Completely Exhausted but Looking Good and Feeling Thankful

I have been running on fumes for several weeks preparing for Thanksgiving and the quickly approaching end of the semester.  Once the Thanksgiving meal was done, I felt more free to nap, and so I did at length.  I've been sleeping at least 8 hours a night and napping for about two hours a day.  I'm not quite perky yet.  I'm not typically a high energy person, but I've been dragging more slowly than usual.  In another week my students take their final, and after finishing grading, I'm done for the semester.  That's sounding really nice.  The next semester doesn't start for another 6 weeks, so even though I'll still be working my morning secretary job, I'll have some extra time to do what I want and need.

I was so tired that I didn't really do much "Black Friday" shopping.  I had thought about going to Elizabethtown, but after seeing the sale papers and judging my energy level, I decided to just go to Walmart in Campbellsville sometime on Friday.  Their sale started at 5 a.m.  I got there about 8:30, and they still had tons of stuff.  The only things I didn't see were the small kitchen appliances for less than $3.  I picked up a $69 Blu-Ray player, a couple $5 Blu-Ray disks, and a couple $5 long sleeve Spiderman t-shirts for Matt.  The Blu-Ray player turned out not to be able to do what it was advertised to do, so we took it back and complained that we didn't get what was advertised.  Apparently from what I've seen elsewhere online, many other people had the same problem.  Our Walmart refunded the price of the Blu-Ray player and gave us an extra $25 gift card for our inconvenience.  It turned out that we were able to buy one that could do what we wanted for $94, which is exactly $25 more than the $69 I originally spent.  So we got a Blu-Ray player that can stream Netflix movies and Youtube clips for the price of one that could do neither, a good deal.  Matt seems pleased, which is equivalent to excitement in other people.  Now I just have to do all the Christmas shopping.

I have a tendency to be unable to hide how I'm feeling, so I looked pretty rough when I went to church last Wednesday.  In addition to fatigue, I was suffering from intestinal difficulties caused by supper.  This is the second time that the tandoori chicken has made me sick, so this recipe is being retired.  It tastes good, but not good enough to get sick for.  Baskin-Robbins ice cream is occasionally good enough to get sick for; that tandoori chicken is not.  Apparently, my post-Thanksgiving naps were having an effect because I got several compliments on how I looked Sunday, mostly from people who saw me Wednesday night.  I have very kind church friends for whom I'm very thankful.

And as I have been for the last 10 Thanksgivings, I am thankful for Matt. Saying that he is my best friend sounds trite, but "best friend" is the right term for the person you want to be with for serious conversations, silliness, affection, new adventures, and trying times. We have had all of these in the last year, and I have had conscious moments of thankfulness for him many times throughout this year.