Thursday, November 28th
Trish offered to host Thanksgiving this year and surprisingly everyone was on board with it, even Erika and Zac, who really don't like driving to places. Ben and I really aren't set up to hold Thanksgiving, Trish is retired, and Amy is the only one that has to work both days, so it made sense to do it up there. Plus, it would be great for Trish to host something again. We hammered out on a menu and who was going to bring what during my birthday party. We were ready to slay Thanksgiving.
I set my alarm for 10 a.m. but forgot to turn off my work alarm and it went off at 6:45 a.m. instead. I was upset with myself but got up, peed and went back to bed. I woke up again around 9:30, checked my messages and then decided to get up and get ready for the day. I had to hound Ben to get out of bed and motivated to shave and shower. He finally did around 10:45.
I washed my face, did my hair, got some clothes on, did the dishes, finished the laundry and got all the stuff we were going to bring with us set aside so we could pack it up in the Escape. Ben finished getting ready and then helped me put everything into the Escape.
Since my parents don't like driving to places up north, Ben and I drove into Rainier to pick up Mom, Dad and Grandma. We picked up Grandma first and headed over to Mom and Dad's. So, we could all fit, we moved everything from the Escape into Mom's Expedition. We went the back way through Spanaway to 512. Traffic, surprisingly, wasn't that bad like I thought it would be because of the holiday and people traveling around. Maybe it was the day before? It took about an hour to get to Trish's house.
We parked, unloaded stuff, brought it into the house and got situated. I asked Trish if she needed help with anything and she said she had a pretty good handle on it. About 10 minutes later Erika, Zac and Brian arrived. This was Brian's first Thanksgiving.
Mom got out her veggie platter and everyone inhaled it. Mom wanted me to go to the store to replenish it. Ben and I decided to go to Safeway and pick up some more crackers, carrots, celery and cheese. We had plenty of ranch dressing. On the way back, Amy got off of work and tailgated us the entire way home.
We brought everything in and a few minutes after, Doug and Sonya arrived. We filled up Mom's veggie trays while Doug and Sonya got organized. Trish was finishing up the food and we helped her set the table. Trish made the turkey and gluten free stuffing, I bought her potatoes the weekend before so she could prepare the mashed potatoes, we also brought both gravies and a non-gluten free stuffing. Erika and Zac brought a green bean casserole, Doug and Sonya brought sweet potatoes, Mom brought the veggie platter, a pie and some deviled eggs. Grandma brought a pumpkin pie and some cool whip.
We sat down and enjoyed the delicious food. This was our first gluten free Thanksgiving. We chatted about several things while we ate and had a great time. We finished up our food and the Giants and Cowboys game was on in the background. We all got distracted watching that while watching our Fantasy Football stats.
We sat around the living room, hung out with Brian, some of us helped Trish clean up, and we all had some dessert while we continued watching the football game. Doug and Sonya left because they had a gathering with her mom, Erika and Zac left shortly after because Brian was getting tired and they needed to go feed their dogs and we left around 7, so Trish could have a few hours of relaxation. We gave out hugs and thanked her for taking on Thanksgiving. She said it was challenging but fun to host something again since it's been a while for her.
Traffic was alright but super foggy. We dropped off Mom and Dad, moved stuff back into the Escape and then took Grandma home after that. We made the short trip back to our house and did a few chores before looking at some Black Friday deals. I got ready for bed, read my book for a while and conked out. I was tired.
Friday, November 29th
The next day, I got up around 9:30, pestered Ben to get up for a bit, we both got ready to go for our day. I went for a walk while I talked to Trish. He didn't want to go with me so instead I had him make breakfast for us. He had French toast and sausage ready for us when I walked through the door. We ate.
I went outside for a minute, and we ended up talking to our neighbors for a bit. We hopped in the Escape and went Black Friday shopping. Our first stop was Home Depot. Ben wanted to look at a few things, but we had to make a detour inside the store so he could use the bathroom.
I needed to go to Office Depot for some more ink for the printer. We were in and out quickly. We went next door to Value Village and guess what? Ben had to poop...again. There wasn't a public restroom, so he took my car to the Fred Meyer and left me at Value Village for the time being. I browsed for a while and then went over to the Dollar Tree next door. I checked in with Ben a few times to see how he was doing. He was miserable and had no idea why he was feeling so crummy. We did know it was because of his recent gluten free diagnosis, but it was probably going to take time to get used to it, especially with years of inflammation.
I walked over to the Fred Meyer with some bags of stuff from Value Village and the Dollar Tree. I texted Ben to see if he was done and if I could put the bags into the Escape before going into Fred Meyer to see if we could find any deals we needed. We found a few things we could use around the house and as gifts for the upcoming holidays.
We drove over to Walmart and Winco for some groceries and then headed home. We unloaded the groceries, put them away and then watched the Penguins game. They beat the Bruins. I had forgotten to grab some green peppers, so I went to Safeway really quick and grabbed some. I stopped by the Goodwill for a few minutes just to browse.
I went home and we made Spam rice dish for dinner. It's been a favorite Sunday dinner of ours, it's easy to make and it yields leftovers. We spent some time taking about our Christmas gifts to each other and decided to buy them on Amazon since the deals were fabulous on Black Friday. We relaxed for a bit and then got ready for bed.
Saturday, November 30th
I got up around 9:30 knowing I had a huge, busy day ahead of me. Of course, it didn't start out that way a week ago, but here we are.
I got ready, ate a quick breakfast, grabbed everything I would need for the day, and drove out to Hawks Prairie Road to go see Kat and Eric at the craft fair they signed up for. Kat has been crocheting creatures, animals and other cute things for a couple years. She has an Instagram account for them too. I haven't seen Kat in at least five years at that point. Covid didn't help the situation.
I followed the directions, found a place to park and walked into the barn where the craft fair was being held. I quickly scanned the barn and immediately saw Kat and Eric. Kat's face lit up and she ran at me and gave me a giant hug. We spent the next hour and a half visiting and catching up. They were thrilled that I came to see them. I purchased two kitties that looked like Oliver and Wade from them. I was lucky to get them.
From there, I drove into Rainier and had to pick up Mom along the way so we can start wallpapering the kitchen. It was going to be a job. We got a great start in for being there for three hours. It was looking good!
I dropped Mom off at her house and drove back into Olympia. Erika, Zac and Brian were gone spending time with Zac's family for Thanksgiving. She asked me to let her dogs out and feed them while they were gone. They would have taken the dogs with them if they had the room for three dogs. I fed them and let them use the bathroom. I ended up eating a sandwich at her house or I wouldn't have had the time to eat.
I drove back into Rainier for the RHS Alumni basketball game at 7. I arrived early and watched the tail end of the boys' basketball practice. Once they finished, I put on my shoes and started recognizing people I haven't seen in years and some in decades. There were some people I didn't know because they graduated after me. Josh started handing out orange and black jersey's as people showed up. I had no idea who all was going to show up and play. He tried to divide it evenly - older players and younger players on each team.
We spent the next half hour shooting around and warming up. I can't believe it's been over 20 years since I played basketball in that gym. It was weird passing the ball to Aly and Megan. No, it was weird playing basketball with Aly and Megan again.
There was a small crowd of people in the stands, I made Ben, my Mom, Megan and her kids come and watch me. If my grandparents were still alive, they would have been there cheering me on as well. They introduced us by our name, married name if we had different last name, and the year we graduated. It ranged from I believe 1994 up until 2024 if I heard the announcer correctly - a span of 30 years' worth of RHS graduates. An unbelievable amount of time that has passed by so fast.
We played two-twenty-minute halves with a running clock. We found out quickly that we were all so out of shape and old. I went in a few times and could keep up for a short amount of time and then I was out of breath. We all played somewhat okay, but the younger generation of kids definitely ran us up and down the court. I think I got one shot off, but I missed. It wasn't easy being one of the shortest people on the court. It made it hard to get any shots off.
My team, the orange team, didn't win, but we had fun anyway. I chatted with Rita briefly and we exchanged phone numbers. We made a plan to hang out soon. I thanked Mom for coming and she went home and then Megan invited Ben and I over to the house to play Just Dance and to eat popcorn.
We had fun for a couple hours. I thanked Megan for inviting us over and then I drove back out to Erika's house to let the dogs out to go potty one more time.
I went home, showered and hung out for a bit. We went to bed late, took some Ibuprofen because I knew if I didn't, I would be kicking myself the next day when I got up sore.
Sunday, December 1st
The next day, I got up around 10 and I was sore, but not as sore as I thought I would be. The walking I do around the park must be helping a little. I drove over to Erika's house to feed and let her dogs out to go potty. I came home and Ben was finally up, so we made a late breakfast while we watched the Seahawks play a terrible game against the Jets. We did end up winning, but it was ugly. It was nice to beat Aaron Rodgers but seriously, he needs to retire. It is getting Brett Favre and Tom Brady sad.
We chatted with Ben's mom for a bit and then we both drove out to Rainier to get our Christmas decorations. We thought we would be in the rental house at this point, but the rental needed some serious repairs after the people who were living there let it go to crap. I wanted to get a head start on decorating and doing the Christmas cards.
Ben headed home and I made a spot at my parent's house to drop off money for my cell phone. They kept me there longer than I had anticipated. I finally had to tell Mom that I had to go unload the Escape and do our chores. I finally headed home, unloaded the Escape and since we had some daylight left and it wasn't raining, to go outside and pick up the mess in the front yard from that blasted tree I hate. Ben came out and helped me. We got it done quickly. Randy came out and chatted with us while we worked. We got it all picked up and bagged just before it got dark.
We had leftovers and watched Sunday Night Football while I organized on how my work week was going to go. I was so thankful that I had a chance to do a DJA in another business area. It gave me an opportunity to challenge myself and help get the unit caught up. I know I still have a lot to learn but I am slowly getting there one day at a time.
The four-day weekend went by super-fast, but it was a much-needed break from doing two jobs at the same time.
Next Adventure: Picking Out Our Christmas Tree and Our First Session of D&D
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