Festivus

So, our Thanksgiving really wasn't much to write home about. I learned a few things about what NOT to do next year:

1. Don't turn down a friend's invitation to a real Thanksgiving dinner because you think it will be too depressing to hang with someone else's family on Turkey Day.
2. Don't eat pressed turkey loaf from the hospital cafeteria instead.
3. Don't expect to sit down with a resident on trauma call because his pager WILL go off.
4. Don't spend the evening in the doctor's lounge WITH your kids and WITHOUT said doctor.
5. Don't "console" yourself about not getting pie by finishing off that container of ice cream at home in the freezer.
6. Don't stay up until 3 am watching random stuff on Youtube.
7. Don't feel sorry for yourself - that's not what Thanksgiving is about.
8. Do plan on cooking a real Thanksgiving meal next year, even if it means eating without Rick.

Pretty lame, right? This post gets better in a minute...

Friday was my 33rd birthday. It started out great and got better from there. The kids made me breakfast in bed. Jake warmed up some whole wheat waffles while Emma scrambled an egg. They managed to carry the tray up the stairs and down the hall without spilling. Bonus! Soon after, Rick came home from working his 30-hour shift. He brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Here are some of the cards I received from family and friends:

The kids also decorated the house with balloons:

That night, Rick took me to a Japanese restaurant in our area called Nagoya. It's a timpenyaki (sp?) place where they cook the food right in front of you. My swordfish was delish and the veggies divine. We also got an extra treat for the ears. Shortly after we sat down to eat, live music started playing at the front of the restaurant. We ended up hanging around for awhile to hear Toledo's own Crystal Bowersox. She was remarkably good and we bought her CD.

Later, we stopped off at New York & Company so that I could spend my birthday money and gift card (Thanks Lala, Papa, Mama Jo, and Pa Saunders). I got a red cable neck sweater, a side ruched top in pink, and some dressy costume jewelry. I'm going to be fabulous at my next holiday shin-dig!

On Saturday, I taught my aerobics classes while Rick and the kids hung Christmas lights outside. Next, we ate for $10 at Arby's (woot woot) which sabotaged my efforts from the morning - ha! After our wholesome lunch, we spent some time at Bass Pro shop taking pictures and taking advantage of all the holiday activities. They really do it up right in that place!

Every square foot of that store that is decorated for Christmas. Wow!

What do you think? Should we embrace country livin' and get Emma her very own gun for Christmas?

Nothing says Merry Christmas like the sound of an air soft gun.

Saturday evening was the big tree lighting ceremony at Levis Commons. We bundled ourselves up, snagged some hot cocoa, and enjoyed the show.

We caught the tail end of some country singing and fire baton twirling. Interesting combo, eh? At 8:00, they lit the big tree and the people peeled out. It was pretty funny. All that hoop-la just to turn on some lights and go home. We stuck around though. We forced the kids to get their annual shots with Santa.

We will continue to make them pose with Santa each year until they move out of the house. It's a tradition for Pete's sake!