Black Friday

The Friday after Thanksgiving I woke up to our first snow of the season. It was just a light dusting, but it did look pretty.

The roads were clear, which was good because I was on them bright and early to take advantage of the sales.

I've never gone out that early for the Black Friday sale, and usually don't go at all, but Target had an external hard drive for a great deal and I knew it would be gone fast.

My sister Cheri agreed to go with me and we planned to be at Target shortly after it opened.  I didn't want to be in the group of people waiting to get in the door.  We arrived a little after 5, and found that the whole parking lot was filled along with the parking lot of the grocery store next to it.  And, although the doors were open, there was a line of people going around the store, to the store next door and going across the parking lot.

We decided to go elsewhere for a little while and then try again.  When we returned, we were able to walk in but the store was so crowded we could hardly get around.

We made our way to the back and found one external hard drive left.  Cheri also got a good deal on an electric blanket.   Then we got in line:

Yes - this is the line to check out!  This is the back corner of the store and this is one of three lines that wound through the store.  It took 1 1/4 hours to check out. 
Everyone was very nice, except one woman who was quite argumentative.  I was impressed by the employees.  It has to be an awful day to work, but they were very friendly and smiling.
I'm happy I got my hard drive, but next year I think I'll stay in bed!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all of you a wonderful day!  I hope you are able to spend time with friends or family, and have time to stop and think about all the things we are able to thank God for.

Pilgrims

It took the Pilgrims 101 days to travel from Southampton, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.
We are now able to travel from London to Boston on a plane in 7.25 hours!  Many things have changed over those years, but I'm glad we still set aside a day to give thanks.
I found this Thanksgiving meme on Jamie's Rose Cottage and thought it was a fun one to share today.

1. Turkey or Ham? Turkey, for sure!  I'm kind of traditional that way - Turkey is for Thanksgiving and Ham is for Christmas!

2. Favorite side dish.  It's a toss up between two carb filled dishes - stuffing or mashed potatoes.

3. Favorite dessert. Hmmm - I'm not sure.  I heard a rumor that there was going to be mint cheesecake at our gathering this year and that sounds good to me!

4. Black Friday: Are you going or not? Not unless there is a deal I can't live without.  I often have to work on this day, so it's not part of my routine.

5. If so, what's on the top of your list? No list!

6. Going out of town or staying close to home? I'm blessed to have our family all nearby, with the exception of Andy.  I have to work every other Thanksgiving anyway, and this is my year to work.

7. Hosting or helping? I'll be at work all day, but will have food ready to send with Bob to his Mom's house, and will join them when I get done.

8. Name one family tradition at Thanksgiving. This is a typical tradition, but talking about what we are thankful for is one of them.

9. What do you do after dinner? When we have thanksgiving with my side, my sisters and I do our Christmas cards together. Both sides enjoy playing games.

10. What are you most thankful for this year?  I have so much to be thankful for, but tops on the list right now is the fact that Andy gets to come home for Christmas!

Look what I found in my mailbox

Guess what came in the mail?  This is my invitation to join the American Association of Retired People.  Tuesday is my birthday and I'm turning 49, so, Lord willing, I have a few more years to work before I can think about retiring!

I found a neat site; the dMarie Time Capsule, which lets you put in a date and it will tell you about what was happening then.  Here are a few statistics for November 24, 1960.

People born on November 24

Scott Joplin

Dale Carnegie

Prices for 1960

Bread:  $0.20/loaf
Milk:  $1.04/gal

Eggs:  $0.90/doz

Car:  $2,275

Gas:  $0.31/gal

House:  $18,500

 Stamp:  $0.04/ea

Avg Income:  $6,227/yr

Min Wage:  $1.00/hr

On TV in 1960 

Gunsmoke	Perry Mason	The Twilight Zone
The Flinstones	Bonanza	Leave it to Beaver
I Love Lucy	The Andy Griffith Show	The Ed Sullivan Show
Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Interesting, isn't it?    The cost and wages are what I find most interesting.  Everything looks so much cheaper, but the average income has really changed too.
Hope you've enjoyed this little look back in time!

Turkey Talk

Here's a few bits of turkey trivia for you to think about during Thanksgiving week.

• A mature turkey has 3,500 feathers
• Wild turkeys like to spend the night in trees
• the flap of skin that hangs over the beak is called a snood
• The first female turkey ever pardoned was pardoned by President Bush in 2002. Her name was Katie.
  
• A 15 pound turkey is 70% white meat and 30% dark meat.
• There are 6,900 pounds of turkey gobbled up during the American Thanksgiving Day.

Simple Things

Today I'm joining my friend Heidi, over at 2 Thinks to Share.  She did a post this week talking about the simple things we enjoy and appreciate.  There are lots of things we take for granted, so I'm going to share a few of my favorite simple things.

• a sunny day
• a beautiful sunrise on my way to work
• a baby laughing
• hearing the garage door open, telling me my husband is home
• an evening spent at home
• a clean house!
  
• hot chocolate on as cold night
• hearing a favorite song on the radio
• the smell of burning leaves
• warm, cozy sweaters
• a good book
• Springtime
• taking pictures
• freshly washed sheets
• the smell of bread baking

That's a few of mine.  There's a lot more, when I stop and think.  What are some of your favorite simple things?

Slow Cooking Thursday

Here's some yummy sandwiches, made easy in the slow cooker!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

3 pounds beef roast

3 cups beef broth

1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 large onion, julienned

1 large green pepper, julienned

4 teaspoons olive oil

12 hamberger buns

12 slices provolone cheese

Cut roast in half, place in a 4 quart slow cooker.  Combine the broth, dressing mix and seasonings; pour over meat.  Cover and cook on low for 10 hours or until meat is falling apart.

Remove roast and cool slightly.  Skim fat from cooking juices.  Reserve 1 cup cooking juices.  Shred beef and return to slow cooker.  Stir in reserved juices and heat through.

Meanwhile in large skillet, saute onion and green pepper in oil until tender.

Using slotted spoon, place beef on buns, then layer with vegetables and cheese.  Enjoy!

For more slow cooking recipes, visit Sandra at Diary of a SAHM.