Alarm clock wake-ups are SO over-rated

Whew!  It's not very often I am blessed with three consecutive "not-setting-the-alarm" mornings, but I'm feeling pretty wiped out. That's not a complaint; actually, quite the opposite. I'm lucky to have a lot of things happening, and I'll gladly take "wiped-out" over "bored-out-of-my-mind" any day.

My first "not-setting-the-alarm" morning was Thursday, also known as Thanksgiving in my household.  I usually host Thanksgiving dinner, so I have the routine down to a science. I had baked the pumpkin pie and assembled the scalloped corn casserole on Wednesday evening, so all we had left was to make the dressing and stuff the bird (the husband's job---eeew! I'm not putting my hand in there!) and cook the potatoes (and mash them, add the extra "secret" ingredients, and put them in the crockpot until mealtime).

Fresh out-of-the-oven goodness

We also had a local Turkey Trot to get to at 8:00AM (after putting the bird in the oven). A friend, the husband, and myself have organized this Trot since its inception, and this was the fourth year. It's a free event, and we encourage runners (of all abilities) and walkers to participate. We have 1, 2, or 3-mile options, and also have donation boxes on site for non-perishable food items (that we take to the local community food pantry).

We got very lucky with the weather. Rain had been in the forecast all week, but the temps were going to be in the upper 40's. And guess what? The rain held off until after the Trot was finished, so we had great attendance!



Our Thanksgiving dinner (at 1:00) went off without a hitch, and we spent the afternoon scanning the newspaper ads in search of must-have Black Friday items. For the first time (in a very long time), nothing grabbed my attention. Sure, I saw a lot of things I liked, but nothing that warranted fighting the crowds in the late hours of Thursday evening (or the wee hours of Friday morning). We decided to post-pone our Black Friday adventure until late Black Friday morning.

With two college kids, it's rare to have all of us under the same roof

 My  the second "not-setting-the-alarm" morning was Friday. Even though I didn't set my alarm, I was still awake by 6:30 (an hour later than my usual rise-n-shine time). I did a quick Streak run, rallied the daughters (the husband and son elected to stay home), my sister picked us up and we departed around 11:00 for our Black Friday girls' day. Surprisingly, the stores weren't too crowded. We did find a few good bargains, but nothing stellar. We made it back home in the early evening, and spent the rest of the night watching movies.

The third (and final) "not-setting-the-alarm"day was Saturday. Did I mention that I'm doing the Runner's World Holiday Running Streak again this year? Participants are encouraged to run at least one mile everyday from Thanksgiving until New Year's Day (37 total days this year). This is my third year doing the Holiday Streak. Normally, I am not an advocate for daily running. On occasion, though, I do take part in short streaks. Saturday morning (already my third day of streaking) had me lacing up and heading out .

Once back home, I got started on putting up Christmas tree #1. We have vaulted ceilings in our living room, so we have a 9-ft. tree (which still looks dwarfed). We bought this tree several years ago (the day after Christmas), for next to nothing. It's a basic tree, and it's not pre-lit. Guess what? The pre-lit trees made their big debut the following year! So, yes, we totally missed the boat on that modern invention. I can usually have the tree set up (with umpteen strings of lights) within a couple hours. I have learned to do the lights on each row of branches (row-by-row, as I'm putting the branches in place), instead of dong all the branches first and having to wrestle with the lights in between the rows. It takes quite a bit longer, but it ends up being a much easier process.

Tree #1...stay tuned, the ornaments are coming

Next on the agenda was a photo session at our church for the new pictorial directory. The timing of this photo session was ideal since our two college kids were home and able to be in the photo. We even took our dog along, and he cooperated and smiled for the camera (sort of).

Sunday arrived, with the usual 5:30AM alarm wake-up. A group of runners have been meeting on Sunday mornings at a nearby nature preserve and running the trails. After a tough and frustrating excursion the weekend prior (in several inches of snow), I kind of had some unfinished business to resolve. All of the snow from a week ago had melted, and left us with a lot of mud and damp conditions. I was surprised to find the ground so wet; even though the snow had melted, I was expecting the trails to be somewhat frozen.

We ran with a decent pace, and finished in our usual time (just under an hour). The temps were in the upper 20's and the air felt great! I didn't dress as warm this week, so I was completely comfortable. My pretty shoes need a bath, though, and my favorite socks are playing peek-a-boo with my big toe.

I hustled home, and was able to make it to church. Later, after lunch and a movie with the husband and still-at-home daughter, I got Christmas tree #2 put up and lit (also needs ornaments).

Tree #2, this one resides in our family room

This is the first year I have thought of utilizing our ficus tree as a Christmas tree. This poor tree fought a long battle, and when it was finally declared non-living, I spray-painted it black to make it look like a decorative tree (it's tall and helps fill up the space in the corner of our sun room). It reminds me of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Although it doesn't have lights, it currently is the only Christmas tree in our house sporting ornaments!

Tree #3...eat your heart out, Charlie Brown!

And, last but not least, I have successfully surpassed my goal of 200 planking minutes for the #plankingontheflyCHALLENGE. My November planking minutes (as of Sunday evening) are at 202. There will definitely be a few more minutes added before December arrives on the calendar. I'm good with that. Onward!

Planking.....yadda yadda yadda

Do you treat yourself to "not-setting-the-alarm" days once in awhile? Or, are you like me, and wake up early without an alarm on the days when you can sleep in? Do you head out or stay in for Black Friday? If you put up a Christmas tree, do you do it all in one shot or stagger the decorating (adding the lights and/or ornaments) over the course of a couple days?

I'm linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs  and Tricia at Misssippipiddlin  for their Weekend Wrap. Head over and check out all the happenings of fellow bloggers.