Tidbits: Preparation

• Skater Girl's home rink is surrounded by excellent shopping. That makes the 6:30 a.m.-9:00 a.m. skating sessions look really attractive for the next five or six weeks. That time of day falls before even the extended hours many retailers have scheduled. I just don't think I have the patience to navigate through the masses likely converging on the shopping center who are operating on too little sleep, time, and money while attempting to meet increased demands on all three.
• Tomorrow, the mister and I will trek into the downtown area for a sonogram of my neck. There's a radiologist there who is supposed to have a great eye for recognizing Thyroid malignancies via ultrasound. The clear scan from last August was negated by some blood work, so we are back to watching the bump found in June for a possible recurrence of the cancer treated successfully two decades ago.
• The assignments for Thanksgiving Dinner have been given. Our hostess only requested that we bring a corn casserole, chocolate bread, and the wine. It's hard to get much easier than a make-ahead treat, a single baked dish that's prepped in advance, and a couple of bottles of Reisling. Thanksgiving Day will be a relaxed one with great friends who have genuinely made us part of the family.
• The girls and I are thinking we will skip Black Friday. We are unsure just what traditions to try to resurrect this year. Some of our humbug hangs on as we face the third holiday season without the Boy. The mister is ready to return to the enjoyment of more cheer, but his girls are still unsure how to get the spirit of Christmas Past into the present.