Black Friday.

That sounds so ominous, doesn't it? Black Friday. OoooooooOOOOOOoooh! Bring out your dead!

Todd is out this morning braving the crowds for a couple of sales, and I am home relaxing before we throw some clothes into a bag and head for my brother's house for the rest of the weekend.

We had a really nice day yesterday, if an unorthodox Thanksgiving. We went to Bass Pro in the morning and I got a new pair of brown clogs, on sale. I seem to have lost my liking for shoes with backs on them, except for sneakers. All my other shoes are either flip-flops or clogs/mules.

Then we came home and had turkey sandwiches (Todd) and German restaurant doggy bag (me) for lunch, I cleaned the kitchen, and then we tackled putting in our new shrubs.

We had put three boxwoods across the front three years ago after we moved in, boxwoods that a friend of Todd's wanted out of his own landscaping, so they were free. One boxwood died last year and we pulled it out, one is two-thirds dead, and the other is okay but not thriving.

So we pulled out the last two and put in three smooth-leafed holly bushes and two abelias, with gray-green leaves and a branchy shape that contrasts well with the compact dark green hollies. The abelias will have small white flowers in the summer.

Then we put in a large rose in front of our little white fence to anchor that corner of the yard, and it looks terrific already. The hollies and abelias are still small and not too distinctive-looking yet, but the rose settled into its corner and looks right at home. It has red leaves that look wonderful in front of the white fence, and it will bloom red all next summer and fall. I'm thinking about running back and getting another one today while the nursery's 50% off sale is still going on.

While Todd dug and planted, I busied myself with chopping down all the brown dead stuff, dead daisies, dead mums, vincas that were blooming until last week when we finally got a killing frost. It was a big task...I am very into my garden from March till June, and then when it gets hot, I completely neglect the thing until late fall. I resolve to do better every year, but I don't seem to.

I got some good ideas from Elaine at The Flower Pot, though, and some inspiration for next spring, and I'm hoping the shrubs will provide some of the structure I need to build in front of and really make the beds look nice.

Anyway, after getting cleaned up, we drove down to Virginia Beach and had a nice dinner out with my friend Bev, at a seafood buffet place that added all the Thanksgiving staples to their spread. It was actually quite good.

On the way home, I called my mom and learned that my dad is in Missouri visiting my grandma right now. She's still in the hospital and not doing great, unfortunately. And her condition seems to fluctuate--one day she's on the upswing, the next day she's worse. So he decided to go ahead and go out and see her. We're all pretty worried about her.

But it was a nice day, and we thought about our blessings, as well as all the people we care about so much and couldn't be with that day. It would be wonderful to be able to just zap myself to Missouri and sit with my grandma, or to Ohio to spend the day with my mom who enjoyed a very quiet holiday, or to enjoy the delicious dinner my father-in-law cooked for the Ferrante-Mozeleski Thanksgiving. But I also felt very grateful last night for my warm comfortable home, my sweet husband who was poring over the ads and planning his Friday attack, the delicious dinner we had with our old friend, and my hot cup of chai tea.

Well, I'm off to pack my bags. Have a good weekend!