The Day after Thanksgiving

There are a lot of traditions that have grown up around Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving. Because so many people travel to spend time with family it has now become a two-day holiday for many employers. However, for one kind of company it is anything but a holiday - retailers. Our paper yesterday was larger than a usual Sunday paper with twice as many advertisements as we usually see on a busy weekend. And many of the stores were advertising sales beginning as early as 5:30 a.m. I guess that's supposed to start the day off with a bang.

Although we often go out sometime for a little shopping, I try to avoid the crowds as much as possible. Our tradition is rather to spend the day getting the house ready for the holidays and putting up Christmas decorations. This year with the whole family visiting, we were able to do in one morning what would have taken 3 or 4 weekends.

While one crew worked outside cleaning gutters, mowing the lawn,

trimming the rosebushes,

and putting up some of the outside lights,

others were working inside putting up the artificial Christmas tree, the several nativity scenes, and the Norman Rockwell village. There was plenty for all to do.

Then, based on their various interests, the families scattered for the afternoon entertainment - Stanford Mansion, Fairy Tale Land, Funderland, the shopping malls, or trying to get some serious homework done. We'll all gather again at the end of the day to eat supper then see Grandpa's performance in "Oliver!"