Black Friday

I have officially joined the ranks of those crazy people that get up at ungodly hours and go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. LITERALLY two days before I got up to take part in this annual craziness I was making fun of "those" people! I said shopping would never be important enough to get me up so early!

And then I made the mistake of looking at the stupid ads! Good grief! I cracked. And before I knew it (after staying up until midnight looking at the ads) my mom, aunt, and I made plans to get up early (and I mean EARLY) to get some deals.

My mom came in at 3:30am to tell me it was time to get up. We were actually late arriving at Kohl's--a whopping 4:20am. But by golly I got the things I went for! The Transformer Helmet and Leapster L-Max safely stashed under my arms. My Aunt Sherry headed the other direction to get some housewares things for my mom--then my mom left me in the toys to meet up with my aunt. I didn't hear her when she said, "Stay here!"

After a few minutes I was completely done with the toys and wanted to find my mom. It was nearly impossible trekking through the store with my big bag of goodies--we were packed in like sardines. I finally made it to the housewares department but didn't see my loved ones. So back I went to the toy section. They weren't there either. Cell phone you say? Why didn't I call? Because Kohl's somehow blocks cell phones! I know they must do it on purpose! Eventually...defeated, sweating, and tired I sat on the floor next to a little girl that had obviously been deposited there by her mom, and told her "I lost my mommy." =-)

Eventually mom came to the rescue. Glory be! I told her she could not leave me again in that madness! After all, I was a Black Friday virgin! What was she thinking?!

Then it was time to get in line. The line literally wrapped around the entire store and then some. Craziness.

After Kohl's it was really getting late--5:45am. We headed to the nearest Target to go hunting once again. The line at Target--the pre-opening line--was wrapped around the outside of the store! It was 12 degrees outside and I put my foot down. Told the mom and the aunt that me in my non-Kansas-worthy sweater was NOT going to stand in line just to get in! By a little after 6 the line closed in on the actual store and we made our way in.

No big baskets. No little baskets. But leave it to my Aunt Sherry to skype one that was put upside down for crowd control (she asked first)! Yee haw! Does anybody else go crazy with the $1 items at Target? They are my nemesis--can't pass by them. Stocking stuffers--check. Mint foot lotion and lip balm for mommy--check.

We did pretty good at Target. I got my $20 "Reversible Fuzzy Blanket" that is normally $50, and the $18 scooter for Taevy. Plus Leapster L-max games, transformers, Littlest Petshop, and a few $4 DVDS (can't beat getting Blood Diamond for $4). Missed out on the $7 sleepover sets (backpack, sleeping bag, water bottle and flashlight).

Once again the line wrapped around the store. By 8am we were done with Target and I had the large majority of my shopping done. I've got to say....am I really going to say this???? It was worth it.

I saved a ton of money and got to go home and sleep it off thanks to my great hubby. I paid him back on Saturday when I was "single mom" for a few hours during the football games. =-)

Later in the afternoon Eric and I headed to Wal-Mart to get the rest of what we needed. The lines seemed so easy after what I had gone through that morning! LOL!

Will I do it again? Goodness...I don't know. I'm certainly not committing to anything except looking through the ads again next year.

Anita