Black Friday

Black Friday has come and gone and boy was it exciting. I saved a ton of money by not buying anything at the mall, out of stores, or on the Internet. It is exhilarating! However for a sports fan like myself it was a great day. I started off by watching U of L football team defeat the University of South Florida for the first time in forever. With the win they ended the season tied for the Big East Championship and assured of a bowl invitation with a 7-5 record. Congratulations to Charlie Strong in only his second season. Then it was on to watch LSU take on Arkansas in a battle of number #1 versus #3. LSU prevailed in a great game. Lastly, after partaking in some left over Thanksgiving dinner, was the Louisville basketball team squaring off with Ohio U. It was a tough game that U of L was on the way to losing before stepping up in the last four minutes to pull out a victory. To make all of this even better was that I was home alone to scratch, belch, and scream at the TV as much as my heart desired. Having given money to my wife to take our older grand kids, MaKayla and MaKenna to the mall, my heart and mind were light, knowing that they were also enjoying themselves to the max.    

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has evolved into a strange holiday these days. It used to be one of the big four holidays - Easter, 4th of  July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. However, now Thanksgiving is that holiday after Halloween and the start of the Christmas shopping period. If one did not know better "Black Friday" is the more important. Holidays are just place markers for our economy to try and increase sales and stimulate

consumption in a country that desperately needs help.

Thanksgiving was a great holiday where we gathered as families to celebrate our "freedom" to do just that., "Get together". We saw cousins, aunts, nieces, grandparents, and just friends we hadn't seen for a long time. It was a time of plenty, with meals at different peoples home, when above the typical mundane weekly menus. The men and boys played football in the backyards and watched the NFL on TV all day long. That was when the pro game was worth watching.

I watched my wife work all week preparing food for Thanksgiving. While we are currently empty nesters we told all the children that they were welcome to come by and enjoy Thanksgiving with us during the day. So to be sure we had enough food was cooked in shifts. The greens  on Monday, the preparations for the sweet potato casserole, green beans, and dressing on Tues. Start preparing the turkey, macaroni and cheese, and making the pies  and cakes on Wednesday. She pulled it all off and everyone stopped by to enjoy the food and take a little bit home with them for later. Nothing better than next day Thanksgiving turkey and dressing.

I am thankful that I was able to see all the grand kids and enjoy their company while still being able to relax and watch the football games on TV. I am truly thankful to have all of them in the family, with all their different personalities. I am also thankful to be able to enjoy the day after having had hip replacement surgery just three weeks ago. While we talk about thanksgiving I think most people have forgotten who we are giving thanks too. That is God. Without his blessings none of the things that are in our life would be possible. To me every day is thanksgiving and I hope that I never forget.