Black Friday 2012

In what is now our sixth year V and I headed out around 11:20pm on Thursday to embark on our Black Friday adventure.   Having very little need for any major doorbuster deals and no desire to fight crowds at the big giants (Wally World, Target, etc. who opened around 8-9pm)   we headed straight to the mall and the Disney Store and Baby Gap.   

What a different mall we entered into than the one in the past few years.   Last year there were a handful of stores open along with the two we wanted to go to, but this year the entire mall was hopping - almost as if it was 3pm in the afternoon during Christmas vacation.  Very bizarre but added to the chaos and fun!  

We waited outside the BabyGap with a handful of people and got what we wanted and had a short 15 minute wait in line and off to the Disney Store for more fun, a short wait 5-10 minute wait to get into the store for crowd control, and also not a terribly long line of 20 minutes to check out.  Not too shabby!    After that we headed throughout the mall and landed in one more store before heading home.    This year all done right around 2:15am.   

Came home and went to sleep by 3am with the plan for my sis-in-law and I to wake at 7am and head out shortly after that.  Of course the one time my kids aren't up with the strike of 7am, I awoke around 7:40am - oopsie... a bit of a slow start but finally out the door to Fred Meyer for half off Christmas lights and more fun!    

We hit Fred Meyer and 2 other stores and we only had one line and it was about 15 minutes long... otherwise between checking out at 9am and 11am  we had no line at all.    We got everything that we wanted and then some and no crowded chaos... I could get used to that kind of Black Friday shopping - the best of both worlds a little early chaos and then later for a more relaxed version of the madness that some see as apocalyptic training day.  :)

Finally home and done with the shopping the four adults sat down and began snipping strands of lights off the 'pre-lit' Christmas tree that as of the close of Christmas 2011 was no longer 'pre-lit' just pre-wired-with-dead-bulbs.  A HUGE thanks to said family for their efforts that between the four of us (mostly the three of them as I was on child duty inbetween my efforts) took quite a bit of time.   The tree is now strung with some new 50% off Christmas lights and and is free from dead bulbs! 

Before the end of the evening we hung the first ornament of the year and Mae was the one that got the honor of hanging her very first ornament onto the tree.     She chose an Elmo one.  :)   Happy Christmas Season, everyone!!