I had a pretty good weekend this past weekend with my parents coming out here from Harborcreek and my brother coming up from Dallas. My brother arrived here Wednesday evening and we ended up going to pick up the turkey dinner from the store. While there, we ended up running into one of my coworkers (a reoccurring theme from the weekend, it seemed). After that, we came back to my house where we got a bit to eat and then went down to the Ameristar for a bit. We ended up running into another coworker of mine, where he then invited us to join him at the Star Club, which is a private lounge/restaurant for the ‘highrollers’ of the casino, which he is a member of. Following that, we came back here to the house, where we played his Playstation for several hours.

On Thursday morning, my parents showed up. They ended up checking out my house and liked it a lot, and felt that I did a good job picking it out. Since I have a seemingly endless list of things to do around here, they just started pitching in and helping out with various things. Before I started cooking the turkey and getting everything ready, my dad and brother ended up helping me get the humidifier on the furnace working again, repairing the water line that runs to the ice maker in my refrigerator and cleaning out underneath the refrigerator. By then, it was about time to eat, and we just hung out and relaxed the rest of the night.

I am not a big shopper by any means, but since I just moved into my house, there are a lot of things that I needed. Black Friday provided a great opportunity to pick up some things very cheap. So, my parents and I got up at about 4:30 in the morning on Friday and headed over to the Sears store at Mid Rivers Mall here in St. Peters to try and buy the washer and dryer set that you may have seen in their ad that was selling for $600. Sure enough, about 50 other people had the same idea and as I got near the front of the line, they claimed they were sold out and were not giving out rain-checks, despite the ad saying nothing about limited quantities or anything of the like. So, that did not sit well with anyone in line, but we heard from another person waiting that the Sears Appliance Store in Wentzville were going to let customers order them for a later delivery. We ended up driving out there where sure enough, I was able to get that set with no problem. We also stopped by The Home Depot where I picked up a Gorilla ladder, cordless drill set, and a slew of other tools for more than 50 percent off.

After that, we came back to my house, unloaded my parents car picked up my brother, and went out to lunch. After that, we came back here and began cutting down a pair of massive bushes in my back yard with my dad’s chainsaw, as well as a number of ‘weed trees’ that were between the fence in my backyard and my neighbor’s fence. Following that, we had a good dinner of pulled pork and toasted ravioli (some St. Louis area favorite foods) and relaxed for the rest of the night.

Yesterday morning, my parents left and headed to Indianapolis to visit with my uncle for the day before returning home. My brother stayed here and he ended up going to buy me a utility sink to be placed next to where my washer and dryer will be in the basement. We also picked up some twine to bundle up everything we cut down yesterday so the city will take it later this week. It only took us about an hour to get the sink set up and tied into the plumbing and drain systems in the house. After that, we went over to my friend and co-worker Greg’s house where we hung out and watched football in the evening.

My brother ended up leaving this morning, but it won’t be long until I see him or my parents again. I will be back in Erie in less than three weeks to spend two weeks there visiting with them, my other family members and friends. I am very happy that my family was able to come out here and they were able to help me out with so much stuff around here, and it will also be great to see everyone again in a couple of weeks!