THE BEST DAY EVAH!

Ahhhhh....sweet, sweet, sweet day of bargains & shopping.

Today, is the best day evah.
My alarm went off at 3:30 am.
I had just barely fallen asleep. I swear, it was sooooooo hard to sleep last night, because today was the day of my favorite sport: shopping.
It's like....opening day @ the ballpark.
It's like....the first day of hunting season.
It's the first day of my hunting season, that's for sure.

So, at 4am, I was at Kohl's. Found $30 worth of stuff that I wanted. However....I left empty handed. Why? Because at 4:20 when I was standing in line....I realized that I could not checkout & drive to Old Navy in time to be there for the 5am opening of the doors. Also, I was a bit pissed at Kohl's to begin with. Why? Well, the advertisement indicated that this toy & that toy would be 50% off. I was very excited about 50% off toys. So...I get there. Um----50% off Matchbox cars. SCORE! Or, so I thought. I'm sorry, but a REGULAR price of $5.99 for ONE Matchbox car is insane. For that price---that little booger better entertain my child, teach him the alphabet, and put itself in the car basket at the end of every day. Even at half off, I could not bring myself to pay $3 for a Matchbox car. So stupid. Overall, I was just not pleased with the toy prices. Period. So, walking away from my $30 selections was not that hard.

Head over to Old Navy. Starting at 5am, you get a free MP3 player with a $20 purchase. Cool, huh? Well....(1) the fine print reads "while supplies last". Um...let me tell you how long supplies lasted.... the first 20-25 people through the door got coupons to redeem at the checkout for the free MP3 player when they bought $20 worth of stuff. (2) I already have an MP3 player that I don't know how to use. don't know how to download music to it. and honestly---not too sure when in my day I actually would use it. Don't need it at work. Don't need it on my commute. Don't really need to wear it at home on my days off.... (3) Toys R Us had MP3 players for $9.99. They were regularly priced $29.99, so it's not like I missed out a big huuuuuge thing. I was very pleased with the prices at Old Navy. What drove me there in the first place: toddler fleece separates for $5.25 each. Now granted, Kohl's had them for $4 & something cents each...but the pants weren't as cute, and the 1.5 hour line was so not worth it. I was in line to get into Old Navy for about 15-20 minutes. I was in line to check out for about....30 minutes.

Next: TOYS-R-US. Love it. A few things I wanted were sold out, but, I was still able to get some grrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaat bargains. Wooden peg puzzles: $2.49 each. How awesome is that? I happened to buy the last 2 there. Got some other great gifts. I don't have a truck though, and the one thing that I really wanted, I was unable to get home. That didn't matter b/c my local store was sold out. Mom checked with the Toys R Us in Tyler...they too are sold out. It's a swing set for 1/2 off. That would have been Gage's big gift....but, alas, no luck. The price is good for today & tomorrow, and the Tyler store may get another shipment....so, we'll just have to see. Mom's husband has a truck, and they said that they would go get it for us if the store gets one, and then they'll drive it up to Dallas for us. How sweet is that? Anyway...we'll just have to wait & see if it works out. Didn't wait in line at all to get into Toys R Us b/c I got there after they opened....waited in line for about 2 hours to check out. AAANNDDD---after being in line for that long, you kind of talk w/ the others in line around you. In the 11th hour, when I was about 5 buggies away from the checkout---this group of women cut in front of the young mom in front of me. She was so quiet & shocked....and then there was me. I didn't wait in that flippin' line from dark-thirty til sun-up for those women to cut. So, I said some things. An associate was summoned over. The manager came over, and it started to get ugly. Basically one woman said that it was her word against mine, b/c I was the one being vocal in the group. The women around me then began to speak up & support my stance that these women cut in line. The manager was telling them that they would not be sent to the checkout & they were redirected to the end of the line. They started bitching & moaning & saying that it was discrimination & that they were being singled out because they were black. Well, then the lady not directly behind me, but 2 behind me---she got mad because she is also black & she started yelling at the line cutters because she was offended that not only did they disrespect her by cutting in line, but then they cried "discrimination" because they were caught doing something they weren't supposed to do. she was calling them "a disgrace to their race", and then the line cutters who were LOUD were thrown out of the store, security was called, etc. IT WAS EVENTFUL. But I tell you what: I was not about to get screwed by the likes of them. Is it so hard to wait in line like everybody else? No. Their time is no more valuable than mine, and I was pissed at their audacity.

Final stop: WALGREEN'S. Revlon nailpolish: $1.99 each. Other Revlon makeup: Buy One Get One Free. Lot's of stuff was B1G1Free. Extension cords (for all those Christmas lights!) B1G1Free. Disposable cameras: $3.99 (Limit 3). [you guys know that my digital camera is at the warranty/repair shop, and it is killing me. buying all of these disposables is crazy expensive, so I was happy to find a deal!]
...anyway. All kinds of random Walgreen's goodness on sale. It's not a super-crazy-everyone-rush-in Black Friday stop, but they do have good deals.
Oh----they had wrapping paper: Buy 1 @ $1.99, GET TWO ROLLS FREE! I've been forbidden to buy anymore holiday wrapping for the next few years (I have a knack for stocking up on the stuff....), so I didn't get any....but I encourage all of you to get out there & get some. 3 rolls for 2 bucks. You just can't beat that...

Anyway...I was home in the 9 o'clock hour. So, that's what? 5 hours of shopping? Or, probably 1.5 hours of shopping, and the rest of the time was spent in lines or going from this store to that store.

...and while standing in the line to get into Old Navy, a girl told me that the stores at the mall opened at 1 am, and they'd been shopping at the mall since 1 am. WTF? I didn't know that. I was sleeping at 1am when I COULD HAVE BEEN BARGAIN HUNTING.

Next year: I'm going to save up more money so that I'll have a bigger budget to work with (I say that every year, and then I'm not good at doing that, and I refuse to charge this stuff & pay the interest on it....), & next year, I'm staying up all night, & shopping all night! I better not have to flippin' work on Black Friday 2008. Even if I do...I'll still shop first. I've done that for the past year or two. I'll get up early, shop, & be at work by 8am. It makes for a long day, but oh well.

....I hope you guys are having a fun Black Friday too.
:)