November means... Black Friday. Black Friday means DEALS!
And what would Thanksgiving be without those deals on Black Friday? Every year after stuffing our belly’s full of Turkey, stuffing, and pies we relax and watch those football games or just spend time with our families. But then…the day after is when total insanity kicks in. We get as little sleep as possible and get up before the roosters just so we can get the best bargains for Christmas. This is known as “Black Friday”. This year I was up at 3 AM and grabbed my best friends teenaged son and headed out the door by 3:30. I had 3 hours sleep and this is probably the only time I left the house without my face on (not a stitch of makeup!) There was no traffic except for a couple of deer who looked rather surprised to see 2 humans out and about at their wake up time. I kept thinking how grand it was to see barely a smigeon of a person on the highway to North Carolinian, but alas-The queen spoke too soon!
As I pulled up to the Wal-Mart in Murphy I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was only 4:00 AM and everyone and their grandma were there-yikes! I rushed Joey out of the car and practically ran to the door! Two years ago in Florida people were literally pushing and shoving, so this year I decided to get here even earlier. As I walked in the door I was stunned! Where was everyone? Were they hiding between the packages and rows of deals in each isle? Hey that was ok by me! I sent Joey to one line for a game chair as I rushed to the line for “Rock Band” which was only $50.00 this year! I was the fourth person in line! After a 30 minute wait I met up with Joey and was out the door! Now how easy was that? We saw a handsome buck on the way home as it was still dark outside. We were both too tired and not yet hungry enough to stop off at Mc Donald’s. I arrived home and everyone was just waking up. Our day hadn’t even begun! I pleaded with Stacy (my best friend) to let me crash for an hour or so before the long journey with kids in tow to the Mall.
At promptly 9:00 Am the cycle repeated itself -only this time with a total of 5 kids and my friend Stacy! It was off to the mall which was an 1 ½ hours away. After 5 minutes the kids were hungry and thirsty but we kept going until we saw The Town Center. Small bodies with projecting voices muttered their pleas of hunger (we did feed them breakfast!). But once again they had to wait- for Bath and Body Works was first on the list for these 2 moms who were more than eager to get to those money saving deals. Each child was assigned a bag and given a coupon with some cash. We all waited in lines that were backed up to the store entrance with bags full of great smelling body wash, candles, and wall plug-ins!
Then it was off to the boy’s favorite place: Game Stop! I only went in to spend less than $50.00 on my son for Christmas. Okay, so I couldn’t resist-I spent $98.00! They had a special of buy 2 games get one free, so I had to go with that. And of course my son didn’t choose the ten dollar games! By now the kids were whining and chanting,” I’m hungrieeeeeeee”. I guess we needed to break for lunch, so it was off to McDonalds to feed the crew.
By this time we were still pumped with energizer batteries so after lunch we headed to Old Navy for some awesome deals! And some awesome deals we got! Sweaters were half price and so were doggie jackets! My son wanted a rock band shirt (which wasn’t on sale of course). What the heck-I was already blowing my stash, what was an extra 10 bucks!
Would you believe we still weren’t finished? It was back to Wal-Mart for some more deals! Then to Dollar General -and I think by this time we were ready to head home. After 9 hours of shopping and driving we arrived at my house by 6:00 PM. It was leftover turkey for the kids and wine coolers for the grown ups! As we sat down to rest for a bit, it was hard to believe we survived Black Friday –especially with 5 kids! I must admit-they were real troopers. They kept up with us, never missing a beat!
As for me-would I do it again next year? As crazy as this sounds the answer to that question would probably be-YES! Because what’s a Thanksgiving holiday without being able to shop on Black Friday!