Downtown Dreaming
He has to work.
Damn him.
Damn the man for keeping him down on the one national holiday that is designed specifically for his hobbies. Gorging himself on potatoes and pie and watching football. Poor J. He is one oppressed mother fucker.
Thanksgiving in my family is very relaxed. We don't have any extended family in the area and my sister lives in Florida. So it's the parents, the husband, me and the dogs. Occasionally with a straggler thrown in.
No one dresses up. We eat when we are hungry. Everyone does dishes. My mom does not insanely clean her house. We watch movies and eat again. We play UNO Attack and eat again. We feed the dogs turkey and then laugh as they pass out so happy they could die. And eat again.
Then my mom and I go to bed early so we can get up at the crack of dawn to go shopping.
I understand that other people have stressful holidays.
You know what I am thankful for? Crazy in-laws. That means I NEVER have to go to their house for the holidays.
This makes me love them all year long.
Because I would hate to miss the day after Thanksgiving shopping trip. My mom does about 90% of her shopping in this one day. I don't even buy anything but do pick out all of my sister's gifts and what she buys for J. And my cousins. Actually, I pretty much pick everything out. And she pays. It is a good system. Plus I show her things that I want. So she can buy things that she knows that I will like but still surprise me. I know this sounds ridiculous. But my parents don't have grandchildren. So my sister and I still get presents from Santa and the dogs.
Not to be selfish or anything but this is a big reason why I am not sure I want to have kids yet. I enjoy the attention and spoiling. But I know as soon as there are grandbabies it is over.
That is how it should be but still . . .
We shop from like seven in the morning until five or six at night. We stop for a lunch at one of the nicer restaraunts in town (because the little ones are crowded). And we never hit a mall. It's all downtown.
I love to shop downtown. Even though it's only been the past couple of years that it has had the really good stores. Even though I work down here and could shop all I wanted. I love shopping downtown the day after Thanksgiving.
Every retailer in America just grinned with happiness.
So I am leaving work early today. I have put in 25 hours in two days this week. I am leaving at 3.
I must rest up.
Shopping in two days.
