Thanksgiving

November - a real autumn month, with the most beautiful colors in the year, sunny days, rainy days, foggy days, grey days.

And also with the most beautiful holiday we have - Thanksgiving. The day when we say thanks for all the blessings we have in our lives, eat and drink with family and/or friends, relax and take life slowly (except you work at Walmart, Kmart etc. where Thanksgiving obviously doesn't have any meaning at all).

It makes me sad that so many shops are open on Thanksgiving. Are we really such greedy and superficial people that we cannot live one day without shopping? I get Black Friday - after all I have a little online shop myself - but we also have the gift of Thanksgiving. The people who work at Walmart, Kmart, Target etc. - mostly women - want to spend a quiet Thanksgiving as well, want to relax with their families without thinking that they have to work in the store by 9:00 pm (Target) or 4:00 pm (Michaels) or the entire day (Walmart, Kmart). Seriously, I don't get it.

When we first came to the US the Geek loved the Black Friday deals. He got up between 4:00 and 5:00 am to stand in line at Best Buy while I just turned around in my warm bed and slept some more. When he came home and we finally set down for a late breakfast, he would tell the most hilarious stories of his morning, talk about the people he had met. It was always a good mood and people actually behaved. No one trampled on top of other people to get the best deal. Eventually the Geek lost interest in these early morning shopping hours, the thrill was gone for him and we all could sleep in. No more standing in line in the cold and rain.

Today he shops online, and now that I have my own online shop I, of course, join the frenzy. I have worked like a mad woman during the past days, getting my shop "Black Friday ready" and I often wandered whether it is really worth it. I actually don't think that small businesses like mine will "profit" from the shopping craziness of the next few days. However, Saturday is also Small Business Saturday, and I wanted to participate.

So I do have special Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals in my shop - get 25% off when you use the code THANKS2012 during checkout. Items within the US and to Canada ship for free. And if your purchase is $50.00 or more, you also receive a free 8x10 print of my painting "Gypsy" - this one:

But the question remains for me: Can you really sell handmade items at a discount? Do I really have to join in the big shopping frenzy? I feel very split about this.

Whatever you do during this weekend: I wish you a peaceful and relaxing Thanksgiving. I hope you can spend it with people you love. Eat, drink and be merry. Enjoy the gift we've got in Thanksgiving.

We will celebrate with friends of ours - we have done so for years. It's a loud and chaotic Thanksgiving, with  lots of laughter and a mix of German and English. When we sit down at the table, everybody says what s/he is grateful for. I am grateful for my family, that we have created a warm and loving home and that we have some wonderful friends.

What are you grateful for?