Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Making a list and checking it twice.

Well boys and girls, it is time for my absolute favorite holiday of the year. Yes, you guessed it.

Black Friday! (how could it be anything else.)

Every year my mom and I get up at the buttcrack of dawn to wait in the cold with the rest of the loons for stores like Walmart and Target to open. By 1:00, we are generally asleep on the couch, but until then, it is a frenzy of bargains to be had.

Each year is a carefully crafted schedule of stores to hit with precision timing. This year is no different. I really appreciate Walmart and Target staggering their opening times, as this will give me the ability to acheive my goals without any problems.

There is more that goes into Black Friday than meets the eye. Comfortable shoes are a must. My mom was talking about how she needs to start walking on the treadmill to prepare. This year I am implementing a new procedure with the addition of Poise pads. Since having a child, the urge to pee hits like a freight train. Fast and furious. There is nothing worse than doing the pee-pee dance while in the checkout line. I know this is probably TMI, but come on, you know that this has happened to you. Full cart of groceries and all of a sudden, BAM, you have to pee so bad you are afraid to take a step for fear of wetting your pants.

Anyone.....just me?......okay then, moving along.

This year, with the addition of CVS ECBs and coupons, I fully expect the bargains to be great. This year we will be branching out to new territories, the big question is which direction to go. Rockford or Geneva. Geneva has a Meijer and the CVS that I usually shop at. But Rockford has Old Time Pottery and a bunch of CVS stores. I guess we could head to Rockford and I could go to the Geneva CVS store later in the day or on Saturday. I guess we will have to see what ads there are in the Rockford paper and decide from there.

All in all, I expect this to be a great day as usual. Every year we dread getting up early and fear that one of us will have to ride on the roof because we can't fit everything into the car. Last year was a close thing. The car was packed. This year we are taking my mom's new car, which is bigger than her old one we took last year. By noon, we will be having lunch and laughing about the insanity of the day. We really do have fun!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and happy shopping to anyone joining us crazies out there on Friday!

6 comments:

The Mama said...

OK, you had me laughing so hard about the Poise pads that I almost needed one!!!

Good luck. I am one of the people that avoids all stores like the plague from Thanksgiving til New Years. I already have all my shopping done thankyouverymuch. Well, except for James. But his will be an online purchase. So essentially I'm done.

Anonymous said...

I loved your post. So funny! The Poise pads comment is so true! I think I'm going to recommend it when my mom and I head out for a full day of shopping. Indeed, this would be a good safety measure!

Hope you have a great day of shopping! I think your energy and excitement over deals has spilled over the internet. My energy level may be coming back after all for more great deals.

Thanks for sharing! Your blog entries are so cute and funny!

Elizabeth

Coupon Chris said...

Good for you Alice. I have a tote where I have been stashing stuff for a while, but I am not done. I save a bunch of shopping for Black Friday. I love it. Friday is a bargain shopper's Christmas. Well, that and the day after Christmas. I have to find my box of stuff I got last year. I am all set with wrapping paper and containers for all of the baked goods and fudge.

I love the deals and the military feeling of planning it out and executing it. It is very much a GI Joe kinda thing for me. (I was way into GI Joe as a kid, we even had the aircraft carrier. Mom got it at a garage sale)

The best thing is that I am able to stretch my budget and still get quality items. I also have a lot of people to buy for.

Oh, and the Poise pads were the free sample ones I got from Walmart last month. When they came in the mail, Justin said he didn't know I peed when I sneeze.

Coupon Chris said...

Oh, I forgot to mention that Andrew's birthday is December 23rd, so I have a double whammy for him.

Anonymous said...

You're dedicated!

I don't care if the sale were 5 mink coats for a dollar, there's no way IN HELL you would get me out there at 5 am on Friday.

Coupon Chris said...

Considering the fact that I am up at 5:15am everday, it really isn't that bad. I leave for work between 6 and 6:30. So it is not uncommon for me to be up early.

I do try to sleep in on the weekends, all the way to 7am sometimes.