Black Friday

Brian and I participated in our annual tradition of Black Friday shopping. The girls stayed with my parents yesterday (thank you!) after a wonderful Thanksgiving feast, and we mapped out our shopping strategy last night when we returned home. I was up by 2:40 a.m. due to the pounding rain outside. Finally at 3:10, I realized there was no point in going back to sleep. I got up and made myself a bowl of oatmeal in order to have some energy for shopping. Brian was up around 3:20 to have his morning coffee, and our dog, Bailey, was up right along with us. When she saw us with our tennis shoes on, she assumed it was time for her morning walk and was going nuts. She was sadly disappointed when she was forced back into her crate at 3:45 a.m.

In 2 vehicles, we headed with shopping lists and circulars in hand. First stop..Kohl's. Brian and I have become professionals at this, and it is so helpful to have 2 people on the same mission. I grabbed the cart, and he headed to the toy section. We were able to get most everything on our list and waited in line about 15 minutes to checkout at 4:30 a.m.

Next stop...Walmart for me and Best Buy for Brian. The Best Buy line was all the way to Color Me Mine. For the locals out there, you know that's pretty far. I struggled to find a parking spot at Walmart, having to go down many rows before finally finding one. Since it is a 24 hour Walmart, the store was obviously open at 4:50 a.m. when I arrived, but once inside, I realized the utter chaos and lack of organization on Walmart's part. There were hundreds of people everywhere, especially in electronics. There was a TV on sale that wasn't supposed to be sold until 5 a.m....they were already sold out by 4:45 a.m. There were some very unhappy Walmart shoppers. The perimeter of the store was full of large flats of various sale merchandise with black tarps covering them. Hoards of people were crowded around each one with an employee guarding most of them. (You had to ask for a map in order to find out what was in each flat - and the map was of poor quality and hard to read). When 5 a.m. arrived, all the employees had box cutters and began cutting through the tarp. People were pushing, shoving, and grabbing items. It was horrendous. I saw one poor woman in a wheelchair and was very concerned for her safety. Several of the items I was shopping for I could not find, and I just picked up the few things I really wanted off my list and walked right up to a cashier. Shame on you, Walmart for your lack of organization...this is how people get hurt. And, shame on the shoppers for pushing and shoving...is saving a few dollars really worth it? I remembered after today the reason I make it a point not to go into Walmart unless I have to.

Next up, Old Navy for me. I was there by 5:15. Brian was done at Best Buy and when I drove past Target, I noticed a line already forming. So, Brian headed to get in line at Target at 5:20 for a 6:00 opening. He was probably the 30th person in line. I got my items at Old Navy and met him at 5:40. Kuddos to Target for being VERY organized. They had Starbucks employees handing out free coffee samples, a security guard monitoring the crowd of what ended up being hundreds of people, and only one door they were going to open right at 6:00 a.m. to make it fair for everyone. We got our items quickly and the employees there were so very helpful. Yeah Target...this is why I frequent this store soooo often!

Brian put our Target purchases in his car and headed to Lowe's and Walgreens while I did our grocery shopping for the week at Target. Black Friday is the best day for grocery shopping...not a sole on that side of the store. Plus, I had a 10% off coupon for a one day shopping pass, so I might as well take full advantage of it!

I was home around 7:50 a.m. and at the gym attempting to work off my turkey by 8:45 a.m. Brian headed out to Fry's for some more shopping during our first real downpour of the day, back to Target for an item we had forgotten and to Staples. We finished our morning by organizing presents on a spreadsheet and began wrapping, then we were off to pick up the kiddos.

With the economy being as it is, we weren't sure what to expect. We would say that the early bird shoppers definitely turned out this year!