Leftovers

I am eating leftovers from yesterday, reminding myself of the fun I had over my small break. We left Tuesday evening and returned last night. I had a great time with family and friends, and I spent a good amount of time shopping for black Friday, which is something I always used to say I would never do.

One specific difference between where I live and "back home" is how many people I see (though this is changing because of how many students I teach I'm starting to see in town). The first outing I took with my friend Dana was one filled with seeing people I know from the area. Right when I was telling Dana, "This sounds mean, but I really just don't want to see anyone I know in here," as we headed into Walmart, I saw one of my favorite people in the entire world: Daniel. It was so worth it! He gives the best hugs, and I felt how much I miss him sometimes!

Thanksgiving was nice. We went to J's grandparents' house for meal #1 and my parents' place for meal #2. We only had snacks at the first, and the latter was the grand finale. It was great to see everyone! I held my niece for a while, bottle-fed her, and watched her while she slept in my arms for almost an hour. Someone said I looked like "a natural," which is ridiculous, but I still liked hearing it.

Black Friday was crazy. At first, I had planned to go out around ten with my friend Dana for some light shopping. This was until J and his sister said that they would like to experience the early morning craziness. I decided to go with them because J had never gone, and I wanted to see his reaction. Turns out, this year was definitely worth it!! As much as I hate spending (too much) money, I bought a lot of wonderful things that are going to help now and in the future.

For instance, I got a great deal on:

1. GPS
2. Printer--desperately needed one!
3. Blu-Ray DVDs
4. Paper shredder
5. a few Christmas gifts...

and one more thing......but that's my favorite, and I want to wait a few days. It needs a grand entrance.

On the topic of GPS, I want you to know that I was once a strong enemy of the idea, and I completely hated them. I believed that "they make people stupid." Even though I still believe that to an extent, and I plan to keep myself from being distracted by it, it already helped me! On the way back from the hometown, I wanted to snag a coffee at one of my favorite places. The only way I usually go there is through downtown. However, I turned on the GPS for fun to see what it would say. Sure enough, there was a way to get there from the bypass that I didn't even know about! We got there in just a few minutes--far less than what it would have taken if I had gone through town. So worth it!

After getting in really late last night, I slept in until noon today, and I've been relaxing with movies and animals and playing with my new purchases. I'm going to spend the remainder of the day doing the same, but I'm also going to do some school work and go downtown! Some of my good friends are in town, and I'm really excited to go hang out for a bit. I'm so glad I still have Sunday! AND get this--two more weeks of direct teaching, and I think I'll be done!! CRAZY.

PS: Job fair 3.5 hours away this Wednesday. Wish me luck!