Black Friday

Every year there are two things I only do once. Pull out my long underwear, and leave at insane hours of the morning, to wait in the cold for a 5 dollar Carebear. I'm getting ahead of myself though, so let me tell you how this started. About 4 years ago, after moving to Missouri for grad school, Hans and I found ourselves POOR! That really is an understatement. We realized we would have a pretty sorry Christmas unless we found some incredible deals. So the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we sat down and poured over the 2-day, biggest shopping day of the year, day after thanksgiving sale ads. We didn't know there were such good deals. We were so young.... I decided to go out at 4 am and to get some cheap swag for the kiddos. I really thought it would be that easy. I figured that if you actually got up at 4 am, you would get what you wanted... Oh man was I surprised. My first year I lucked out and got all the things on my list... but luck really is the key here. I made all the newbie mistakes, including stopping to look at things that weren't on sale...and getting a basket when I didn't need one just to set my purse somewhere. Well I learned quickly that I wouldn't get what I wanted this way, and that I would probably be shopping on this day for many moons to come, so I decided to develop my own little Black Friday method! First of all let me add a small disclaimer: I do not go banans and purchase my kids everything on sale. If I was the kind of person that did that, I would never be the kind to shop on
Black Friday.

• So Tip No. 1 is to keep the list simple, and as small as possible. So say you want a wii one year, and a bunch of hot cheap toys...well you probably won't get both... so pick wat you want the most and keep your list small.
• Tip No. 2, Like I said in the beginning, my first year I wanted a 5 dollar carebear for Holly. But after getting all the other stuff on my list I couldn't find the carebears... and neither could the other ladies. We were all standing around pointing at the add, wondering about the carebears, when a man came through giant swinging doors with Huge Plastic wrapped pallet of Carebears. Well he was maulled. He couldn't go a step more. I saw ladies trying to cut the outside plastic with their keys. I however was so far back I couldn't even touch the bears. This poor guy had to climb on top of the pile and hand down bears to get the ladies off of him. So my tip 2 is that if you don't see what you want out...it is still in the back. Go wait by the double swinging doors, and it will come out and you will get one. By the way, the guy on the carebear mountain noticed my patience and asked if I wanted a bear. I nodded and mouthed "Yellow one" back and after digging down, he pulled it out. Only nobody had gotten a yellow one yet and all the ladies went Beserk! He looked at me and did that pumping motion with his arm. I backed way up and he footballed it over the crowd into my waiting arms!
• Okay tip No. 3. People are stupid at 4 am. You have to be smart and play off of that. Look at what is in their baskets... One year I really wanted a cabbage patch newborn for I think 7 or 8 dollars. they were gone so fast. All they had left were black ones, and while cute, I wanted a blondie for Holly. However I glanced off to the side and saw a lady standing in the makeup section with a basket full of newborns. At least 10 of them. I walked over and she said to me... I don't need all these cabbage patch dolls. she totally got wrapped up in the frenzy. People do crazy things. They see everyone dying to get them, so they try and take them all. But at some point they just don't need a basket full of dolls. Be there to get what you want. I took a cute blond off her hands, and got what I wanted.
• Tip No. 4, which I just discovered last night. Hans and I went out on a date, and on the way home swung into Target just as they were about to close. we went to see if they had what we wanted, but what we discovered was that they were setting up for the Thanksgiving sale. I realized that I couldn't buy that stuff early for cheap, but stores line the aisles with stuff, and sometimes the thing you want the most is in a totally random part of the store. So my tip is to go just before closing the day before the sale, or if they are closed on Thanksgiving, the Wednesday before. Now this year I know exactly were to speed walk to first when the doors open!

I hope these tips help someone or if nothing else provide a laugh. Happy shopping and most of all Happy Thanksgiving. I am so grateful for all of my friends and family. I wish you could all be closer. So with that...

• Tip No. 5, there is nothing better than a great wing man on sale day! If she's slow it will be like carrying an anchor, but if she's fast... you can work together and accomplish twice as much! Good luck!