The Eating, The Insanity, and the Lights

After a delightful time by the river yesterday morning we headed home to begin cooking at a leisurely pace and scour the ads to make our lists and check them twice. I’ve decided that I like to have Thanksgiving meal in the early evening so you don’t have to rush around like a crazy woman to have it all done by noon. I’m crazy enough thank you very much. We had a very relaxed and enjoyable meal with my family and some great friends. Great food (if I do say so myself), great company, and all in all a great day.

And then…………(you are not allowed to judge me. I still like to shop local, I don’t advocate for sweat shops and the abuse of small children in other countries, and I still serve God.) my mom, dad, grandma (she is a rock star) headed to Walmart. Yes, Walmart (I go there about 3 times a year and today was one of them.). At 9:15 we left the house, managed to get a parking spot in the neighboring parking lot, made a mad dash to the select items on our list fighting our way through the most insane amount of people I’ve ever seen and headed to a checkout line. We waited in that line for an hour and 10 minutes. It took 25 minutes to get what we needed and that long to check out. We got all but one item we needed and in total I think we only bought about 12 things between the 4 of us. That may sound crazy to you but we are serious about a good deal. My dad commented on how you would never know the economy was so bad but I think that it was that packed because people are that desperate for a good deal. Either that or we all just like self torture. While standing in line we watched the insanity unfold around us. People were dragging around garbage cans, laundry baskets and even boxes that had previously had merchandise in them with stuff piled in them. It may have been a little painful but was worth the money we saved. And I have to say that I’ve never seen anything like it and I was so curious to see if it was really going to be that nuts, and well, it was. I told Matt that it was like the Palio horse race that happens in Italy that we went to. You’re in the midst of thousands of people for what seems like hours and you’re not sure if the riders will survive the race. Good times. We were home by midnight and I’m glad to say that I’m done with my Christmas shopping (although our list was pretty slim this year).

Today we did a little more shopping later in the day and I thought it would be such a treat to take my family to The Goodwill Outlet. They  have been dying to see that place in all it’s glory and you would think that they had sent out a black Friday ad too because that place was packed. At times we would just sit back and watch the droves of people dive into the bin and dig like mad. It’s quite entertaining. The best purchase while there was a 3 foot Christmas tree for Jenna to decorate. She was asking for one all day yesterday and today was her lucky day. Thank you Goodwill Outlet.

We still had a bit of energy so we then headed out to the Zoo for the Zoo Lights spectacular. Jenna got to ride the train with her Papa and Grammy which made her scream in delight and when Isaac heard the whistle blow while sitting near it it made him scream in utter horror. You just can’t please them all. The beautiful lights were a great way to end the day.

Whew, and now, we’re beat. I’m ready to collapse. Tomorrow will be tree cutting, decorating, and the Civil War. I’m afraid of the outcome of the game but I’m going to watch and cheer none-the-less.

So how was your black Friday? Did you go shopping or do you detest it?