Gratitudiness

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I've not yet acknowledged what I'm thankful for. There are a lot of things that I think are just peachy and I believe I'd like to share.

First, I'm thankful that sister numero uno let me invite myself to her place for the holiday weekend. It helped that I brought her second child with me on the drive. However, even if said child wasn't nearby where I live, my sister would have let me come, anyway. If I didn't bring her child, though, there may not have been an acceptance (but I would never have abandoned her child in favor of my own needs--you just don't do that).

Second, I'm thankful for being employed. Since I opted out of being a starving artist for being a fed human being who does not a) permanently live with their parents (SHUDDER) and b) living on friends' and family's couches until my welcome and moochiness is no longer tolerated, it's nice to be able to live on my own and pay the bills. For some odd reason I enjoy the comforts of a dry place to sleep, indoor plumbing, and food I choose to buy and eat that is not from a dumpster (you dumpster divers who do not need to are really, extremely, certifiably weird).

As for "Black Friday," the family went to Target Thanksgiving night after 9 p.m. I've never purposely shopped on Black Friday, and technically it was Thursday, so I was surprised at how organized and FAST the experience was. Though we did hear that this morning was supposed to be lousy with people. As I am not the fondest of crowds of people milling about, the fewer amount of people, though still more that I'm truly comfortable with, was preferred. And I bought some movies and tried to keep my spending to a modest amount and was told that I'd saved $30. I thanked the person checking us out for sacrificing their Thanksgiving for working. She was very sweet, and apparently known to my sister and her family. Awesome! So, I was thankful that I was able to buy stuff on sale without a crushing crowd of jostling people while still receiving a sale price. I've shopped once late on Black Friday and on occasion the Saturday after and it's usually picked clean of the stuff I wanted. Sigh.

No, I didn't plan out the night and camp out and try to beat people to what I wanted. I wasn't even sure what I wanted, just that I was curious which movies they had on sale. So, bonus! Here's one of my general attitudes about life: if you have low expectations you are usually sure to wreak some enjoyment out of life. For example: seeing Batman and Robin for the first time was a very comedic experience that I enjoyed immensely. I'm fond of campiness in the movies and didn't expect much from the film when I went into the theater. I was the only one laughing and enjoying myself. Seriously, people, you expected more from a film with George Clooney as Batman? REALLY?

I spent some time in a mall on Friday, so now I have purposely shopped on Black Friday. I was successful in purchasing some knit gloves on the cheap from a store I don't usually go into. Is it bad that I ended up drooling, but not purchasing, inside a Lego store? Oh, so many, many sets that I don't have the funds for or space to keep. An actual Death Star? A very large R2-D2? Recommended for 16+? Oh, I definitely geeked out. And then left. I have some measure of self-control...and a budget. Again, I believe I've already mentioned I have my own place. I'd like to keep it that way. Maybe I should set aside some money every month just for splurging on those fun things. I will have to sacrifice some other luxury spending item, like maybe the DVD portion of my Netflix account, but I think I might enjoy the Legos more than the ability to not watch a DVD that's been sitting in my place for two months while still paying the monthly fee. Must think on it further....