Musician's Widow

Black Friday, Smack Smy-day. I just don’t get it. Why end the beauty of a day of thanks with a mad-dash-beating-people-up-to-buy-something-on-sale?* No, thank you. I’d like to let the peace of Thanksgiving extend into the next day.

Today we slept as late as we wanted. Got up. Ate leftover. Then slowly got ready to get out of the house.

We went to visit friends for awhile (what better tag to Thanksgiving with family is there than visiting friends!?). Then we headed out to do… just whatever.

Did we do a little shopping? Yes, I admit it. We did pick up a few things while we were out. Things we absolutely needed, and we got to the stores well after dark, when they’d cleared out and back to “normal.” Oh okay, some of the employees at the stores were grumpy and the stores were picked over pretty good. But for us, it was fun and not the least bit stressful!

We had a lovely dinner out, then took our time coming back to the house together. Not a single stressful second in the day.

And I loved it.

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*Okay, so not everyone is violent with it. And I have heard of several people who do the whole Black Friday midnight shopping this as just a way to spend one-on-one time with certain loved one. And I can totally get behind that.

A couple weeks ago, my husband found a couple goodies for me at the grocery store. Things I wanted, but would never buy for myself. When he put them in our cart, I admit… I did a little happy dance.

The first item… you’re all going to roll your eyes at me. It was a dish drain. A $5 dish drain. I was giddy! Really!

See, the only dish drains I had already were too small and just really didn’t do the job. So either I used the dishwasher, or if I hand washed dishes they got stacked up on a towel on my cutting board. As a result, for some reason, I’d leave dirty dishes in the sink until I had absolutely NO choice but to wash them.

My new dish drain? My nice, big, sturdy dish drain… Now I never go to bed with dirty dishes. I actually enjoy don’t mind doing the dishes. Its one of those jobs you can step back and admire your hard work in the form of a big pile of dishes drying. My utensils no longer piled up, but instead in their little drain cup. Plates lines up neatly in their slots. Cups along the sides. It makes me smile! And all it cost was $5! Heck I didn’t even buy dishwasher detergent this last week, even though I am out of it. I’d rather hand wash my dishes!

My second goodie is an iced tea maker. You know, like a coffee maker only for tea? I’ve actually lusted over them for a few years now. My parents have one and it makes the BEST tea, and you really don’t have much of an excuse not to make some any time. It’s SO easy.

Not that, you know, the tea kettle over tea bags way isn’t easy. I mean, I still make my cups of hot Vanilla Chai tea some evenings that way. But…

My iced tea maker ROCKS. Almost as soon as we drink up the 3 qts. of tea it makes, I have another batch brewing. I’ve actually cut my carbonated drink intake down to maybe one glass every few days. I’m addicted to my fresh brewed sweet iced tea! The last batch I squeezed a fresh lemon into and, let me tell you, my taste buds rejoiced. They cried out, “Where have you been these last few years!?”

It’s been at the store because I just couldn’t bring myself to buy it. Neither it nor the dish drain. I’m so silly! Thank heavens my husband insisted I have them, because I am pretty much addicted to them now. I don’t consider myself high maintenance. I don’t need every kitchen gadget in the world. I don’t WANT every kitchen gadget in the world! But, man, these two items are just… the awesome. My kitchen just further became my own, somehow. And, you know, you gotta love that.

I’ve never done Black Friday. And I don’t plan to start doing it any time soon.

Oh, I’ve heard people talk about how its a rush to do. An event in its self. Some people can’t imagine the holidays without it. However, I am not one of those people. Nor am I a Christmas Eve shopper. Nope. Not going to do that either.

First of all, I strive to keep shopping and holidays separate as possible. I don’t want to spend Thanksgiving preparing for shopping. And I don’t want to lose the magic of Christmas Eve to retail either. I want to focus on the days and what they mean in my heart.

Second, I like to do my shopping at my leisure and with careful thought. I like to keep it as stress-free as possible, and, personally, the thought of waiting in line and rushing a store “for the thrill and the bargains” just doesn’t fit my stress-free goal. Plus, friends and family who work in retail, who have to work on Black Friday, all dread that night into day madness. I feel for them. I really do. I don’t want to add to their stress either.

So, while everyone is out shopping for bargains and deals, I’m going to go about life outside of that. I’ll get my shopping done between now and December 25th. I actually have a little of it done and on its way to me already. All great deals. I’ll do my bargain hunting at my own pace.

Good luck to all Black Friday shoppers! More power to you for daring those crowds. I admire your adventurous spirit. But, its just  not for me…

I practically live in blue jeans. Year-around, they are my favorite item in my clothing collection.

However, they are also the one thing I hate trying to purchase. Why? Because I am 6′ tall, and my inseam is 36″. Do you know how difficult that is to find at a price that won’t make you choke?? When I find a pair I like, I will wear them until they literally fall apart.

Which is precisely what happened when I got into my truck Monday night to go to work at the hot dog stand. Yup. I ripped my jeans in the butt. Not just a little rip. A long, gaping rip. The kind you can feel the air hitting your exposed rear through.

I was just glad it happened before I left home and not after I got to work!! I went to change, cursing the fact that I was now going to be down to ONE pair of blue jeans and would need another pair.  I have one pair of khakis, one pair of jeans and one pair of black slacks. That is the extent of my pants collection. A little depressing, to say the least, and, yes, I wear them atleast twice between washings. I make it work, but I draw the line at only one pair of jeans.

So, tonight, I logged into my favorite site to order jeans: Victoria’s Secret. They carry jeans that are 36″ inseam, reasonably priced, and in styles I like. I literally have a VS Angel card to buy jeans. If the day ever comes that they take my card away, I will cry. A lot.

I carefully went through each pair of jeans and narrowed it down to one pair to replace the pair I split the night before. On sale, I didn’t feel TOO bad about the order. Dark blue wash. And I threw in a $4 v-neck t-shirt to my order. It’ll be in sometime around mid-month. I’m excited to have a new pair of jeans! I don’t order them often, because buying pants just overwhelms and frustrates me. But, hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. And I had to order new jeans today. They are my favorite clothing item. They are the bane of my existence.

School supplies are already out in the stores as students and parents begin gearing up for the next school year.

I am 11 years out of high school, and 7 years out of college, and I still LOVE new school supplies. Brand new spiral notebooks. Packs of pens. Crayon boxes. Folders with fun designs on the front. 200-sheet packs of lined notebook paper.

I repeat, I LOVE new school supplies.

Last night, I found myself poking around Target and their back to school section. I couldn’t resist grabbing crayons, markers, and spiral notebooks. (They were on sale!) I poked around the shelves full of folders, paper, dictionaries, and globes. I found myself musing over all the cute little desk organizers, trying to remind myself I didn’t need anything.

Memories of new school years came back to me. How I’d fill a three-ring binder with notebook paper, and I’d itch to write my name on a sheet of paper. Organizers for my assignments would have name, address, etc. filled out weeks before the first school bell rang. I liked school, but I liked new supplies 1000x more. It was like literally being handed a clean slate for the new year.

Today, its not “school supplies” but “office supplies.” Post it notes, printer ink, and staples just aren’t as much fun as three ring binders, erasers, and graph paper. So, I find ways to justify my visits to the back to school supply sales.

Coloring is a great way to relieve stress, but I also happen to really like making my own cards and wrapping paper. If I am shipping a gift to someone, because I can’t be there, it lets me make sure it is a lot more personal! So, I always keep boxes of crayons and markers on hand. (Stickers and glitter, too!)

Spiral notebooks are the best way to jot down ideas for blog posts or to keep to do lists. Unfortunately, with all my husband’s traveling, I am never short of ballpoint pens. He brings home plenty from hotels around the country!

I still carry my backpack from college as my carry-on on flights. I’ve read many articles on how you should present yourself professionally at all times; you never know who you might run into and when. A backpack just doesn’t look professional. But its SO handy and carries everything I need with ease, so I don’t care decide to go with usability over presentation. Plus, there’s the odd comfort level there with it. Its almost like a safety blanket that carries my laptop, magazines and some snacks.

I know its not necessarily rational, but I really do love school supply shopping. Maybe its some strange way of holding on to my youth. When we have kids, they’ll probably end up hating school supply shopping simply because I’ll end up embarrassing them. I’ll be that mom going, “Ooooh!” and grabbing glue, pencil bags, and note cards like it’s a shoe store with a sale on high heels. I’m weird that way.

I can’t wait!