Thankful, even for the snow (I suppose)

A few inches of snow fell overnight; the world is shrouded in the stuff. The streets are already slushy and brown (one of the chief reasons I dislike snow). The snow is light, but has been falling consistently. LOTR is on in the background, and it's the bit with the Ents. I'm eating the last of my smashed potatoes, left over from the big dinner Thursday. It's a lazy day.

We had fourteen people here for the holiday; even my aunt who had the surgery was able to make the trip. (I do not envy her five-hour drive with such new abdominal incisions healing. There were many times I caused her to laugh while she was here, which caused her a considerable amount of pain. We all joked that, had her doctor known how much laughter comes from this family, he probably would have advised against the roadtrip.)

We also put on the Shroud of Crazy and participated in Black Friday. One of the local malls was hosting "Rockin' Shopping Eve" and they opened at midnight (that almost seems like cheating). Our number dwindled as time passed, which was to be expected. We started with eleven people and were down to five by the time we left the last store. (We took three cars to ensure that those who needed to leave for sleeping purposes were able to get back to town.) It was crazy, but lots of fun. We'll probably stick with 4 or 5 a.m. next year instead of midnight.

All in all, it was a nice holiday. I hope yours was filled with lots of adventures and laughter. I was thankful to have spent the time visiting with family and friends.