Black Friday

Oh, I am kicking myself that I didn't get my camera out at 2:30 in the morning and take a picture of my lovely companions as we waited outside of Kohls for it to open, but well, it was 2:30 in the morning and cold and a little rainy and did I mention it was 2:30 AM? Once that store opened it turned into a 10 hour marathon of shopping. So, here is a picture of the mall near the end of our journey and this is the only one  I ended up taking all day because we had some serious shopping to do.

I am really not much of a shopper, well that isn't true. I LOVE to shop, just not when stores are crowded. Except for Black Friday when my intrepid and dear friends Suzy, organizes our route, tells us what time to show up and drives us around in her van to get all kinds of deals on Christmas and household items. It is something I would never do alone, but with 3 (or 4) non-complaining, fun and interesting ladies along, it makes for an annual tradition that I very much look forward to. Look forward to enough to get up at 1:45 in the morning, the day after Thanksgiving. Ouch.

This year my big score of the day was a new down comforter. Ours is old and cold and smashed down from years of husband and kids piling stuff on it (doesn't anyone know you're not supposed to put stuff on a down comforter? It smashes the goose down. I'm really really telling the truth about that), and when Peter is not there it's cold. Considering Peter is not sleeping at home more than a 1/3 of the time, that is a lot of nights for me spend freezing or piled under all the kids baby quilts. So, this year I took advantage of the sales and got an excellent comforter, and now I am happily warm as I snuggle under the blankets.

This day also is a tangible reminder to me that anything is bearable and even fun with friends. Even ridiculously crowded stores at ridiculously early hours of the morning.