Holiday with the Parents

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day filled with love, family and good food.  I definitely had all the above.  Despite my mom being a vegitarian and my dad being on a fairly strict diet, they cooked the full traditional Thanksgiving dinner for me and it was wonderful!  Of course after dinner and dishes, we did the all American thing and passed out while watching TV!


We do not participate in Black Friday.  I dislike shopping, traffic and crowds enough already ... I don't need to add to the mix the frenzy that comes with people rushing around in a panic to snap up all the savings they can.  I suppose if I had everybody's Christmas lists, or if we purchased big-ticket items for Christmas presents it would be important; but we don't, so it's not.


Instead we started the day with a long, fast walk (4.5 miles) through M&D's neighborhood.  It is so nice to walk/run around here because it is perfectly flat.  At home, there isn't a flat stretch of road within 15 miles so running is extremely difficult (for me, someone who doesn't run anyways).  On the downside, it was 30 degrees with a windchill of about 20!  I thought my face was going to freeze!  At least I got some description of a work out completed and some nice one-on-one time with my mom.


The remainder of the day doing Mom and Dad stuff ... replacing and setting up a printer, setting up shelves in Mom's "office" and generally puttering around.  It was while doing these things that I learned my fate for the evening.  UGH!


My parents are very musically talented; my dad traveled with a gospel quartet most of my childhood and my mom is a piano, chior and band teacher.  This means that they are very involved in the music at their church.  Throughout the day I had heard them mention that they needed to practice for church service the next day, but I thought it was going to be just the two of them at home.  Boy, was I wrong.  Instead, I spent 2 1/2 hours sitting in their church listening to them practice with several other musicians.  I love music of all kinds and this wasn't bad music, but listening to people learn music is just one step above fingernails on a chalkboard ... especially when they're trying to change the key on the fly so being out-of-tune was a regular sound.  I finally succumbed to putting on my iPod and playing it a full sound to drown out what I was hearing.  I love my parents dearly, but no child (or adult child) should be subjected to that!


When they finished I found a different set of religious rules than I was raised on.  Growing up, our world stopped from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.  No TV, no shopping, no work (that part wasn't bad), no nothing.  Typically the majority of the cooking for Saturday was done Friday afternoon so the work after church was minimal.  So you can imagine my surprise when we went out to eat after practice at the church.  Then, when we got home, Dad turned on the TV to watch the football game.  The funny thing was he didn't turn on the volume ... like maybe that wasn't breaking the "rules."  Finally, after we all sat there for about 15 minutes watching a silent TV I suggested he turn on the sound.  He seemed reluctant, but I didn't come from the "talkies" era and silent TV isn't for me.


I did get out of going to church today ... I don't mean that as bad as it might sound.  It's just after years of being in the church and attending church school, and the struggles that created in my life, I prefer not to go when given the choice.  So I was thrilled when attendance was presented as an option ... and I opted out.


I've had a good sleep in and am going to tackle Backs and Biceps with the Abs Ripper (finally!) now.


Day 13 down, 80 to go.