Black Friday

We had a great Thanksgiving with dear friends.. I made an apple pie (not nearly as good as Alicia's) but I did make it myself from scratch.

I also put together a relish tray, thanks to my mother-in-law's killer pickled veggies.

And then watching Kya have a ball dipping her crackers into the ranch (pictures below), we had a great Thanksgiving. We certainly missed family and would have loved to spend it with you all, we did have fun. Kya did not want to nap at our friends house so she just fought through, kept playing and then sat on daddy's lap to fall asleep. We wore her out.

Now that we have filled our bellies and slept it off, it's Christmas season. My favorite time of year. Ok, really, the fall is my favorite, but I love the feeling you get with Christmas. The lights, decorations, snow falling and good 'ol Christmas music around every street corner. I love it.

So, I did it...I survived the silliness; I conquered the crowds; and hustled and bustled with the best of them. I have done most of my Christmas shopping (Carl, I still need your wish list). I have never really done it, but I decided to try "Black Friday" shopping, bright and early in the freezing cold. By the way, why do they call it "Black" and not White. Just a thought.

I got up at 4:30 this morning, bundled up and drove less than five miles to the nearest Walmart. Since they are open 24 hours I was able to walk right in and take a look at what the "Hot" items were. Wow, people are nuts. I was just going to see if Kya's Santa gift was on sale. They didn't have it, but I found a few other treasures.

5:00 rolls around and an associate's voice on the PA fills the store and says, "Shoppers, welcome to Walmart, the sale has begun, Merry Christmas." The lady next to me grab several toys and then turned to hurry to her next purchase spot. Another lady was in her way, while trying to get through herself. Some words were exchanged and they were not very kind words. I thought to myself, 'what am I doing here'. All these shoppers who get there early for the awesome deals and want to be the first to get it, don't realize that after 25 minutes, the "hot" items were still there. Maybe a couple hours later they would be sold out, but I got a kick out of all this. Although it was a nut house, I had fun watching people's faces. Determination, desperation, I don't know what it was, but it was funny. So I bought the few items I found and started out to my car.

I looked over and saw a couple of ladies hurrying to their car when one of them said to the other, "Hurry, we have to get to Target next". Well, that was my plan too, Target next, but I was not in a hurry. I'm just out for the experience, right?. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as I heard her say that, my pace picked up to a fast walk. I got in the car and it was only 5:17. But as I drove up the road, about another five miles, maybe a few more, I could feel butterflies in my stomach. What was that? Fear, that I would get run over by the early morning drivers who probably stayed up way too late from the Thanksgiving games and then were in a mad dash to get the best deals; or was it excitement, the same thrill the rest of the shoppers were feeling, that competitive edge. Either way, my heart was pounding.

Well, I got to Target by 5:25 and the line was already a quarter of a mile long. They were not open yet, so the line was outside. It was cold!! I walked casually to the end of the line, not wanting the other shoppers to see me hurry in a crazy fashion (like them). By 6:00, when the doors opened, the line had trippled in length. Amazing!

So I walked around the crowds, stepping out of the way, whenever I saw someone pushing their way through and anxious to push anyone in their way. Way too early to be pushed by anyone!...I was in a good mood. I really didn't have anything in mind to get, I was just looking. They also did not have Kya's Santa gift. After all this, I will be shopping online.

Carl called at 6:20 and wondered if I was done, or would he need to get Kya ready to go to work with him. So I went home. Kya got up, we had eggs for breakfast and then with the butterflies still there, I got Kya dressed, and we went back out into the craziness. It was so fun. Kya was bundled up (it is cold out there today with a light snow fall) and loving it. Again, I really had nothing on my list that I needed, but amazingly, I managed to get probably 90% of my Christmas shopping done.

At the mall, Kya and I stopped to see the puppies at the pet store. She got a kick out of those little wet noses pressed against the glass. Yes, Kya will get a puppy in a stocking one year (when we have a house), because I am living vicariously through her.

After stopping by daddy's office to visit him, we came home at 11:00 am. Kya fell asleep on the way home and after getting her out of the car and transferring her to her bed, she is still asleep, over an hour later.

The cold air, light flurries, Christmas music and crazy shoppers...it was a great day. I love it and Kya had fun too. So, for my first "Black Friday", which by the way I wore black for the occasion, I had fun and the Christmas shopping experience was well worth it.