Black Friday Thoughts

I have to say it....I ♥ Black Friday! It's a tradition for my oldest & I to go out and have fun shopping & bargain hunting together. We don't get crazy neither do we ignore our family. My husband is fine with it, gets a kick out of our childish glee & appreciates my frugalness. As for the complaints about people having to work I think it IS important to be with family. BUT at the same time this is one of the deals when you work retail. I used to work it. Dave still does. I don't hear anyone up in arms about all the others who work on every holiday. Nurses, doctors, emergency workers, military, food service workers, hotel staff, police, fire fighters, convenience store (gas station) workers, nursing home/assisted living home workers, etc. etc. all work the holidays. The list goes on as I've barely covered it. I haven't seen anyone writing an article demanding THEY don't work. Why are we suddenly up in arms because stores are opening earlier? It's not the first time they have done this. It has been happening for years. Personally I think if you have a job be grateful. Yes, it stinks to work on a holiday. I 100% understand that. I've done it. I've been a child whose parent has had to do it. But it's not the actual day that counts. It's the time with family. So set aside another day and celebrate then. Count your blessings one of them being that you are employed. And that your job may be more secure by the number of shoppers that come through those doors. I know I'm in the minority but maybe this gave a different side that wasn't thought of before. Some food for thought on Thanksgiving week, if you will.

Black Friday in Tennessee!

Boy, Black Friday is a whole different experience down here in Tennessee. I think it's because the area is larger therefore attracting more people. The shopping experience was pretty much the same - the crowds, the thrill of the hunt, chatting with strangers - but the rest was very different. The lines for instance. In Walmart we stood in line for over 1.5 hours. I am NOT kidding you! They had a very poor set up. We waited in line only to get to the front to see it was basically a free-for-all. No fair!

We did have 2 bright spots while waiting. First, as you all know I am 20.5 weeks pregnant. I've had insomnia the past 2 nights plus this awful chest cough & cold. I was feeling rotten. At one point during shopping I literally had to sit down on the floor in the grocery aisle. Sweet Pea ran up and got me a bottle of water b/c I was feeling overheated & thought I was going to be sick. After my break we battled the crowds a little more asking where pretty much everything was. They had things set up so strangely. Shortly after I got in line to check out, (the line by the way started near the back of the store), I looked over at a clothing rack to spy a folding chair hidden in the clothes. You didn't have to ask me twice! I brought it over to my cart and promptly sat down. I took that precious chair with me all the way to the front of the line at the end of the aisle. I had to say good-bye when we reached the main area in front of the registers. I can't express to you what a blessing that chair was! We waited again for about 30 minutes in a line at the register. Of course the line didn't move one bit. Argh. There was a family in front of us and eventually the husband went to look for a shorter line. I'm guessing he found one b/c he came back for his family & they left our line. Then about 10 minutes later the second blessing happened. This family's children came back to tell me that there was a very short line down on the other end of the store. I hesitantly followed them, (hesitantly only b/c they spoke mainly Spanish & I wanted to make sure I had understood what they had said to me), and then hurried. Sure enough there was a line with only one other person in it! I thanked them over & over again. They smiled and walked away waving off our thanks. Now how nice was that! We finished up our Walmart shopping & then headed to Toys R Us. Oh my goodness! Another LONG line! At least this one was organized. After that Sweet Pea & I went out to breakfast at IHOP. I was amazed & impressed at the super speedy and kind service we received. I swear we were served our food in about 10 minutes! And they were packed full of people with more constantly waiting. Impressive!

Overall it was a great experience & one both Sweet Pea and I are looking forward to again for next year. We learned some tricks to use and some things to avoid. I'm thrilled with the bargains we found too. It was fun to introduce Sweet Pea to the wild world of Black Friday. Let me tell you she was one surprised girl! Lol! She had a great time.

Plans

Can you believe tomorrow is Thanksgiving? WOW! Time certainly does fly. I don't know about you but the older I get the faster it flies. We have tons to do here and I'm looking forward to it all. Well, maybe not the laundry & scrubbing the bathrooms. Lol. The kids will be making pies with Daddy tonight. A Thanksgiving family tradition in our home. There are lots of other dishes to prep too. I did my grocery shopping early to beat the rush so we'll be sitting pretty at home today. =)

And don't forget my Black Friday game plan! Yes, I am one of those crazies who venture out before the day has dawned to run like the wild thing I am and catch those deals. I haven't even started my shopping this year due to everything that's been going on for the past 6.5 months. Usually I have a nice stock of yard sale treasures and some clearance items. This year I'm starting from scratch. Yes, I'm a little panicked. But thanks to some terrific sales & creative ideas we should do fine. Plus we are keeping it more on the simple side this year b/c of budget & moving.

So what are your plans? Anyone else running alongside me on Friday?