay targets with shotguns. It is an afternoon of laughs and teasing and one-upmanship, yet thoroughly enjoyable. We also usually make a large craft for fall or Christmas. We manage to keep everyone happy throughout the weekend with eating, shopping, movies, napping, crafting, games, and shooting. What’s not to enjoy!
The only part that isn’t as enjoyable is the fact that my husband works most of the time on holidays. His job is a 24/7 type thing with the City and he usually has to work. Every now and then he has part of the time off so he doesn’t completely miss out, but he does miss some. I know a lot of you know what it’s like to have a spouse who works on Holidays; it is what it is. We make the best of it and enjoy the time we all have together.
Do you have Thanksgiving traditions? If not, there’s no better time to start than now! It could be making a special side dish or dessert or even getting creative with your leftovers (turkey egg rolls are delicious!) There are Thursday morning running events, local soup kitchens to volunteer with, and beautiful places around here to hike. The options are endless!
Happy Thanksgiving!
