Gray Saturday

I love good food. And once upon a time, I enjoyed cooking. But that that was before the days of attempting to balance kids, work and keeping up with my house.  Now my goal isn't taste - it's putting something kid-friendly and relatively healthy on the table in as little time as possible. Cooking has become a chore rather than pleasure. And my tastebuds rarely experience gourmet fare.

That's why I love Thanksgiving.  It's one of the few times a year when I can't stop eating because the food is just that good: real mashed potatoes, slow cooked turkey, homemade rolls, sweet potatoes, pies...just thinking about it makes my mouth water.  Maybe it's a good thing being a gourmet cook has dropped so far down my priority list; the upside is, I still have a waistline.

Thanksgiving day pics:

Ben helping me make rolls.  He liked the part where he got to punch them:)

Ben & Alex (with Grandpa's help), jumping on the trampoline

Grammy and Ben on our post feast walk!

                                                  
Of course with Thanksgiving comes the official start of the out of control commercialism that has become associated with Christmas. And since this is the 1st year Ben has really cared about Christmas, I found myself getting caught up in it. Not being an experienced black Friday shopper, I was naive enough to think I could show up at Toys R Us, waltz right in and find some of the respectable but not crazy 3 in a store kind of bargains.  Boy, was I wrong.  My sister in law and I drove up 30 minutes after the doors opened on Thursday, circled the parking lot long enough to drop our jaws at the hundreds of people waiting in line in 12 degree temperatures and go back home to our warm cozy beds.  No bargain is that worth it! I did manage to find plenty of decent deals at 8 am the next day. 

And then there's Gray Saturday.  That's what I've dubbed what seems to have emerged as the 2nd day of doorbusters.  Of course the deals are much sparser, but then so are the crowds.  This morning I was after an item that was not only a decent price, but sold out everywhere else, including online (just in case Dave is reading this, that's all I'll reveal.)  After my experience a couple of days before, I thought I must have read the paper wrong when I drove into an almost empty parking lot just before 6 am. This time, I did waltz into the store to join a "crowd" of about 20 people. I got what I wanted and was back in bed by 6:30. I'll definitely be participating in Gray Saturday again next year.

Ben's quote of the day:  "I wish I was the ironman son and you were the ironman mom"