These days were kinds of a whirlwind of packing, working on my thesis presentation (for my oral defense), and Thanksgiving in California with Chris' parents. Two of the days were almost entirely devoted to driving. But here are the highlights of these days:
1) Time with relatives. It was really nice to get to see both of Chris' grandmothers this trip. His mom's mom I've seen lots of times, and she's sweet as can be and likes me a lot, I think. Here's a great picture of Chris with her:
We also drove down with Chris' dad to see his dad's mom, and I'd never met her before. It may be the last time we see her alive. It didn't occur to me to take a picture, which is kind of sad. She's not doing well at all, and didn't open her eyes or make any sign to acknowledge that anyone was there. We also got to see his Aunt Roseanne (his dad's sister) because she's taking care of her mom. I like Roseanne. She's pretty chatty and funny.
It was of course good to spend time with Chris' immediate family too, although his brother Bryan and Bryan's wife Emily were stuck working in Idaho and couldn't make it. I particularly enjoy spending time with Lindsey, his sister. We went Black Friday shopping with Lindsey, but more on that later.
2) Good eats. Hey, it's Thanksgiving. There's good food. I made myself some onion-free gravy, because the other gravy was storebought and I couldn't eat it. I've never made gravy before, and I think maybe it would have been a good idea to have a little water in the broiling pan because the drippings mostly burnt and stuck to the pan, so the gravy was interesting, but I actually liked it. It really made the turkey and potatoes taste yummy. Also, Chris' mom made this delicious sweet potato casserole, which I ate a lot of despite having to pick off the top because it had nuts. I'd like the recipe for that so I can alter it and eat the topping. I made a French Cherry pie, which involved graham cracker crust, sweet cream, and cherries. I think I'd like to make it again though, because I messed it up a lot. And yet it was still everyone's favorite pie, probably because it was homemade. It's the only one that actually got completely eaten before we left. I also made waffles the morning we left, and they were pretty yummy despite being from a mix. Now that I have a waffle iron finally, we'll probably have delicious waffles here at home much more often!
3) Great deals. We did Black Friday. And oh boy, did we do it. We got a blu-ray player for $40 (it has wi-fi even) and some mega discounted DVDs and blu-rays (Modern Family season 2 for $9, for example). Chris got a 16 GB USB drive for $12. I got a car stereo to replace my broken one with a CD player and ipod input for $40. We really wanted to get a waffle iron at Walmart for $2.88, but they were all gone at both Walmart's we went to, so we got one at Kohl's for $10 after a rebate that I still need to send in. Chris got me a super nice winter coat, kind of peacoat style but longer, covers my butt for extra warmth. It was $50 at Macey's, marked down from $150. It really does look nice. I'll have to take a picture. And Chris got some dress slacks which he badly needed. Thanks to a gift card from his dad and a buy one get on free sale, he got two pairs of $80 slacks for a grand total of $30, and his dad even paid for them. And here's the crowning glory...a 40 inch LED 120 hertz 1080p Samsung TV! We only had $350 in the budget for a TV, but Chris' parents were insistent that we get a really good one, so they paid for the rest of the TV. Although it was a really good deal anyway, only $500 total (so they paid $150). They also ordered us a Blendtech, but that was kind of a leftover wedding present. I feel like we have too much fancy stuff now, but it was all such a good deal.
Yup, good stuff.
