“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.”  Jane Austen

(This post is two different parts but all in one post. The first post reflects my plans before Thanksgiving. The last part reflects what actually happened in real life. This part below was written the day before Thanksgiving.)

Aaaah. Thanksgiving. My favorite holiday as it’s all about the gratitude not the gifts. (At least that’s my take on the whole thing.)

With four days off work, I am hoping to recharge a bit. Actually, this is going to be written before Turkey Day so here is how I hope it’s gone. At the end of the post, I’ll let you know how it really went! Rather a “compare and contrast” if you will.)

THE PLAN:

Work all day Wednesday, but I’m pretty much the only one in the office that day so planning it to be quiet and uneventful. We will see if that dream becomes reality.

Thursday – the big meal is over at our generous friends’ home with lots of friends and great food. (Tip: Try to make friends with people who are Foodies. You can’t go wrong when you eat with them then. Bonus if they are super-nice at the same time. J) Perhaps go for a walk or bike ride in the morning and then mess around until time to go over there? Maybe thunderstorms all day or maybe not.

Friday – Freezing temps (for around here): 34 (when 32 is freezing). Maybe some snow falling from the sky. Shopping for sales? I might, but only the shops close to my neighborhood and away from the Mall of Insanity. Cross-stitch?

Saturday – Still coldish but warming up, along with a chance of snow. So – reading (at home or at my fav home from home place, Taco Villa)? Edit my bookshelves a bit? (Staying away from the word “cull” as that reminds me distressingly of baby seals.) Piddle around doing not much (hopefully). Cross-stitch? Watch a movie?

Sunday – Gym finally opens after three days of being closed. (Grrr.) Definitely get good work out in. Reading and a nap are also on the cards.

So the big goals for Thanksgiving weekend:

• Edit bookshelves to make room for incoming titles from upcoming library book sale and remove titles that I bought with good intentions but which have, unfortunately, gone to naught.
• Read
• Cross-stitch some. (Still loving that.)
• Just be. 🙂

So, now – here’s actually what happened:

THE ACTUAL EVENTS:

So, how close did I actually get to these plans? …

Work all day Wednesday, but I’m pretty much the only one in the office that day so planning it to be quiet and uneventful. We will see if that dream becomes reality. DONE and was a quiet day. Got lots off the to-do list. Hooray!

Thursday – the big meal is over at our generous friends’ home with lots of friends and great food. (Tip: Try to make friends with people who are Foodies. You can’t go wrong when you eat with them then. Bonus if they are super-nice at the same time. J) Perhaps go for a walk or bike ride in the morning and then mess around until time to go over there? DONE. Maybe thunderstorms all day or maybe not.  No thunderstorms, but loads of yummy food and an interesting selection of conversation partners throughout the meal. Good time had by all though.

Friday – Freezing temps (for around here): 34 (when 32 is freezing). Maybe some snow falling from the sky. Shopping for sales? I might, but only the shops close to my neighborhood and away from the Mall of Insanity. Cross-stitch? DONE (mostly). Did a few sales. Stayed away from the Mall of Insanity. Read. No cross stitch as I was reading and piddling around.

Saturday – Still coldish but warming up, along with a chance of snow. So – reading (at home or at my fav home from home place, Taco Villa)? Edit my bookshelves a bit? (Staying away from the word “cull” as that reminds me distressingly of baby seals.) Piddle around doing not much (hopefully). Cross-stitch? Watch a movie? DONE. Did the book shelf editing (rather satisfying and took 3 large grocery bags of books to the FoL. (Irrelevant note: Book sale on Sat. Yabba dabba doo.) Piddled around? Yes. Watch a movie? Yes. Watched The Talented Mr. Ripley (with Leonardo de Caprio and co.)

Sunday – Gym finally opens after three days of being closed. (Grrr.) Definitely get good work out in. Reading and a nap are also on the cards. Went to gym for really good workout brought on by three days of no gym. Reading – yuppers. Nap – definitely.

So the big goals for Thanksgiving weekend (as written pre-holiday):

• Edit bookshelves to make room for incoming titles from upcoming library book sale and remove titles that I bought with good intentions but which have, unfortunately, gone to naught. DONE.
• Read. DONE. Finished up Barbara Pym’s No Fond Return of Love and got halfway through a nonfiction history book about 1066. (Gave up on that one after that. A bit tedious, but learned a lot up until that point. Read Lucy Knisley’s graphic novel, Displacement. Post to come.
• Cross-stitch some. (Still loving that.) DONE
• Just be. DONE. (Ongoing goal.)

So it was really a lovely four-day break from work and I got to recharge a bit before the final push before Christmas. Hooray for Thanksgiving! (Not necessarily the rather difficult history behind the holiday, but the holiday itself? Wheee!!)