For Whom The Bell Tolls

Yesterday we had our Thanksgiving feast. I was so stuffed. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, rolls, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. We had apple pie and pumpkin pie. We had sparkling cider. It was all so good.

Last night I went and did some bell ringing. I gave up 2 hours in front of the K-Mart. I am not a fan of ringing in front of the K-Mart. First of all, when I ring at the Stater Bros., I see people I know. Families come and buy groceries. There is a security guard around. Police eat at the Subway and there are usually a few police cars. At K-Mart, there are hoodlums hanging about. There are old cars, people waiting for the bus, people taking advantage of the layaway plan. There are people on the pay phones. The only people I see I recognize are people who come to my work to visit inmates. It’s not that K-Mart is a ghetto store in and of itself, but this K-Mart is. It is in an old run down shopping center. Most of the shops are vacant and the few left include a cigarette store and a payday loan place. People come in and out in old jammies and slippers.

Of course some of the people who ring those bells are just super special. Who can forget those fabulous people I met last year? Last night I went to relieve a girl at K-Mart. She was expecting David. I told her he wasn’t coming and I was taking his place. She started to complain that if they were handing out extra hours, she wanted them. David doesn’t even get paid. I told her I wasn’t either. She went on a tirade about how stupid that is. Why would David or I give up our time and not get paid? Yep. It got better too. She was mad about having to take the bus to and from and said she had been told the Salvation Army provides rides to and from the sites. Then she mentioned that the “house mom” from the halfway house where she lived might come pick her up. Yep. She was a treat. When they finally came to switch out kettles, she left to catch her bus. I was happy to see her go.

It was cold out there last night. Not too many people either. I collected around $30. And I saved them from having to pay someone for a couple of hours.

Today we are cleaning. I got all the Thanksgiving décor packed up and we are waiting on the girls to get home to start the decorating. I had some pumpkin pie. I am going to bake cookies. Maybe I should take some to Aunt Chris since she isn’t able to do her Christmas decorating yet. Her house is more suitable for Halloween right now. I am making some chocolate spritz cookies, chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. It will give the house a nice holiday feel. In another week or so I will make a nice gumdrop cake for my grandpa. My mom will top it with rum and it will be good stuff. I will also have to make the snowball cookies. That was a grandma classic.

I don’t suppose anyone is interested in game night tonight? I figured since it was a Wednesday, people would be busy. That is one bad thing about working weekends. Everyone else is off when you have to work. It wasn’t so bad when I worked until 2, but now I work until 5.

I wrapped what presents I had bought already. It is the only way to keep the kids from finding them. So far they each have 6 presents. Plus there is a present for Allison. I have to finish my shopping. First I have to get money.