Survived Black Friday

I met some friends of mine yesterday and went Black Friday shopping. In the end, I'm done with Christmas shopping and also bought all the birthday gifts (I have five birthdays coming up in January and February) that I'll need. Plus, I bought a small sewing machine (gonna try to make pants that fit Eddie) and an electric drill/screw driver (didn't have one for the house). This all occurred under the budget I set myself for Christmas gifts. And, I calculated that I saved about 42% off regular store prices.

So, it was worth it to get up early.

Yesterday, a friend of mine (who had friends teach him how to cook) brought over some food and we made this chicken sausage/rice/bean mix with veggies. It was good - and we made enough for several meals that I can use over the next week. I may put a few in the freezer, however, as I do get tired of the same meal all the time. It's part of my "cooking boot camp" effort that I thought about several months ago. This is another cost saving measure.

Thanksgiving was fine - the turkey I roasted turned out fairly well. The whole family gathered at my sister's house and after dinner, we watched the kids play Rock Band. It was cute.

What's in store for today? Well, there's writing I can do, I need to take some things into my office, there's leaves to be picked up in the yard, and putting grout on the mosaic, and maybe I'll start some beadwork. Not sure what I want to do - but that's the fun of having a day like this when I don't NEED to do anything, but can do what I want to do.

I'll pick up Eddie later on this afternoon - yay!