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I’m back from a fantastic holiday week! I ended up taking extra days off work to make it a whole week (and a half day) break. For those who don’t follow me on Instagram, here’s a peek at my week:

Monday I headed up to see Sixx. I spent the night there and generally had a great time. Our relationship is so hot and cold lately (today it’s the latter, go figure,) but it was nice to get to see my person. Tuesday I drove down to my cousin’s house and spent some one-on-one time with her and the kidlets before my mom arrived that night. We all went to dinner once she got to town and relaxed with tequila.. then at home, we relaxed with Dancing With the Stars (my girl won!) and beer, and Rumchata. Oops.

Most of the rest of the family came in on Wednesday, and I’m honestly not totally sure what we did. NP and I went on a very brisk run, and I suppose we finalized Thanksgiving day plans. That was a good thing because on Thursday NP got called in to work… which meant I had to take the charge on making dinner for 40. It actually ended up pretty well, everything was ready at the same time, and it was delicious. I was pretty proud of myself. Once the extended family left, I took a quick nap before we headed out to the stores.

Black Friday is huge with my family. It’s one of the first times I remember hanging out with NP by myself a few years ago and I think we all spend quality time together doing it. That said, the backlash about stores opening on Thanksgiving night this year really shocked me because for the last few years, the outlet near our house opened at 8 that night. At any rate, that evening and the following day were filled with broken sleep, puppy naps, and a broken back. I managed to throw out my back sleeping on a mattress on the floor and running all over creation. (I’m only just now getting back to normal.) Since my family is huge and spread out, Saturday was our Christmas. Short of a gun-related panic attack and a drunken meltdown, it was a pretty nice time.

Most of the family left on Sunday, so I got more time with mama llama. We also watched a Hallmark movie that was filmed in the town they live in. The movie was awful, but was fun to see places we go on screen. My nephew was especially excited to see his school, which they used as a hospital. To be honest – I’m not feeling “in the spirit” at all this year, and I’m not sure what the deal is. I’m certainly ready for days to be long again and to see the sun when I get out of work!

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you scoop up any Black Friday deals?