The Black Friday Post

Turkey sandwiches and deal-crazed shoppers are the two things that the day after Thanksgiving is good for. While I do love a good turkey and stuffing hoagie I must say that if I had to pick one of the post holiday traditions, I’d side with the Black Friday madness. There is something about rampant merchandising that gets my blood boiling, and with the temperatures outside at 4am in Virginia, that’s a good thing. This year I didn’t have anything in particular I wanted to pick up, even after hours of flyer scouring with Sarah. Regardless of my own shopping agenda we rose at 3:30 and blitzed all the major retailers to catch the best of the holiday fervor. We managed to score some excellent deals on behalf of other (more sleep oriented) people but largely didn’t put any dents in our own shopping lists. I don’t know what it is about holiday merchandising that gets me going, but I can’t stand not to be a part of it, even if I don’t actually buy anything. The Christmas music in the car while we wait for the sucker to warm up makes it all worthwhile. Is that sad? That’s what my shrink said… till I got him a great deal on a Cannon 6 mega pixel camera!

The Thankfull Post

This Thanksgiving I have a lot to be thankful for. Beyond having friends and family all together for a celebration at Ali and Bob’s tomorrow I am also looking forward to December 1st because that is my first day on the job as the new Marketing Designer at Avectra. I received the offer yesterday and have accepted the position. I’m really looking forward to getting started.

In other progress related news, Sarah and I have been approved for a terrific apartment in Reston. We are getting a great deal on a 2 bed, one bath (or 1 bed with den depending which floor plan you look at) right down the road from Reston Town Center. Avectra is based out in Tyson’s Corner so I will have to contend with the traffic to some degree, but Sarah’s commute will be less than 5 minutes. The apartment has all kinds of shops and the bike path within walking distance, as well as extremely easy access to Route 7 and Reston Parkway. Getting around will be easy. I am particularly excited about being a 1.6 mile cab-ride back from the Town Center (we measured it). There are so many new and interesting bars and restaurants out there I am sure Sarah and I will be taking advantage of the social scene there a lot after the move. As it stands we have a hold on the apartment and will be moving in on the 15th of December. Making the move right before the holidays is not the best timing but the special rates we where offered made the offer to hard to pass up.

I am really excited going into the holiday with all the progress that has happened these past two days. It seems Virginia is finally come around and is ready to have me back.