The Best Way to Black Friday
I’m no shopper. Neither are my three sisters. Mom’s usually up for it. But I still left Ditto that morning with a $15 bag stuffed with two sports coats, a collared shirt, and a pair of pants for my boys. On top of the sweaters and other merchandise my sisters picked up – ironically Mom was the one who didn’t find anything – Rose also discovered a transformer-type well-worn desk about sixty years old that she took home for $45 – well, Dad and Francis actually took home for her. And that’s about all we saw of Black Friday.
A stop for warm loaves of bread fresh off the press at Great Harvest in Kirkwood, and back again.
My boys had spent their morning setting up the Christmas tree, picking up Jimmy John’s for lunch, and then watching Big Hero Six at the movies with buttered popcorn.
So my afternoon turned into a little light bookwork, podcast-prep. Rose had surprised Carrie-Bri with a Yeti in the mail, this fat silver swivel microphone professional enough to raise our podcasting to a whole new level. We experimented for awhile at the dining room table.
Meanwhile, Francis – who had just learned he was needed to pick up the back-breaker desk from Ditto – walked up the stairs with his whiny I-want-food-voice.
“Collette, my dear sister…”
Like clockwork.
“The eggs are all gone, Francis,” Mom warned him in advance.
“Buttered noodles?”
As I boiled water on the stove, I specifically did not tell Francis that only gluten-free pasta remained in the pantry. He found out soon enough.
“What do you think?” I asked some time later.
“Tastes like the absence of happiness.”
He ate it anyway.
Then Dad had him call up Rose to let her know they were dropping off the dek.
“Tell her there’s a $150 delivery charge,” Dad called from the kitchen.
“Put it on my tab,” Rose replied.
With my work done – well… – for the day, I returned before the boys got home from their afternoon out. A couple of hours to lounge around, and then back to the Big House to watch a stupid move with Carrie and Rose. Because we really like watching ridiculous stuff made more ridiculous by laughter and mockery, as needed.