Extra Long Long Weekend

First of all, before I go any further, a wish for a very Happy Thanksgiving to my friends in Canadia!  I hope you have a really lovely holiday, and that it's full of the food, family, and friends that you hope it to be.

Whenever it's Canadian Thanksgiving, I get excited, because it means that the holiday season has really and truly started!

My weekend was a long weekend, made extra long by having the day off on Friday.  I had to have a nuclear stress test at 7 a.m., and they told me it would take approximately 4 hours.  Rather than worry about how long it was taking in the work day, and how I might feel afterwards, I just used a sick day.  It wasn't great, but it wasn't wonderful.  I finished about 1:30, came home and took a nap until The Tim got home from work - so a day off, but not full of fun and hilarity.  But meaning a four-day weekend!  And on Friday evening, I did finish the stitching of the cross-stitch piece for my niece Amanda, so framing can commence!

Saturday was the day we were headed to The Tim's brother's house in the 'burbs because his daughters arranged a family get-together for his 70th birthday.  I would say it was as good as it could have been.  The Tim asked his brother if we could bring Hamlet, and so that helped.  Hamlet had two mega-fans there:  6-year-old Fiona and her sister 3-year-old Kira, who had as much energy for playing as he did.  We stayed for about 2 hours, which was the plan, and it was pleasant enough.  

The Tim's family worked really hard to be close while his parents were still alive.  Once they were gone, since all of the siblings were not truly close, we only heard occasional updates.  It has always been a contest apparently as to who is the most well off, most successful, has the best job, etc.  The Tim was close with his oldest sister Sheila, who died a couple of years ago.  It was truly nice to see everyone, and see what all of the nieces are up to, meet their boyfriends, etc. and I did enjoy that.  They took lots of photos, so once I see some of them, I'll share them.  The weather was nice enough that we spent most of the day on the porch, and the food and drink was amazing, so I was pleased.  

I'm glad we went, because even though The Tim is not overly keen on his siblings, we made an appearance, had a nice time, and now have done our Clancy family duty for a while.  ;-)

Sunday, The Tim was at work for the bulk of the day.  I worked on some things in the house that I wanted to do, took a long walk with Hamlet, and then walked up to the Fine Crafts Fair in Rittenhouse Square (it's crowded, and going with Hamlet would have been unpleasant for both of us).  Most things are not in my price range under the best of circumstances, but I did buy one thing that I gave to the Tim to put away for Christmas.  I'll share a photo when I officially receive it, since I forgot before I handed it over.  Then I watched the Eagles lose :-(, but the Steelers won :-), so that's football.  I also finished the pair of toddler Christmas socks I'd been knitting for my great-nephew Oden, that I am saving for their own post.  

Today I hope to start another pair of Christmas socks, as well as a hat that I want to give to The Tim for his birthday in November.  I also hope to do a good clean of the second floor, and start pulling out some colder weather clothes since it sounds like fall is actually here.  I have a couple of errands to run, but otherwise, nothing that is required.  It's nice to have today off (we get Columbus Day as a holiday, which I know is controversial, but a day off is a day off as far as I'm concerned), and I plan to enjoy it.

This week will be a long week at work, even with the holiday today.  Friday night is Members' Night, which means that you go to work at the regular time, but don't get home until after 9 p.m., when the event is over and you've put everything away.  It's a LONG day and constantly busy - the only break is lunch and a short dinner break before it all starts.  It's mostly enjoyable, with the occasional grouchy person who has an axe to grind or lives to trip you up on information, but it's also really exhausting!

So that's the news from here.  I hope you had a lovely weekend, and that your upcoming week will be a good one, with normal working hours the whole time!  :-)