Black Friday

Well I decided to join the crazed masses that attempt to score hot deals on the day after Thanksgiving. Yesterday I spent several hours pouring over the adds, planning my strategy, and making lists of things I thought I might need. Diana foiled my plan to go to bed early when she found the musical "Legally Blonde" on TV last night. It had a few questionable parts just like the movie, but it was fun to watch a real Broadway production nonetheless. Thankfully Diana fell asleep and did not see much of it. I was reading something about it being the first time, that a current production allowed cameras to film a show and put it on TV. Finally it ended at 11:00 and I set my alarm for 3:30 am.

When my alarm went off, I actually did get up. Arming myself with my camp chair, down coat, water, snack, book on tape, list, camera, and competitive spirit, I set off in search of victory. When I opened the garage door, I woke Marion up. He came down to the garage just as I was pulling out. He then called me on my phone to see where was I going at that time of day. I said the sales, of course. He said he just wanted to make sure I wasn't sleep walking or that someone wasn't stealing the car. So off I went.

First I drove by Circuit City. They had a great lap top for $300. Even though they did not open until 5:00 and I was there at 4:00, there was already a huge line, probably 500 people. So I decided that it would be useless to stop there.

Next I headed to Mervyns. It was 4:00 when I drove up, which is when the store was suppose to open. There were huge lines here as well. The item I wanted the most was a Zume 30 gig MP3 player at Toys R Us. Since Toys R Us is right next to Mervyns and did not open for another hour, I decided to to just go on over to Toys R Us and get in line. Taking my camp chair with me and bundling up in my down coat, I took up my position in line which was rather far back I have to admit. Here is a picture of me. It was taken by the man in front of me who said he could not work digital cameras. I wish he had gotten more of me in the picture, but I felt it would hurt his feelings if I asked someone else to take my picture. I am sure that those around me found it humorous that I would even bring my camera to such an event. During this time I kept myself entertained by talking to my sister and sister in law in Utah. They had already been to several stores and were standing outside of K-Mart. It was pretty funny that I would have someone to talk to at 4:00 am in the morning. Finally the hour passed and the line began to move. Of course I had to carry my chair with me through the store. I went right to the electronic section, but of course they only had 16 of those MP3 players and so I struck out there. This was actually good news because I did not have to stand in the ridiculously long check out line that was forming.

Next I went down the road to the mall to go to K-Bee toy store. This is where my luck began to change. I scored a really close parking space. This time I traveled much lighter with just my purse and sweater, no coat or chair. Things at this store were much calmer than Toys R Us. Although it should probably be a danger sign when they give you a ginormous bag as you enter the store. They had all of their advertised specials at the front of the store. I proceeded to succumb to the feeding frenzy that was going on inside, buying pretty much one of everything. Perhaps in the light of a new day I will need to make some returns. The past two years I have put off shopping, and have not been able to get certain items on Diana's list. I think this year I have over compensated, but I can take things back, right? Finally I emerged, with a bag that looked like something Santa carries around Christmas eve.

Dragging my purchases across the way, I checked at Radio Shack. This is when I discovered that I had made a crucial mistake. Radio Shack had not been open when I first got to the mall. In fact I noticed that there were only 5 people waiting outside. If only I had stood in that line, I could have purchased the MP3 players for $99, but by the time I got over there, they were all sold out. Oh well, but it really irritates me that I was that close to getting it and just didn't plan correctly. Next I drove over to the Radio Shack that is close to my house. They didn't have any either, and so at this point I gave up on that dream.

Now I was already in the Wal Mart parking lot, so I figured that I would stop in there. It was now 7:00 am. I wondered aimlessly around that store for about an hour. Of course by this time the DVD players for your car were sold out. In fact the Wal Mart employee laughed at me when I asked her if there were any left. I think that was uncalled for. I did get several things that were on my list and so it was not a total loss.

After this, I drove across the street to Target. There was one thing I wanted there and they still had that, so yay. I can not be very specific about my purchases due to the fact that my children do sometimes read my blog.

By now I was feeling quite hungry. I snacked on my wheat thins and drank some water, while I drove over to game stop. Our play station II broke last Sunday. This was pretty much a tragedy since Jared had just purchased Guitar Hero III several days before. We went to Gamestop on Monday to replace the broken system. The worker there was kind enough to tell me that if we waited until Friday, the Playstation would be $20 cheaper. Sadly I had to wait in another line at Gamestop. This was due to the fact that, they only let a certain number of people in the store at a time. Finally I was allowed to enter and purchased the sought after game system.

So I returned home at 9:00 after five hours of shopping. I had some wins and some losses, but my trunk was full of loot. My children of course are dying of curiosity to get in there and see what I bought. They spent quite some time trying to get the keys away from me. Here is some good news, my new car has an alarm on it. I did not really know about this, but when they tried to open the car without pushing the button on my key fob, the alarm sounded. This then scared them away from the car. I wonder if I am going to have to keep things in there for a whole month. I don't know why they want to spoil the surprise, but neither Diana or Jared are especially good at waiting for things. Happily I did get a bit of a nap, but I still feel a little bit woosey. So I don't know if I would do this again, but I do feel like I learned some valuable lessons that I can use in future years if insanity strikes me again.