Thanksgiving Leftovers Wrap-Up

Sorry it's been a couple weeks since Thanksgiving and I haven't offered a decent report on those events!

As many of you most likely know, my birthday fell over Thanksgiving weekend this year (it's usually sometime around Thanksgiving).  I had a fabulous string of birthday-related events, starting with a wonderful surprise Team Trivia night on Wednesday with Super Husband, Alex and Kate and our favorite server Mindy.   I certainly wasn't expecting that!  They had party hats and a balloon and we all had some drinks, plus Super Husband got me cupcakes.  Hooray!  That was tons of fun and a nice way to unwind before Thanksgiving family stress.

Of course we had our turkey and ate it, too.  Our main Thanksgiving event with Super Husband's mom was very pleasant, and the fabulous weather didn't hurt!  Afterward I hopped over to my parents' house for a family birthday party, which included an Amazing Happy Birthday Candle  that looks like a flower, which opens, makes sparks, and plays music as the candles burn down.  It was like the 4th of July on a birthday cake.  Pure awesome.

The candle starts out like this (credit to some person's Instagram)...

... then finishes in a blaze of glory like this!  (Again, some person's Instagram via Amazon)

That was pretty show-stopping, and both Super Husband and I received some fabulous gifts as well.  I've been a bad person and haven't posted any pictures taken since Thanksgiving, and neglected to actually take any at Thanksgiving at all.  But I will get those up!  The mugs my sister in law Blair gave us are adorable and I've already had hot chocolate in one of them!

We did a little self-gifting too, making the effort to go Black Friday shopping at OfficeMax so Super Husband could get himself a new computer for cheap and we could nab a printer for his mom and a tiny flash drive for my sister.  I actually didn't get myself anything but I don't need anything, having just had a wedding and birthday and still having Christmas coming up!  I'm living in an embarrassment of gift wealth right now.

One "gift" I "gave" myself was a new cell phone, long overdue (same phone since 2008).  It actually still works pretty well, but I wanted to join the 21st century and be able to text, and since it was a flip phone it was not ideal for that purpose.  Plus it was starting to just not have the alarm go off, despite being set.  Not okay!  I need to wake up for work, phone.

This seemingly simple quest to get a new phone turned into a huge waste of time involving dragging my technophobe father and my tech-savvy brother in law to the "Verizon" store nearest to my parents' house, only to discover that this was but a mere authorized dealer, not a true Verizon corporate-run store.  So the best they could do was sell you devices and call customer service for you to set stuff up.  Thanks, I can do all that myself.  To add to their uselessness, they didn't even have the phone I'd chosen in stock, and refused to order it for me despite the fact that it was still prominently on display, since it is now considered "obsolete".  But I was told I could go online via Verizon's website and order it for myself, which is what I ended up doing.

But only after I sat on the phone with my dad and got designated as an Account Manager so that they'll let me do anything involving the account.  See, I'm still on a Family Share Plan from back in 2006, with no data, and up until recently no texting.  I had every intention of signing up for my own account, taking my number with me, and getting a smart phone for myself but when it came out to like $120 per month for one person, one device, one small data plan, I said no thanks.  

Maybe if I weren't facing a potential lay-off within the next month I'd have gone for it, but it seems ridiculous to have to pay that when I know other people in my family have smart phone plans with two people, two devices plus a hotspot device/service, and they pay about the same amount.  What. The. F.

I know this is all part of their pyramid scheme, just like DirecTV or the cable company.  The new people get slapped with the higher prices while the long-time customers keep paying their lower contract rate.  To add insult to injury, once I finally ordered my wonderous new device, I was coldly informed that there would be an upgrade fee of $30.  Despite the fact that I signed on for another 2-year contract and thus got a "free" phone, and have been "due" for a new "free" phone for 4 years.  Since April 2012, for all device "upgrades", be they replacing an old-ass phone or just getting the latest and greatest smart phone to replace the one you got last month, you pay $30.

Thank you, Verizon.  Well, here it is: the majestic and functional LG Extravert.  It actually suits my needs and use patterns quite well and it's a nice, snappy little phone.  But man I had to fight to get my hands on it about a week after I visited the store! I know, it looks like the phone everyone else got 6 years ago.  Don't burst my bubble!

LG Extravert, photo courtesy of CNET.com

After that big disappointment, leaving the Verizon store empty-handed and downtrodden (first world problems), Super Husband and I met up with my dear ladies Caitlin and Sarah for some comforting pizza to binge upon.  We ate at Maciano's in Rockford, which none of us had been to before.  I Yelped about it here, but suffice to say it was delicious.  But all too short!  Everyone was tired - Sarah had just come off a 12 hour Black Friday shift, we'd been up all night shopping, and Caitlin had clinicals the next morning. It was still lovely to see them and I'm hoping they'll be available again soon!

After pizza coma, we foolishly enticed my sister and her husband to go to see "Skyfall" with us at 10:10 p.m.  I didn't know what to expect and am only a casual Bond film viewer, so my perspective is skewed.  But I enjoyed it.  It was different than other Bond movies.  More psychological and less power-hungry bad guys motivated by greed.

I won't give away any spoilers, but I would like to ask if anyone who is a Bond fan or has seen the movie at least can explain the whole Skyfall thing to me.  What's with that?  Is it something they made up just for this movie, or did it come from a book?  What does it even mean?  Seems like a weird name for what it is in the movie.  (If you've seen it, you know.)

After the madness of staying up forever and a half, we had an early-ish morning on Saturday that was made better by bacon and waffles (my birthday breakfast request at Nick's mom's house).  That was terrific! (No one says terrific anymore unless they're using it negatively - I'd like to change that!)  Unfortunately we had to sort of dine and dash, but I received some more lovely gifts.  In particular, a book about the American Museum of Natural History's taxidermy dioramas (how they were made, the people and the expeditions behind them, how the art was done, etc) that I find completely fascinating.   That book got me through the drive home!

I got to meet up with Kayla and Ali for drinks at Cafe Hollander later that night, and then we all did some ill-advised midnight bowling (despite, again, being very tired).  I appreciate them coming out and making the trip!  I had a nice time.

The weeks since then have been filled with the usual routine, plus a visit from the electrician for a new Coca-Cola ceiling fan (pictures to come sometime) and lots of gift buying and wrapping.  I'm going for a "give modestly but generously" thing this year.  Not sure how that works, but basically trying not to spend a lot of money while also giving nice, personal gifts to everyone.  I hope it works out.

And Alex, Kate & Kayla came by on Sunday!  Maybe I should start calling them "AKK" for short (not sure how they'd feel about that...).  We had pasta, chocolate fondue and played Cards Against Humanity, plus there was lots of wine.  Pretty dang good way to end the weekend/start the week!