Black Friday!

They wake! They organize. They gather.
I jumped in my big red truck with the seats all folded down and took off down the dark streets counting the number of other lunatics on their way. I pull up outside JJ's house. I see her moving about, the lights go off, here she comes. She jumps in and comments "Perfect morning to snatch somebody. Black Friday shoppers will just walk out the door and jump in any vehicle that pulls up!" She has me laughing before we even pull away from the curb. (this is reason number 1 why I do this. Day with JJ!!) Wal-Mart is our focus. There are two in our town and we choose the newer one with wider aisles. This year there was no dash in the door chase down the item and get as close to the bin as possible. JJ decided to wait for a Christmas Tree and I waited for ..........item....... Can't risk little eyes. They come in at all times these days.
I got an item for William that was on sale at Target. Wal-Mart gave me the sale price. We never stepped foot inside Target this year!
The area around electronics was crazy! We were trying to get to the DVDs. It took forever! I found myself moving at snails pace when moving. And this my friends is where they get ya'. Hum...I'm standing here, what's this, that's cool. $10.00, not bad. William will like it. In the basket. You also find yourself helping out others around you. Hey! Will you toss me one of those dolls. Blonde or Brunette? Blonde! Thanks! You hear a random question Anyone know where the crockpots are? Main aisle near the dog food! This is what makes the day fun. People helping each other out. You see friends all around. Now there are the crazy ones out there too. You can usually spot them. Just step aside. It's not worth the even 20.00 savings to get in a tangle with them.
I got Wm, Audrey new track suits for basketball season. I got two for myself. Theirs were 4.00 a suit and mine was 8.00. Not a bad deal. I got a new pair of jeans size 6, for 8.00. They are a bit tight on the thighs. Apparently those extra 5-7 lbs I've been playing around with since the surgery are shifting around in my thigh area. Ok. so we got our deals and headed to the check out. This is where when in line you search through your basket and decide if you really need some of those great Hey it's only 10.00 he'll love it items. I did pull out a few things that I felt that even for 20.00 it was too cheaply made and not worth it.
We found the lines to be pretty long and not fun everywhere we went. We left Wal-Mart at 6am. We wanted to door bust Hastings for the DS, at 8am. How about we try for the 10.00 label maker you want at Office Max at 7am? Good idea.
So we do that. And of course while sitting in the truck I look through the ad to see if there is any can't live without item I should aim for. I decide on little 15.00 items for the kids to each have one. JJ didn't get the label maker but, did find some computer games for 10.00. The lines were long but seemed to be moving. Except our line. The guy checking people out was a nut! It took forever!!! We could see the line at Hastings starting to wrap around the building. It was 8am and we were still in line when the line moved into the store at Hastings. We finally got out of Office Max and over to Hastings. Luckily the big item the line waiters were looking for were Wii accessories. We got our DSs in the colors we wanted. Hotdog! And they had alot of DVDs for 10.00 as well. So I got my Sex in the City DVD that I missed at Wal-Mart.
We then went to Family Christian. Nice crowd of people there, imagine? They had cards at 25% off and I had my flier for an extra 25% off so I stocked up. I will have a post later showing my stack of cards I send out. It's crazy! I send out well over 100 cards. This year it looks like it will be around 140. It is the one time of year I touch base with most people. I love sitting down and filling them out. I also enjoy receiving cards too.
We visited the Mall for awhile as well. I found fancy jeans for Audrey at 10.00 - 13.00 a pair. She wears holes in her knees faster than the boys! I found something at Old Navy but, I'll be snickered if I can remember what right now. We really only covered about 1/3 of the Mall before hunger pains set in and we decided to eat. IHOP is the chosen destination for 'brunch' on Black Friday. Again Wait for table, and the wait for food was terrible! I drank 5-6 cups of coffee waiting. Mostly in preparation of returning home to my kids. I had a mug at home at 3:30a when I got up and checked out online deals. I had one on the way to Wal-Mart. I had a soda from wal-mart. Then the coffee at IHOP. Oh boy! The best part.....After I dropped JJ and her goods I got home and my family wasn't there. I stashed what needed to be stashed. I cleaned up some dishes and started the washer. Still not home. I'll try to take advantage and lay down. I lay down on the sofa. Must close my eyes. Why are my eyeballs bouncing off the sides of my skull! Why is my heart racing? Is that a car door? Take advantage you idiot!....go to sleep!....they'll be back any moment. OH darn my eyes opened up. Stay shut! There goes my heart again. Am I shaking? Darn that Coffee! Darn those slow cooks! I love my husband for taking the kids out. Wonder where they are.....GO TO SLEEP!!! ......was that a car door?..........................
Well I must have finally dosed off because the next thing I heard was SHUSH Boys! She's Sleeping!!! MOM! We went to Mr. Gatti's! Look what I got! Hey MOM!
I figure I got about 45min of sleep. Not bad. It was enough to keep me going at a steady pace for awhile. I got home about 1:30p and this was about 3pm when they got home. We put away clean clothes that my Mom had been so sweet to wash for me Monday and Tuesday when I was in Austin. We started picking up fall decorations on the front porch. And this morning James and William are clamoring around wanting to know when we are putting up the tree. The living room is still under construction. Tom is working hard to get electrical fixed up this weekend. So I figure Living room and kitchen decorations will have to wait. But, the kids can put up their trees and help outside. The boys worked hard in their room yesterday to get ready.
So I sit here still at 10:15 in my pjs. I guess I'd better get moving.
Enjoy the last couple of days of Thanksgiving Holiday. The December countdown starts Monday. I encourage all of us to savor those 24 days leading up to Christmas. Look at your calendar and don't focus on all the aauugghhh that has to get done, preparations for parties, programs, homework, shopping, baking, etc.... but, prioritize and don't forget to take time to really enjoy the season. Set aside days not minutes or hours, to focus on the Spirit of the Season.
Happy Advent Friends.
Love ya'
Amy