I think I have recovered from my food and shopping coma. How about you?

Thanskgiving started in the wee hours of the morning for me. Went to work, was home before the big feast. Chowed down and spent some time with my family. Then it was my sister's bright idea to do some midnight shopping.

So off we went to Wal-Mart. First Black Friday shopping and it was an experience. Shuffles of people and you cna barely move. There were the civivilized and uncivilized people. The thank yous and the grumbles. I came away with a Christmas present for myself from my aunt. A Bissell vaccuum. Yes, let the judgement begin. A collage picture frame, sandwich maker and DVD were among my treasure that I brought home.

2:30 we rolled into the house. 24 hours awake. Hadn't done that since college and knew recovery time wouldn't be the same. I somehow trudged into work later that afternoon. It was the calm after the storm. Barely any people shopping at the old hour of 4 pm. Nonetheless my day ended around 1:30am.

The sleep coma subsided around 11 am the next day. And that is why my Saturday consisted of me being a bum. Nothing got done and nothing was accomplished. Oh my old body.

All in all not a bad weekend. Just can't handle it like the old days. Hope everyone had an equally exhausting but good holiday!!

Oh and 26 days until Christmas:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the day to eat lots of turkey and potatoes and become stuffed! Also, the day to be with family and friends. But most importantly it is a day to remember to give thanks an be thankful for what you have in your life.

Many people forget to look around and count their blessings every once in awhile. I am one of those people sometimes that gets too caught up in the wishes and the dreams. And who can blame any of us with this crummy economy.

The many unthankfuls people focus on: Loss of job, no job, working at a crappy job, money issues and the list goes on and on. 

And here are is everything people should be thankful for : Their breath they take every morning when they wake up, the people that are there for them during all those rough times encountered in the economy, the fact that you do have a job to go to everyday

What I am thankful for everyday

-My family for their support

-Boyfriend. I love you.

-I have the greatest friends

-Lily-she keeps me company on lonely days and she's super cute.

-That I have a job at all. Might not be my dream but I'll get there someday

-The roof over my head (for now)

-As with every holiday, the absence of my mom tugs at my heart but even though she isn't here I can still say I am thankful for the 22 wonderful years I had with her and the amazing relationship we had.

So please take a moment if only today and count your blessings and truly be thankful for everything that you have around you. Oh and enjoy all the wonderful feasts you will be chowing down on!

-God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"- 

Boycott Shopping!

On Thanksgiving at least. And here is why.

Think back to 5, 10 years ago on your Thanksgiving holiday.

I am sure you are recalling memories of tables filled with a load of food. Family you love all around you, shuffling past as everyone tries to fit around the dinner table. For me it was just that.  I was sectioned to the kids table until about 19 but it was ok. We all didn't fit around the adult table. We would have mindless chatter and then shuffle out to the living room as we patiently awaited dessert.

The newswpaper was passed around as the deals for Black Friday were discussed. What time we were going and what we hoped to get that day. The simple time of the holidays. More family and love, less materialistic.

Now I see the Black Friday commercials flooding and it saddens me to see "Open Thanksgiving Day." No longer are people focused on gathering around the table with family. The focus has seemed to shift to what we can buy for our family for Christmas.

It is the one day that no matter what religion we are, we all celebrate. We all have something to sit and be thankful for and enjoy a day of simpleness with friends and family. Consumerism has creeped its way into Thanksgiving and it should be stopped.

So I want to ask everyone to boycott shopping on Thanksgiving. Don't worry about finding the right deal that day. Look around you and be thankful for what you already have. Leave the stress until Black Friday. If people don't shop on Thanksgiving, we can put a stop to the stores being open. (Or am I too grandeur thinking such things;)

If you still feel you need to shop, think about the person helping you. Think about their family and how he/she isn't with them preparing for the big feast or finishing the feast with their dessert. Or better yet think about how you are rushing through the holiday just to get out and go shopping.

The holidays are about being together and just the spirit of it all. Unfortunately, it seems to be slipping away and I'm afraid it will only keep slipping.

Tomorrow I will be working. But early morning (talking 4 am) in a store that is not open on Thanksgiving. I will then go home in the early afternoon and enjoy my Thanksgiving with my family and eat all I can. I will not be making any purchases or spending any money. Please do the same.

-Life shouldn't be printed on dollar bills. ~Clifford Odets

Marriage Fading Away?

I was talking to a coworker one day and the subject stumbled upon our lifestyle and parents. I remarked about my parents being divorced. He then replied with a chuckle and a "Who's aren't?"

Sad to say, but that phrase seems to be very true today. Coming off many recent divorces in Hollywood and just around everyone, it isn't hard to see that the meaning of marriage is changing. 

Some facts gathered by the Pew Research Center, in association with Time magazine

-One in three American children are living with a parent who is divorced, separated or never-married. 

-U.S. census data released in September that showed marriages hit an all-time low of 52 percent for adults 18 and over.

-About 29 percent of children under 18 now live with a parent or parents who are unwed or no longer married, a fivefold increase from 1960.

FIVEFOLD INCREASE. To me, that is very disheartening to read. Never being married some people might get offended when I give my opinions on it but I will anyway. Because I know what I believe marriage to be and what I want my marriage to be.

People take vows everyday. Through sickness and health, till death do us part. But the vows seemed to have changed to till I get tired of you and cheat or I just get tired of this marriage all together. That is what it comes down to. Laziness. People don't want to spend the time on their marriage. They don't want to communicate to make it work. It is much easier to sign a divorce paper and be done with it.

I am not saying there are people that truly try to fight for their marriage because I know there are the very few but the marriages that are only last a handful of years are just plain sad. Why even get married if you aren't serious about it? It's not dating. It's a forever kind of thing. If you aren't ready for that, don't do it. 

Which brings the changing definition of family. Because so many people aren't willing to make that forever kind of commitment, more parents are opting out of marriage. There brings yet another problem. No marriage, no vows make it much easier to walk away from that significant other even if kids are involved. 

Coming from divorced parents might make me have a skewed view on marriage or it might even make me wiser. I just know when that day comes for me to say those vows, I will mean them. Marriage for me is a forever kind of thing. Life does get messy and get in the way but not enough for the huge fivefold increase.

To the sanctity of marriage!

'Marriage might not be a job, but it is work' (Thanks Sex and the City!)