What a feast! Thanksgiving is always a great time to enjoy the bounties of the fall harvest, and it was a blessing to have lots of family to share with! I couldn't believe how much food there ended up being, and everyone was happy to have leftover goodies to take home with them. Its always funny to watch my husband at Thanksgiving... you can set a timer to the exact number of minutes it will take him to fall asleep after finishing his meal. Its always the family joke.
We had a great day, and now I'm looking forward to a day of no spending, to protest "Black Friday." This world is too focused on consumerism, and I am boycotting the concept this holiday season. It amazes me that so many are so blind to the state our economy is in right now, as well as to the obvious things you can do to make it a little better. Start by spending your money wisely, focusing on supporting your local economy rather than China! Buy gifts from little shops rather than big box stores, or better yet, buy the basic ingredients or materials and make it yourself! A well thought out gift means so much more than 10 cheap little things you grabbed off the shelf, in the race to beat the person next to you to the next aisle over!
This year I am giving gift bags full of homemade goodies and useful items. The gift bag is really a re-useable shopping bag, and it will contain a few homemade preserves, like the Ginger-Pear Marmalade I made last week, Banana Bread, Cookies, and even a few neat dish-scrubbies that I have been crocheting over the last month or so. A few special people may get a few extra goodies that I found at a thrift store, or maybe a CSA box for the week of their choice. My point is just to be thoughtful, rather than tv-commercial driven. You will feel better about the whole season, knowing you didn't give in to the little voices coming out of your television that tell you what to buy and how to think.
