Thanksgiving weekend

What a weekend! It was busy, busy, busy!

The fun started on Wednesday, my last day of work! I gave Alex some Spiderman pencils as a going away present. He said, "There are four--I could give one to everyone at my table. But I really love Spiderman, so I think I'll keep them all." So cute! I'm going to miss that kid.

Wednesday evening, we tood my parents to Bella Vita Ristorante in Indianapolis to celebrate their 30th anniversary. It is a really cool restaurant on the Geist reservoir. The food was great, and they had a wine cooler that was temperature-regulated by a waterfall over a glass panel. We gave my parents a picture frame and told them that we were getting family photos taken for their anniversary present.

Thanksgiving was a relaxing day of eating, playing games and reading in front of the fireplace. Good thing, too, because the next day we got up to hit the sales at the mall. I now have a new definition for insanity. We were able to get some awesome deals, though--the best being a down ski jacket to take to Colorado, marked down from $145 to $40! Worth enduring that out-of-control Kohl's line for. I got some "Western-style" clothes to wear at the ranch, too.

Friday afternoon we cut our tree and decorated it. We have a party every year with party food, Christmas music and watching "A Muppet Family Christmas" after we decorate the tree. I will really miss it when we all go our separate ways. Hopefully I'll do it with my own family some day.

Saturday was a spectacular day. We went up to Chicago and spent some time down town--looking at the Marshall Fields window display (The Nutcracker this year), browsing through German Fest, and checking out the American Girl Doll store at my special request. I have Samantha. Those dolls will always hold a special place in my heart. I love Chicago at Christmas. Everything is decorated so beautifully, and they have the horses and carriages trotting down town, and random people playing Christmas music on the corners--saxes and Salvation Army brass quartets and stomp-type drummers playing on buckets. We had Giordano's pizza for dinner--yummy!--and then we went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Cadillac Palace Theatre.

One of the things on my list of Top 5 Things to Do Before I Die is see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. This wasn't Broadway, but I am satisfied. The performers did an outstanding job, and it was so wonderful and amazing to see the music come to life and be acted out. I got chills the first time the Phantom showed up and swirled his cape. Oh my gosh, it was so so so TREMENDOUS. TREMENDOUS is mine and my sister's new favorite word from this weekend. We decided it should always be spelled with all caps and only used for the truly great things of life. But then we ended up using it all the time. But the original usage definitely applies for Phantom.

I hit the mall again today to look for a few more things to take to CO. I stocked up on warm socks and black shirts--part of my work dress code. I ran into Kim, Dave and Noah while I was there, which was fun.

So, that was my TREMENDOUS holiday weekend. Here is a link to pictures: http://purdue.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297155&id=13717859