Survival Of The Fittest

It's a tradition. Whitney and I spend the day after Thanksgiving together, joining in the madness that is Black Friday. For the past two years, we were in Commerce at midnight and shopped straight on through till Friday afternoon. Not so this year. We've never found bargains good enough to merit skipping sleep altogether. With all the family craziness, we had to start planning our day well in advance. Leyland has her own tradition for the occasion- a sleepover with Papa and Grandma Lynn. This year, with the addition of Baby Corey, we weren't sure how it would all play out, but Grandma Lynn was a brave soul and offered to keep both babies. So... after spending the afternoon at Nany & Pawpoo's, Whitney, Dustin and the babes went to Dustin's grandparents' house for dinner. He stayed overnight with his family, and Whitney took the children to her dad's and they all spent the night there. (Try to imagine getting all their food ready, plus baby paraphernalia for a sleepover- it was a rather hectic morning for sure!) I had a wonderful afternoon/evening of being home all alone! I did sneak up to DJs for some yummylicious Thanksgiving leftovers- but it was such a laid-back day that I went in my PJs! After a short nap, I was up and ready at 2:30 a.m. to start the day. Whitney had carefully mapped out our adventure, and we set off for Kohl's first. Last year we were in that store for about two hours, 1:45 of which was spent standing in line to pay for our bargains. Today we were in and out in 32 minutes. It was incredible. We got some great bargains for the kids. Next on the list was Goody's. We did a little bit of damage there, but my favorite thing was a pair of barettes for Leyland that have little reindeer horns on them. Perfect for her little Christmas outfit!! Note to self: Make some of these ornaments and sell on e-bay next year!! Too cute!! A last-minute decision to check out Sam's turned out to be a very good choice: I found the external hard drive I had been looking for, plus a few other items. Next destination- Target. Last year was a total nightmare at Target. This year we showed up about 20 minutes after the doors opened, so some of the madness had subsided. The ailes were very crowded in toys and electronics, but other than that, it wasn't bad and the checkout lines went quickly. After leaving Target, we headed across town to K-Mart and Wal Mart, where once again, we did really well, and got some pretty good bangs for our bucks. At this point, Whitney was really feeling the Need To Nurse, so we headed back to her dad and Lynn's house. She and I parted ways at that point, and she and the kids went to retrieve Dustin from his grandparents' house. I called myself "rested" and having found my second wind, so I decided to stop by the mall. I guess Whitney must be my good luck shopping charm, because all I got at the mall was a really, really bad case of sore feet. Not entirely true, I did purchase what I went for, but only after standing in a very long line in a very hot store. So I'm thinking I'm pretty much done. A few minor things here or there to pick up. It was the best Black Friday shopping day we've ever had. Saving money is always on our minds nowadays, and findings bargains is fabulous, but spending the time with Whitney was the best part of the entire day. Now I just can't wait to watch Leyland when she sees her presents. I can just hear her saying "awwww... kewt!!!" My plan for tomorrow is to get my Christmas tree out of the building, plug 'er up and see if the lights are still functioning. My intentions are to cut out lots of paper ornaments with the Sizzix and the CB, so that if tiny little hands can't resist the temptation to pull over Namma's tree, nothing will get broken. Depending on how long it takes me to recover from today's outing, that may or may not get done. We may just have a nekkid tree with lights this year. Watch for pictures of my little Christmas Angels, to be posted as soon as I get some. I hope everyone had a great day, and got to spend it doing whatever you wanted to do. Now it's off to bed for my poor, weary, tired self