Black Eye Friday

That's about it when you go out shopping for cheap crap made in China that the ungrateful recipients will throw away in a year.  You will have to fight the 'bored moms on prozac' who are mesmerized by bright, shiny objects.  Sorry, but absolutely NOBODY I know needs to have anything that badly where making retail employees skip out on the ever diminishing, hallowed, designated family time to report to work to ring up my purchases born in overseas sweatshops and brought here for my own personal greed of accumulating more stuff.

I don't buy it.  Literally.  This is how I spent my Black Friday.

A friend of mine texted me and wanted to walk our dogs.  We took a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood and through the park.  I talked my friend into attending dance class with me.  To her credit, she came with me and actually enjoyed it.  While there we bumped into another neighbor in the parking who was recently instantly, unexpectedly widowed.  She also just lost her brother she was nursing from cancer.  Talk about a suck-fest.  She is trying to reclaim some sort of normal for her life.
After class I came home and decided to do something with the leftovers from my 22 pound turkey that I served for Thanksgiving.  Let the fun begin.  Turkey soup, turkey enchiladas, and turkey salad used the last of it all.  I then made a food plate for a friend who is dealing with an aggressive form of breast cancer and brought it over to her.  She's going through chemo and not sure what her appetite does from moment to moment, but I know she's got weed (for medical reasons -- REALLY -- don't judge -- it helps with the effects of chemo) and food for either herself or her husband or kids.  I don't think she's up to cooking much these days.

Talk about another suck-fest.  Within one year this friend lost her mother and her toddler niece.  Her 44 year-old sister-in-law (who lives life like the Duggars with 12 kids, homeschooling, churchy, etc.) had a stroke.  Now my friend is dealing with an aggressive form of breast cancer.

My life is a cake walk in comparison.  Everything that irritates me is so minor and trivial.  No, I will not be cruising the retail aisles.  I'm trying to make life just a little bit better for those around me without reaching for something on a store display.