Danielle Pelkey: Gather with friends, family for holidays

Published 6:37 am Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Well after a weekend filled with Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Alabama/Auburn football and other activities, it seems like we should all take a break from the craziness of life. But alas, there is no time for breaks.

The Christmas season is upon us and it’s time to shop for all of the holiday gifts and bake for all of the family get togethers.

If you got the opportunity to shop on black Friday, then you know how incredibly hectic and crazy people can be about their holiday shopping. I was at Walmart at 1 a.m. to get a television set that I not only didn’t need, but didn’t necessarily even want, but I was there. My brother had so awesomely picked up an extra ticket while in line for over five hours for the television, and I just didn’t have the heart to tell him that I truly didn’t need the new tube. So instead of dashing his dreams, my sister and I decided to make our way to the store to stand in line and keep him awake for the remainder of the time.

It turned out to be a rather exciting and enjoyable time.

Not only did I get to see a fist fight, but I also got to see the police break up another fight, and I’m pretty sure a pregnant woman may have gone into labor by the frozen goods while waiting on a $20 printer that she just “had to have.”

It was mayhem to say the least. It is amazing to know that people will give up days of their lives to save $100 on a television. That was never more obvious than when looking at the young bucks that were camped outside of Best Buy from Tuesday to Friday in order to get their hands on the few, cheap televisions that were on sale. When you see things like that, you have to know that it’s not just about the thrill of the hunt, it’s also about the joy in the waiting. I believe I had more fun standing in line with my brother and sister than I did at the family Thanksgiving dinner earlier that night. We laughed and talked and told way more information about ourselves than we should have. But it seemed that the people around us were thankful for the comedic relief.

When I arose on Thanksgiving morning, I knew that there would be over 30 people at my house that evening for dinner, so the preparations had begun days in advance. I had set three different tables with different table settings. This being my first time to host the family get together, I wanted everything to be perfect. I made sure that we drank from “fancy glasses” (fluted with stems) and we had to eat on real plates. This may sound weird to you, but it was something that I’ve wanted to do for many years. I guess I never outgrew the whole “tea party” stage.

After the Thanksgiving festivities and the Black Friday mayhem, there was a certain football game that had to take place and being the happy hostess, I made sure that everyone knew they were invited to my house for the game. Little did I know that almost all of my friends and family members were Alabama fans, and my team didn’t really show up for the game. That made Saturday a rather long and tortuous event.

Sunday rolled around and it was time to jump up for church and then on Sunday afternoon I got the privilege of putting on a birthday party at a skating rink for my 3-year-old daughter. When the party was over and the weekend was finally coming to a close, two things were very apparent: We could not have fit much more into one weekend, and there is not a better bunch of people to be around than your friends and family during the holidays.