First Time For Everything

Last weekend I tried something for the first time...at least I think it was my first time. I may have done it unknowingly years ago, but like I said, I didn't realize I was doing it...it was unintentional and unplanned. (Are you on the edge of your seats?!? HA!!) So this time, my "first time", I decided in advance that I was going to join the masses and venture out into the abyss that is known as "Black Friday". The name is a little dark and forboding, isn't it? Nevertheless, I was undaunted. I bought myself a paper, I scoured the ads, I made my list, I strategized my travel route, the whole kit and kaboodle as they say. I was blood-thirsty for savings...I wanted to see what all the hub-bub was about. How many times had I listened to enthusiastic black friday shoppers squealing about the great deals they had fought tooth and nail for? How many tales had I heard of people actually getting into knock-down drag-out brawls in the electronics section of Wal-Mart? How often had I received tips and tricks from experienced black friday-ists...hide your much-sought after merchandise in your clothing so that other shoppers won't steal it right out of your cart...they would tell me. But wouldn't store personnel think that you were shoplifting, I wondered? Nevertheless, I was ready. Ready to take the plunge.

Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and early. I'm usually up at the crack of dawn anyway, feeding the peanut, so instead of rolling over to sleep for another couple hours, I got up, got ready and set off for my first taste of "serious shopping". My first stop was Walgreen's. I was a little nervous. But for naught, I was the ONLY one in the store, besides the employee's and an old guy getting his prescriptions. Hmmm...I thought. Maybe this Black Friday stuff is just a bunch of hype? I hit my next stop...K-Mart. Things started looking more serious. The parking lot was almost full. There were a lot of people in the store, but it wasn't jam-packed. I got in and made my way to my first destination...item was O-U-T!! I couldn't believe it, I already missed my chance!! Nevertheless, I found most of my other items and didn't have to wait long at all in line. Because of my "success" I decided to go back out on Friday morning. Maybe Thursday was my warm-up...a way to get my feet wet if you will. I had no idea what lay ahead of me in the morning.

(Thanksgiving was great by the way...we had dinner with our Bishop's family. The missionaries were there as well. Great food, good conversation, very relaxing and enjoyable. Barbara made a new twist on yams that was yummy...pour orange juice concentrate, a can of crushed pineapple, and some walnuts over canned yams and then bake until gold and bubbly...it was delicious. We were so stuffed by the end of the night that we didn't need to eat again until Friday evening practically.)

Anyway, I digress.

I was up at the crack again on Friday, and after I finished feeding Parker I set off for my second go-round of doing my part at stimulating this sad economy of ours. My first stop on Friday was Target. It was packed!! I couldn't even find a parking place at first. And then when I got into the store, I couldn't even find a cart!! This was intense!! I made my way to the back of the store, grabbed my items as quickly as I could, figuring I'd find a stray cart somewhere along the way. It wasn't happening and my arms were filling. I finally begged an associate in electronics to find a cart for me...bless his soul, I think he could see the beads of sweat on my shiny forehead...he found me a cart and I was a happy shopper once again. I got almost everything on my list at Target and was ready to move onto the next place when I realized that the check-out line started back in shoes and wound it's way through the entire store...through the linens dept., through the grocery dept., through the beauty aisles, finally getting to the front where they then gave you a number of a corresponding lane to wait for. UGH!!! Needless to say it took awhile. The thing that I thought was hilarious as I slowly made my way to the front of the line was looking down at the end-caps in the aisles...people had discarded sale items along the way...obviously changed their minds at the last minute, probably realizing they had been a little over-eager, and imagined the total that waited for them at the cash register...I was able to pick up a few extra goodies from their cast-offs. Made me feel like we were all in this fight together. HA!!

My next stop was K-Mart to try and pick up the last remaining items. By this time it was around 9 am, and it was too late. They were cleaned out. It was a wasteland after only a few hours!! So I decided to throw in the towel. I had wanted to hit a few more stores but after I realized what they would all be like, I decided it was a lost cause and probably a waste of time. So I quit while the quitting was good. It was a positive experience overall. I can say that I did it now and will probably do it again. I saved a lot of money, and now have pretty much all of my shopping done for the year. It feels really good. Definitely worth it in my opinion.

I finished off my morning with a sausage and egg mcmuffin and a smile on my face all the way home...fa la la la la, la la la la!

Definitely gettin' in the Christmas spirit!!