So really I'm just mad that the people at The Weather Channel aren't psychics

I don't know why I let them get my hopes up so much when they've burned me so bad in the past. Yet I still put some sort of stock in what the weather people say! They predict rain and we have the most sunshine-y of days. They predict temps with a high of 70 and it blows through that weak ceiling and hits 85. And last night they were blowing hot air up my skirt telling me that we were going to wake up to SNOW. Y'all, don't mess with me about snow. Please don't even speak of it unless it's some kind of SURE THING. But lo and behold I fall right into their little predictions of flurries and waking up to a snow-covered neighborhood. Steve's alarm went off at 4am... he opened the blinds... no snow. FOILED AGAIN.
Although I did happen to look at the radar this morning (I KNOW, SO STUPID) and it shows that the snow patch hasn't even really moved since last night, so there is some sort of ridiculous chance that it could snow today. Not that I can be wholeheartedly excited about this development since Steve will have to SLEEP out in it while I'm snuggled up in flannel sheets with the heater on. (But I'm definitely, secretly still excited.)

In other news, we had a very successful Thanksgiving. While this is usually the star of the show...

(and I will admit that that bird was RAWTHER tasty),
...I feel like this had the spotlight completely.

All my siblings were able to be together for this holiday (no easy thing when we're literally spread from coast to coast) and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My parents cooked something like 30 dozen eggs, 96 pieces of bacon, 12lbs of cheese grits, a 22lb bird, a slew of butter-filled sides, and my sister contributed to some pies that were (you guessed it!) filled with double the butter. (A slight oversight, but it turned out QUITE well.) Uh, needless to say, we ate pretty darn well.

 

Steve and I got to go to the "big city" and do a little Black Friday shopping (if you can even call shopping at 10am that day still Black Friday) and didn't find too terribly much. We're still waffling on what to get Sam for Christmas. Steve's blanket gift for everyone seems to be "Second Baby" but I keep reminding him that s/he won't actually ARRIVE until March, and that seems a tad belated to try and pass off as a Christmas gift. (I also keep having to remind him that I'M giving HIM this child, and not vice versa. So my gift to him is technically covered, but I would enjoy a nice set of pearls thankyouverymuch.)

We're doing a new thing this year in terms of gift-giving within our little family and trying to stay focused on the TRUE meaning of the holiday. We are limiting our gifts to three. So basically, Sam will receive one gift from my parents, one gift from Steve's parents, and one gift from Steve and me. Same goes for Steve and me as well. Let's face it, the child needs another toy like he needs a hole in the head, and I don't want him growing up associating Christmas with toys toys TOYS and gimme gimme gimme. I understand that he is entirely too young to grasp the REAL meaning of Christmas just yet, but I also don't want to continue over-celebrating the commercialism and then once he's four or so, we just yank the rug out from under him and start up some new rules. Having this "tradition" of sorts set in place from the beginning will help make this easier to understand once he is finally old enough.

I'm sure I sound like a big ol' meanie because surely MY parents didn't deprive me in such a way when I was growing up. And no, they didn't. Steve's parents didn't either. We had AMAZING Christmases. We arrived at the number three because Jesus received three gifts. (There also happen to be two sets of grandparents and one set of parents, so that number lined up pretty well for us, eh?) And I'm not trying to imply that receiving more than three gifts for Christmas is somehow gluttonous or wrong. It's perfectly normal! But this is a decision that our little family has made and we feel like it's the right choice for US. I want there to be a BIGGER focus on why we TRULY celebrate Christmas and less on why Walmart wants us to celebrate Christmas.

Speaking of Walmart, I have to go there today to try and find Advent candles (oh the IRONY), that is, if the snow doesn't start falling first. (<Just instantly jinxed all the snow in our area>) Because as my dear mother said to me on the phone yesterday, "You remember how to drive in the snow, right? You don't."

Such a wise lady (teaching Sam how to properly pose for the camera)