So, Black Friday came and went with nary a buzz. I wound up browsing the book stacks at a quiet antique mall. After shopping, the whole family slept the afternoon away in the living room in front of the fire. The whole Thanksgiving weekend was wonderfully peaceful, as well as productive. (I finished three books!)

Tomorrow, we start the last two weeks of classes, then we have a week of finals, and then (finally!) the semester will be done.

I set my alarm and got up early this morning. (Well, early for a day I don't teach classes - about 8 o'clock.) Since I'm too old to "trick-or-treat," I have to get my candy fix some other way - so I headed to Wal-Mart to buy some half-price Halloween candy.

By the time I got there (8:20 or so), all the Halloween candy in the candy aisle had already been replaced with Christmas candy. I found the leftover Halloween candy in big bins near the entrance with big signs advertising "50% OFF!!!"

I didn't get there too early. I had to thrust my way through a crowd of hefty and hungry-looking older women (the phrase "battle-axe" did come to mind) to rummage through the leftovers. One particularly aggressive lady tried to move in on the territory I had staked out. I shoulder-checked her into a display of apple cider with a muttered, "Nice try, sister" and grabbed the last bag of Milk Duds.

I'm already starting to feel the holiday spirit, and it's not even the day after Thanksgiving yet.