[entertainme]

How did your holiday go; the food, the people, the travel, black Friday shopping, etc.? Tell us all about it here.

Probably the biggest challenge for me this Thanksgiving was relocating my workspace. I've been working on the kitchen table a couple years and every holiday it's a pain to figure out where to put all my crap so we have a table to eat on. Since The Girl moved out this spring, I was determined to relocate and set up an office in her bedroom. (I have an office just across my driveway, but it's better for the family in general if I'm at home since I work all hours of the day.)

The long sad story of trying to relocate is for another post. The important point is it did finally happen. It will be interesting to see what this does to more "casual" computer use as it will no longer be handy on my kitchen table, (no more reading posts as I go back and forth to the stove while cooking.)

The meal and the bird were fine. (Is there a better meal on earth? Right up there imo.) I tried a roasting bag for the first time. If you ever need to turbo cook a bird, that's the way to do it. Four hours for a stuffed 21 pounder and that baby was very done! I was worried about crispiness, but that aspect was OK and would have been even better if the bird had been a little smaller.

It was just us, my M-I-L and my daughter's boyfriend. A good time was had by all.

On to black Friday. I don't make it a point to shop this day, normally choosing to crash instead, but there was a certain item 20% off from 8-10 AM that convinced me to make a go of it, (even though it meant getting up at 3:30 AM, yuck!) As a result, I'm pleased to report that you should have no fear whatsoever regarding the economy of the entire midwest. It wasn't exactly planned, but I even topped off the day by ordering an entire roomful of furniture, (leather couches I've had my eye on since this summer.) Amidst the buying spree I took time to get my toes and nails done, which was completely overdue.

In the "holiday spirit report", I walked out of Macy's at MOA to be greeted by a singing Salvation Army bell ringer. He was belting it out with a great tenor and even made me tear up a little. As I've posted before, I'm a complete wimp for joy. It's one thing to stand there, ring your bell, and say thank you. It's completely different to exude joy with your heart and soul.

In the leftover category, I'm about to print out a recipe for turkey pot pie, which was a hit last year. Mock turkey stroganoff is also on the list.