Thanxmas

My brother is deploying (*AGAIN!*) to Iraq sometime late November, maybe early December so he is once again going to miss the holidays. So this past weekend my family rolled Thanksgiving and Christmas into one big holiday called Thanxmas. We borrowed an artificial tree decorated the inside of the house, and bought some inexpensive gifts for everyone, except my brother and his wife who received real holiday presents. I bought all the old holiday movies, Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving and Christmas, Rudolph, Frosty, etc. Add to that some holiday music and a Thanksgiving feast and you really do feel like you've just celebrated Christmas. I went to the store and thought to myself "why is this store open on.... oh wait, it is not Thanksgiving or Christmas!"
All in all it was a fun time. Babes really enjoyed the opening of presents and I think my brother and sister had a good time too. It wasn't until I was leaving that I realized that this would probably be the last time that I would see my brother before he deployed. Which was probably good because then I would have been sad. Luckily I was able to forget about it until it was too late to ruin everything.
Happy Thanxmas Everyone!

Catching up!

So I've been through my first adult Halloween. I have to say it was very weird handing out candy to all the little ones. The first couple of "customers" were wee little ones who weren't entirely sure what to make of the whole thing. Their parents shoved them up to the door then told to say "trick or treat" which sometimes they did and sometimes they didn't, and then I gave out some candy and posed while pictures were taken then there was a kind of awkward moment while we tried to figure out what to do. I was waiting for them to leave so I could close the door, I don't know what they were waiting for, probably for me to make some sort of "oh how cute" comment (it wasn't until the third or fourth child that I realized I should make some sort of banter) or maybe they weren't sure what to do themselves. With the older kids it wasn't a problem, they were basically trying to hit as many houses as they could before it was too late so they grabbed candy and ran. All in all it's very interesting being on the other side of the door.
Also, we've elected our first black president! Can you believe it?!?!?! I seriously did not think people would be able to vote for a black man, but apparently messing with your money pisses people off to the point where they don't care about skin color. I am very proud of my country.
I just got back from Columbus visiting my grandparents with my mom. My grandfather seems to be holding his own against Alzheimer's although I can tell that he is slowly losing the fight. It's a horrible way to go, although I suppose he's not in pain (although maybe he is but can't tell us) so I guess it's not horrible. I often wonder about what goes on inside of someone who has Alzheimer's. Is he trapped behind a wall but is still seeing and hearing like in the old days, but can't make us understand. Or is it truly like what we see and the brain goes away piece by piece. Is this a case where quantity is better than quality or should we think about quality instead of quantity.
Anyway, we are off this weekend to celebrate Thanksmas for my brother who is deploying soon. Since we are not sure if he will be home for Thanksgiving or Christmas we are combining them into one big holiday this weekend. I bought the Christmas specials and we've got decorations up, there are presents, and feasts planned. I hope to take tons of pictures and hope this will be the best Thanksmas EVER!