Today is Thanksgiving, of course, and Bob is going to be out hunting tomorrow, and my birthday is Saturday, so he went shopping last night. When I came home there was a big gift bag sitting by my desk. I asked if I was supposed to open it then, or save it for Saturday, and he said he didn't care, that I could do whatever I wanted.

So I let it sit there for awhile, and we ate dinner--he made Reubens--and I worked for a little while, and then I asked, "Should I open this now or wait?" and he said he didn't care, that I could do whatever I wanted, and I decided I didn't want to wait, so I opened it.

He got me a BIG Yankee candle in "Seaside Holiday" scent--a wonderful scent in addition to the sentiment--a Hallmark ornament of two kitties in love sitting on a chimney in front of the moon from The Aristocats, some chocolates, and some stickers (cats and dinosaurs--not together, though).

So. We're going out to my parents' for Thanksgiving dinner (actually lunch) in a couple of hours. My sister from Denver will be here with her family, and my sister and brother who live here will also be there, with their families, and a friend of my parents', so it will definitely be a full house.

We'll have lunch and sit around and talk for awhile, and then Bob will leave at some point mid-afternoon (we're driving separately) and go out to John's house, where he's spending the night so they can get up early and go hunting in the morning.

And then I have the rest of my Birthday Four Day Weekend, which is how I'm looking at it. I just decided that I don't actually have to do any Christmas shopping--heck, I'll have a whole week when we get back from vacation to do that!--but I do have to sit down with my list and figure out what I still need to do.

I'd like to address Christmas cards, that's always a somewhat daunting task. I need to go to a hobby store and buy ornaments for the little Christmas tree that I bought for my desk at work. I don't like any of the ones that I had last year, I bought them on the spur of the moment and they're a little too cheesy. And basically, that's it.

Oh, also, figure out what my White Elephant gift will be for the office Christmas party on the 1st, and do laundry, and vacuum (maybe), and work a little bit on the Photoshop project I started last night, and play around a little more with the stylesheet stuff I learned yesterday because basically, I'm a geek. And hopefully do some writing, because I really do know that I can't just wait until there's nothing else to do, I have to just sit down and do it no matter what else is going on, and do it even if it's not perfect, because it's the doing it that's important, not necessarily the end product.

I really do know that.

I have this picture on my desk at work. It's from Thanksgiving 1999; I like it because I look happy and relaxed; who knows whether I was really feeling like that or not, but I look like it. My dad took the picture while we sat in the swing in their front yard on Thanksgiving that year. Happy Thanksgiving! We have much to be thankful for.