There are two things very dear to my heart. Two things I cherish and pursue at every possible opportunity:
1. Sleeping late.
2. Bargain shopping.
For 364 days a year, these two things co-exist peacefully inside my head.
On Black Friday, they go to war.
Every year, it's the same: there's a tug-of-war inside my l-tryptophan-clouded head as I weigh my love for a day of sleeping in (the kids are out of school! no rushing out the door!) versus my love for the amazing deals to be had at an inhuman hours (Old Navy hoodies for $7.50!)
The most likely scenario is usually that, on Thanksgiving, my left brain carefully gathers the sale circulars and maps out a plan.
And then Friday morning, my right brain hits the snooze button. Vigorously.
But I did it this morning! I stuck with it. To discipline myself, this year I thought ahead. I called my friend Nan last night and asked if she'd like to meet at Toys R Us at 5 am (they were offering 50% off of A Certain Thing I Cannot Name Because My Kids Read My Blog). I knew if I were actually meeting someone, I'd be less likely to sleep in.
Nan is a morning person. I had a moment of panic when I wondered if she'd expect me to supply cheerful conversation. (At 5 am, she'd be lucky if I remembered deoderant). Thankfully she's a good enough friend that she required no cheerfulness and gave me all the room I needed to emit a general air of sullenness.
(Speaking of air, did you know that the air around Toys R Us on November 28th at 5 in the morning is very cold? And I know this because I STOOD IN LINE IN IT.)
After our victorious Toys R Us expedition, we headed to Old Navy, where we scored some excellent bargains. (Though we had to stand in line for an hour to pay for those bargains. Old Navy may know a thing or two about hoodies, but their speedy check-out skills leave something to be desired.)
The last stop was JoAnn's, where flannel is on sale for $1.50/yard. Or, at least, it was on sale--by the time I got there at the slacker-late hour of 7:30 am, it was almost gone. I was secretly relieved, because while they were selling flannel at an amazing price, as far as I know they were not selling the extra three hours of days I would need to, you know, actually sew something.
Now I'm home and shopped-out and happily sitting on my couch with my kids, watching a DVR'd version of the Macy's parade (which is, incidentally, very different from how I was spending my November 28th a decade ago--happy birthday, my boy!)
So I'm curious how many of you were wildly demented thriftily wise enough to brave the Black Friday crowds. Just for grins, answer the survey below:
