Experiences in a Tire Shop

Several years ago I got new tires on the truck. I went into the store and got a decent deal. A few months later I went in to get them rotated. While they were rotating the tires they came in to tell me I needed quite a bit of work on the truck, about $600 worth to be exact. Did I want to complete this work right now, while they had it in the shop?

No, I told them, I'd talk to my husband. So they left it at that. As soon as I got home I called Olaf's step dad and asked him to make an appointment with our mechanic to get this work done. We couldn't get the truck in for a few days and I worried the whole time the truck was going to break down because of how urgent the shop had made it sound. Well, when we went to pick the truck up our mechanic told us that NONE of the work was needed. None of it at all!

A few months later I went back into the same shop to get my tires rotated again. Once again they hit me up on the "needed" repairs and added a few more so that the grand total was now $1000. Did I want to complete this work right now?

No, I'll talk to my husband.

Are you sure you don't want to call him right now and check?

That was the last time I stepped foot in that local tire shop.

Several years later I am getting new tires again, but for my car. I thought I had grown up enough that I could complete this task all by myself. Other people buy tires all the time, I should be able to also.

I stopped at a different local tire shop. The sales man checked what kind of tires I needed and proceeded to show me the best tires for my car. At $250 a tire. But he was gracious enough to knock $10 off and the store was running a promo that would take another $25 off each tire. By now I'm down to $215 a tire.

I asked what else they had available. For only $170 I could get an unknown brand tire that was only good for 50,000 miles. I almost ran out of the store.

So I came home and asked Olaf's step dad if he could help. Apparently I'm not old enough to buy tires by myself yet.

Adventures in Shopping with Teenage Boys Part 2

The other day I was happily wandering around Target all by myself. There is a Heaven on Earth. I was looking at socks. I was deep in a debate inside my head about whether Baby needed men's socks or boys socks. He's on the cusp of wearing men's shoes. I don't think my budget can afford that but his feet aren't listening.

Right in the middle of the debate on what size socks to buy Baby a Mother and her Teenage Son walked up to the Men's Underwear Wall. Standing right in front of all that underwear the Mom turned to her Teenage Son.

"What kind of underwear do you like? You like this kind right? The boxers, not boxer briefs, made out of t-shirt material, right?" She sounded a little exasperated, frustrated, and frazzled all rolled into one slightly loud statement.

The boy, probably 13 or 14, was completely mortified that his Mom had brought him to the Men's Underwear Wall and was talking to him in a voice loud enough for anyone to hear. He answered her in a low mumbling voice, trying not to bring any more attention to himself than she had already brought. I looked around. I was the only one anywhere near them. I tried to look like I was completely absorbed in the debate about sock sizes for Baby. And while I felt a little sorry for the Teenage Boy, I totally understood his slightly exasperated, frustrated, and frazzled Mom. It was all I could do to not laugh, not at her, but  with her, not that she was laughing, but she will one day. Maybe not for 20 years when he tries to buy underwear for his boy, but one day she's going to laugh at the day she stood in front of the Men's Underwear Wall with her Teenage Son.

Adventures in Shopping with Teenage Boys

Sometimes shopping with Teenage Boys is wonderful. You're in, you're out, you're done! Hallelujiah! If it wasn't for the grocery bill boys would be the best!

And then there's the times you need to find certain clothes for the Teenage Boys. Teenage Boys don't do well shopping. Most of them abhor the whole ordeal. And so do their Moms. But there's no choice!

I took Middle Child back-to-school shopping last week. It was the highlight of my week. If I was rating it according to the lowest point of the week.

We got to the store. I had scoped the store out a few days earlier. When we came in I was excited that the sale prices had dropped even more! Wow!

And then we tried to find clothes that he liked. We were searching for shorts because after our family trip I realized he didn't have near enough to make it a whole week between wash days. That's my goal in life, to have enough clothes to make it a whole week between washings. Of course he is very particular, only plaid shorts. We searched high and low. Once we found the things he liked we tried to find them in his size. That's where the luck ended. Apparently not only do I have the most common shoe size but he has the most common waist size, severely limiting both our choices.

Finally we had a handful of clothes to try on! We headed to a fitting room. I sent him in. Another mother with her teenage son was right behind me. Middle Child headed in and I didn't see him for a minute or two. The other boy came right out.

"There's no rooms in there, there all full!" he said.

"Is there people in the rooms?" she asked.

"No, there just full of clothes."

"Well, that's just because no one puts their clothes away. They're empty rooms."

"No they're not!"

"Trust me, the rooms are empty." Which was true. There were no boys or men milling around modeling clothing for their Moms, Spouses, Girlfriends, Mistresses, or anyone else.

The boy hung his head and reluctantly went in a room. I was kind of proud of Middle Child for already figuring this out since he hadn't come back out yet.

Apparently I thanked my lucky stars a moment too soon. He came out right after this exchange with the same complaint. Before we could have the exact same conversation he headed to another fitting room. After he came out making the same complaint we then repeated the exact same conversation with the same conclusion.

We spent a good half hour trying on shorts, shorts, and more shorts. Finally we found a few he liked. After all the shorts trying on we didn't have the patience energy to try on shirts. The first Friday of school is picture day and I was hoping to get the shopping for this crossed off my list. No such luck. I was just happy to round out his shorts to an even seven. Now he can go a whole week between washes!

Stay tuned for more Adventures in Shopping with Teenage Boys.

Obsession # 347

The other day I had to bring a dozen cookies to Pack Night (a Cub Scout activity for those who don't have little boys). I was tired. I wanted to go home and lay down. I was feeling lazy. So I stopped by Target to buy a dozen cookies. I don't usually buy cookies because, well, I don't really know why I won't buy cookies but I just won't. It just doesn't feel right, as if the Universe were off-kilter. While that may be a weird quirk about me it's not what my obsession was for that day. I wandered through the store, a little angry that one dozen cookies cost almost $3! And then I found a cool belt for $5. So I grabbed that too. And then I walked through the hosiery section. And guess what! 

The Paul Frank socks were on CLEARANCE! I looked through them.

And then I left the hosiery section. I just love that word, hosiery! Such a silly word! I texted Sister Accountant to tell her, cuz she's the one that turned me on to Julius and Friends and loves him even more that I do.

She got pretty excited too. I then wandered back over to the hosiery section. I had pretty much talked myself out of buying the socks, cuz I really don't need any more socks and they were only 30% off. That's not that much of a sale. But I couldn't help myself. So I picked out a few.

And then I left the hosiery section. And then I came back and rifled through the rest of the socks and decided to get some more. They were just so cute. By this point I was having a hard time deciding which ones to get. They were all so cute!

And I just had to get the Mary Jane socks. I guess they're just like slippers, it's not like I can put shoes on over them. And this pretty much constituted my Back-to-School shopping. That and a pair of shoes for Middle Child and a pair of jeans for Baby.

In the end I put the cookies back, well I put them on a jeans shelf. I wasn't walking back over to the food section. And in this economy the employees should be thanking me for giving them work, otherwise they could be the next lay-offee. And seriously, who charges $3 for one dozen cookies? That's highway robbery. They're not fancy high-fa-luting cookies. They're probably just some frozen cookie dough nearing the end of their expiration date so they pulled them out of the freezer, cooked 'em up, put them in a box, and slapped a sticker on the front. My cookies are much better. So I came home and made Honey Cookies. One of everyone's all-time favorites. Later that night I found it humorous that I couldn't rationalize spending $3 on cookies but I had no problem spending $21 on socks. Someone commit me.

Shopping For Boys

Somehow the children keep growing. Out of things. Do they think I have a money tree hidden away somewhere that gives me money to buy them clothing and shoes? Well, they'll find out one day.

I got some sandals for Middle Child. That kid needed something new for the summer and that was the first thing to tackle on my list. I brought them home. Size 10, mens. They should have fit. But they didn't! They were too small.

So I took them back and got a 10 1/2. If those don't fit I'm going to start binding his feet so they will.

How to Shop with Boys

Last Saturday I did the unthinkable. I dragged my whole family to the big city north of me and spent the day quilt/fabric store shopping. It was awesome! It was an adventure and turned out much better than anticipated.

The morning began with all of us sleeping in until about 9am. The nice thing about fun fabric shops is that the owners are sleeper-inners also, not a single one of the stores opened before 10am! Once we got on the road we (and I mean the man in my life) "needed" to stop at Cabela's, only the largest outdoorsman store in the world or at least state. After an hour spent comparison shopping for walkie-talkie radios in the bargain cave and haggling the clerk down on the price we were finally ready to hit the first fabric store.

Once we arrived at the designated area I got out of the car as Olaf unrolled all the windows.

"Aren't you coming in?"

"No, thought I'd stay out here with the boys." Wow, he sure knows how to keep them little ones out of trouble. I ventured into the store and saw a beautiful array of Alexander Henry Halloween fabrics. After scouring the store I decided I needed a little of that. I peeked out the window at the car and saw Olaf had spread out all the walkie-talkie equipment on top of the trunk. I knew I was safe to spend a little more time if I wanted. So I finished and purchased the fun material and headed out to the car.

Next stop was lunch. Of course Middle Child, pickiest eater in the world, didn't like lunch. So Olaf got two sandwiches instead of one. Bonus for him!

We hit another quilt store while everyone waited in the car but me. This store was split in two, on separate sides of the street! They had some really cute stuff. Boys played Nintendo DS's and didn't even complain.

Then off to the next store. It had some awesome mushroom fabric from Alexander Henry. I had to have it. It was next to a Baskin Robbins. The boys had double scoop waffle cone ice creams. I think Olaf spent more on ice cream than I did on a few yards of material, and it's not cheap fabric.

The next store was Mormon Handicraft. It is inside a Deseret Book Store, which is an LDS book store. I usually avoid DB at all costs. So I headed in and for some reason the family followed this one time. I headed upstairs to check out the material. After a few moments I heard some kids downstairs. I peeked over the railing. My boys were running around the store. With Walkie Talkies in hand. They played some game of cat and mouse while I shopped. While most people were quiet and looking at church books, my boys ran amuck in the store causing all kinds of commotion. I loved it.

We were finally downtownish area. So we decided to tour the Beehive House. Brigham Young lived there and it was decorated in period pieces. It sure was a pretty place.

Then I dragged the boys to two more fabric stores. One was in a village-type, old-fashioned area with lots of cute little houses turned into stores. I headed out to find my store. While shopping in the store I heard my phone turn off. Middle Child had been watching YouTube and drained the battery. No big deal until I decided I was done. Where were the boys? Couldn't call them. So then I opened my ears and listened. I knew I would be able to hear those wild boys eventually. And I did. They had found the Petting Farm! After letting them pet little pigs and goats and all we headed to the very last quilt store. They were so relieved when it was finally over.

And to treat them all we took them to dinner at a place where the entertainment is Cliff Divers. They were enthralled. And to finish the evening we took them to the 9:30pm showing of Prince of Persia. It was good. Lots of action.

When we got in the car at midnight finally, they flipped on their DS's. I made them turn them off. They weren't happy and fought for a minute. And as soon as they closed their mouths for a minute, they zonked. But not before they thanked me for an awesome day. I may get them to go quilt/fabric store shopping again!

Update to The Big Presentation:

A little girl at church ( I guess she's not all that little, she's 8 or 9) told her Mom I'm a Movie Star since she saw me on TV! I got a really good laugh out of that one.

A New Obsession

I am reliving my childhood. Well, the childhood I didn't have. Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful childhood. I was happy. And fat. And happy.

With two pair of shoes, one for school and one for church. I'm not complaining cuz I had a great childhood. But I have discovered lately that I love shoes. Especially comfortable ones. Especially flats. Especially fun shoes.

These are my very first pair of Converse. I wasn't so sure if I'd like them but they were on clearance for cheap, I know it was less than $15. I just couldn't pass them up and if I didn't like them I wasn't out much. It wasn't long before I was in LOVE.

The next time I ran across a pair of Converse on Clearance (I have a slight problem with paying full price for clothing and shoes) I just thought they were cool.They were sparkly! And starry! Awesome combination. And I have worn these the most. My absolute favorite of all of them.

You can tell they're my favorite, they're pretty dirty. But that just shows them how much I love them, kind of like that Velveteen Rabbit.

A little later I ran across another pair. I had to have these, they were black, my other ones are brown and white so these would go with a whole nother slew of outfits.

Then just barely I found these. On clearance. Again. They were clearing out winter shoes and somehow these got lost in the shuffle. They definitely aren't wintery, very springy.

I can't wait to wear shorts and capris with these flowery, fun, shoes! Too bad it's barely February. Maybe I should move South of here.

Makes you wanna go and get your own pair, doesn't it?

Why I Should Bring Olaf Shopping with Me More Often

When I go grocery shopping I make a menu, make a list, go to the store, buy all the things on the list and a few other things we need that I forgot to put on the list, cringe at the checkout lanes lines, check out, and finally Go Home.

When Olaf comes a lot more crap non-nutritional stuff gets put in the cart. I always spend a little more than I wanted to on food. So I don't usually bring the man. I usually leave him home with the kids. Or better yet, I go while the kids are in school. But while I hurry through the store Olaf peruses and finds things I didn't even know existed.

For example:

I would have never in a million years even picked up the Coconut Oil bottle.

But then I would have missed the good laugh we had about "The Beautiful People Know."

A Curse and Double Hex on All the Meth Makers

Damn all the Meth Makers in America. We don't need Meth for the Masses. You're making life difficult for Non-Meth Users and I've had it. Stop. Not because you are making illegal drugs. Not because you are making something horrible for a person to ingest. Not because you are ruining people's lives. But because you are making it hard to buy Cold Medicine that works. I give you the worst Curse available in all the land and add a Double Hex.

Every year when I head to the store to buy this season's round of Cold Medicine the selection becomes slimmer and slimmer. For the past several years my Cold Medicine of choice has been put behind the pharmacy counter, even though I don't need a prescription, yet. I'm sure that's coming soon enough. But for now I have to show my Drivers License and they take down all my pertinent info to make sure I'm not buying enough to make Meth.

Today I went to get Old Fashioned Triaminic Syrup for Baby. He's got a cold and has been coughing for several days. Today he finished off last year's Triaminic and needed more. I went to my favorite store, Walmart. Only because it's close and cheap when it comes to Cold Medicine. I grabbed a couple things and headed for Cold Medicine. They had a couple kinds of Night Time Triaminic, but not the regular daytime kind. I was so mad I just left the cart in the middle of the aisle with my items in it and walked out. That'll teach them!

I'm about ready to take on all the Meth Makers just so I can have Cold Medicine back in the stores.

Happy Blue Critters

Remember these Happy Critters from Saturday morning cartoons?

They're Smurfs and I loved the cartoon.

Every Saturday I would watch to see what mishap would befall them this week.

One day my parents took us to FAO Schwartz in Las Vegas.
The kids scoured the store. There were so many cool things!
All useless, expensive toys. Have I told you I hate buying toys?

I saw the price tags for stuff the boys would actually use. And
then couldn't rationalize buying something cheap we didn't need,
like another stuffed animal. Have I told you I hate stuffed animals?

I've thrown away garbage bags of stuffed animals. I've donated
bags full of them to the police. So we left with nothing.

Well, almost nothing. I couldn't help myself.
And Olaf just groaned when I showed him my brand new purchase.

What Do You Do With Your Receipts?

Have you noticed how cash register receipts are getting longer? It's a little mind-boggling. We are using higher tech registers at the store, shouldn't we be using less paper?

When I was in college the first time around I worked at Target, the best store on the planet, as a cashier. I remember most people wrote checks for their items. I remember how to find the Routing Number and Account Number on any check.

We had to hand key all that information into the cash register. (I remember a grocery store in town that still used the grease pencils and the cashiers memorized the weekly ad.) I think I remember (oh the fickle mind!) actually using the old credit card machine with the carbon paper for credit card receipts. But it wasn't long before we were able to "swipe" the card and then the cash register would spit out the receipt the customer signed. People were so leery about this whole change. It was a serious change in the shopping industry and people were very worried about the change. And our slogan during this change was "We're using less paper!"

And now we've come full circle. When some stores, such as Sunflower Markets, are using double sided receipts that are so short I almost lose them, most others are adding coupons and surveys and more coupons onto their receipts. Kmart is one of the worst offenders. Tonight I bought two items. I received a receipt over 12 inches long and two other 8 inch coupons. I don't know if anyone else does, but I find this most annoying. So annoying that I rebel in my nonagressive style. I rip off the actual receipt, stick it in my purse and throw the rest on their floor. If they are going to try and fill up my purse with useless crap, they are going to get it right back. I do the same for fliers left on my car, I throw them to the wind. And I don't even feel bad, paper disintegrates quite easily.

Random Happenings

1. Discovered a RedBox movie sitting on top of the TV since last Saturday.
2. My DVR can't tell the difference between "New" and "Rerun" and recorded about 10 iCarly shows for the kids. I took care of that series recording.
3. Middle Child has been sent to clean his room every day for the past two weeks and the floor is no more visible than it was two weeks ago.
4. Attempting to break Tank's habit of sleeping on sofa by leaning chairs against the front of it to no avail, he jumps over them and sleeps on the back cushions as if he were a princess.
5. Ate out way too much this week, but looking forward to it tonight.
6. Bought some soft and warm Acorn slippers for half price last night while Olaf was buying paintballs for his game today.
7. When I told Baby to wash his face he replied, "I'm a Boy! I'm supposed to be dirty!" and he ran away to play with a friend.
   
8. Actually worked out three times this week!
9. It snowed and a lot of trees were damaged.
10. Baby made cookies with Olaf's coworker last night and I ate most of them cuz they were delicious! I need that recipe! (I don't think the workouts counteracted the calories I ate.)
11. I bought my first Paul Frank t-shirt. (I'm probably too old to wear it tho.)
12. Left the truck out in the rain in a feeble attempt to get it clean. It doesn't rain hard enough here to wash a car.
13. Reserved the campground for Girl's Camp this summer.
14. Went to a beautiful roof-top wedding for a past co-worker. I wish her many happy years!
15. Balanced the checkbook and I'm still in the black.
16. Got all the laundry folded and put away. Helps when you don't do all the dirty laundry.
17. Tanned in an effort to keep up with the Rock Star Wives. I'm failing miserably in that deparment, I just don't have it in me.
18. Got to sleep in 15 minutes this week since the kids are on Spring Break and I don't need to get them up in the morning.
19. Put in my first "Time Off" request for Sister's Weekend!

The American Dream

I walked out to the mailbox and caught Baby selling a single Lifesaver in a wrapper to our neighbor for only $0.50! He saw me coming so he hurried and got the money and ran to his friend's house without acknowledging me at all, afraid I would make him give the money back. My neighbor, the sweet man that he is, begged me not to get mad at him. He told me Baby comes over regularly in warm weather, usually selling rocks. And he never wants more than $0.50. He said Baby will come up to the door and tell him "I've got some really cool rocks! Wanna buy one? It's only $0.50." To which my neighbor can't resist.

I knew he sold rocks. Last year he would get some of those sparkly white rocks from our neighbors side yard, bring them home, hit them with a hammer until they were the "right size," and then he would sell them to my poor neighbors. I thought it was pretty funny and entrepreneurial. One recently graduated high school student paid him $1.75 last summer! His mom told him that Baby'd be back for sure! Maybe that's why they moved last summer.

One year his cousin got him a Build-a-Bear which he loves. But he wanted to buy lots more clothes for him. So I helped him make some chocolate chip cookies and he went door-to-door selling 6 for $1. It was quite the bargain. He scored that time, especially when he told them what it was for, and made almost $10! Enough to buy one more outfit for that special bear of his.

It also reminds me of Calvin. He had the same entrepreneurial spirit. He used to sell rocks. My favorite was the summer he decided to go door-to-door selling Kool-Aid. He filled up two pitchers without my help. I think I was making the daycare kids lunch and told him I'd help in a minute or two and he just couldn't wait. Off he went pulling the rickety wagon with two gallons of Kool-Aid in the back. I thought for sure it would be all over the road. About ten minutes later he came back. "I forgot the sugar," he sheepishly told me. I had such a good laugh! I instructed him in how much sugar was needed for a gallon of Kool-Aid and he was off again. I think he made about $5 that day.

When he entered Middle School he was constantly selling stuff at school. He liked to make duct tape wallets and sell them to friends for a few bucks. Of course I bought the duct tape. But I didn't mind, it was a good use of his time. In 6th grade he would sell two rubberbands for a quarter. Sounds a little odd? The boys would fold paper into football shapes and play that little game where they shoot the footballs through their pal's fingers shaped into a goal post. It was great entertainment.

That same year Olaf brought a bunch of mechanical pencils home from work and Calvin loved them. He's always loved mechanical pencils and every year we had to stock up for school. So off to school Calvin went with about a dozen. A week later he asked Olaf to bring him more. We expressed our surprise at how quickly he had used them. That's when he told us he was selling them for $1! That one gave us a good laugh too. So as you can see, my children selling things is nothing new to me. They're trying to live the American Dream without the illegal alien part.

Not Enough Shoes

The other day I went to Target for lunch. It's a great place for lunch. Not only can I browse and shop but it's the only sit-down Pizza Hut in the whole county. And Pizza Hut has a great lunch deal. For less than $6 you get more food than any human should consume for lunch. As I was browsing through the clearance men's section I heard a cart crash into a rack behind me. "Mom's letting their kids drive again?" I thought. As I turned to look at another rack of clothing I saw Sister-in-Law Nurse picking stuff up off the ground.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

She replied giggling, "I saw you walk by, but I only saw you from the neck down so I wasn't sure it was you. So I kept looking all the way down and saw your shoes and knew right away it was you! So I tried to push my cart into you, but it didn't go far. That rack of clothing jumped in the way."

Right now you're thinking, "What a sad sad sad girl that she can be picked out by her shoes! What, has she only got three pair or something?" But it's not like that at all! I promise I have more than three pairs of shoes, not many more, but a few. There is a logical explanation and it was that she was actually shopping with me when I got the shoes.

One day we went to Famous Footwear, not my favorite shoe store, but they were having their Famous Buy One, Get One Half Off. We thought, Perfect! We can both get a pair of shoes 25% off! I looked all over and found a pair of sneakers that I loved. They were a great color combination, soft and cushy, and most importantly the shoes had a good arch, hard to find. I was sold, except they didn't have them in my size. I wasn't worried though, there were signs pasted all over the walls "Can't find your size? We'll ship it to you free of charge!"

So I took the shoe up to the register and asked the girl, "I love this shoe but need it in a 9½ , can you have that size shipped to my house?" I know, gargantuan feet.

She replied, "Let me look it up online." typing, pausing, more typing, "Oh, we have a pair up in our South Jordan store. Would you like me to call them and put them on hold for you?"

"Umm, can't I have them shipped to my house like the signs say?"

"Oh, we only do that for shoes in our warehouse. They aren't in our warehouse, only at our store."

"Really? Well, can someone bring them down here?" thinking of the $3.50 gas price. This was before the New Old Car and I wasn't driving that far for a pair of shoes. That would rack the cost up another $20!

"No, we don't do that. Would you like me to call and put them on hold for a day or two?"

"Not at all," I replied. "I'm not driving up there and if you won't bring them down then I just won't get them here. I'll find them somewhere else."

And find them somewhere else I did! I got them online for the same price with free shipping.

So, that is why she knew me by my shoes. Yes, a long story to explain a short story, I don't mince words.

And while I'm posting this, our cable and internet are inoperable.

My boys just hollered from the basement: "The cable's out?"

"Yes. The city's lame."

"What?"

"YES, THE CITY'S STUPID!"

"Yes they are! We neeeeeeeeeed cable!"

"You'll just have to watch a movie," I told them.

"What? I hope my boys survive without TV!" from Olaf. "What have I been teaching you? How will you survive when we have to live off our food storage and there is no electricity?"

Be Prepared, the Boy Scout and Olaf motto. And if you know Olaf, you know I'm not kidding.

Black Friday

All Day Thursday we poured over the ads in the newspapers. We were on a mission. We had shopping to do bright and early the next morning.

"What? Are you crazy? It's not so bright since the sun doesn't come up until two whole hours after the stores open! What person in their right mind shops that early in the morning?"

These kind of crazy girls that don't get to see each other very often and want to have some wild and crazy fun together! Most years we are back before everyone at the house is awake. This year almost everyone was still asleep. Not only did we hit three stores but we had a nice sit-down breakfast at the local Cracker Barrel, the best breakfast in the area.

One of the funnest things about going shopping early is watching all the other people. There are always a few people that stand in line for a while and then go home. They are usually new to the experience and are not expecting the crowds that amass on Predawn Black Friday shopping. There are others that have a whole crew at their disposal. Several stand in line, while others get coffee/hot chocolate and donuts, and often they have walkie talkies so they can communicate with each other in the madness of the shopping crowds. No normal cell phone can be heard these morning except in the empty bathrooms.

This year we had a treat at Target, our favorite Black Friday store. There are always security guards but this year wehad a female who had obviously shopped on Black Friday before. As the late crowds started forming in the parking lots, hoping to walk in with the crowds that had been waiting for over an hour she let them have it. She would point her finger at the crowd and holler, "I'm watching you guys! You can't butt in line with these guys, you need to go to the back of the line!" She did this a few times, endearing her to the lines of people already waiting.

Then, just before the store opened, a regular police officer pulled into the Target parking lot and parked right in front of the entrance. Just before the store opened he got out and lounged in the lane, just daring people to cut in line.

Then the doors finally opened!!!! We all pushed forward, trying to get the people in front of us to move a little faster. The people in the parking lot started moving forward. Sister Homemaker & I yelled the normal "To the back of the line!" Sister Accountant, having lived in New York City for three years and another in Chicago, regressed to her big city days. "Copper, get your gun out! People are trying to butt in line!"

Finally, we were in the store! We had a game plan. Sister Accountant headed for the video games, Sister Homemaker headed for the toys, & I headed for domestics, I was in charge of acquiring several king size blankets. We were planning on meeting by the DVDs on sale at the front of the store but we found each other before then. Pregnant Sister Accountant said some man had tried to push her out of his way with his big old belly. Of course, she stood her ground and got what she needed. Sister Homemaker got all the toys she wanted with a few extra. I had found and gotten all the blankets we needed. Of course there were only brown and white in King size. Being practical, I got all brown. We all have children and I knew how long a white blanket would stay clean. At my house it would be in the washer more than on the sofa.

I mentioned I wanted to look at the movies until Sister Accountant pointed to the mass of people around the racks. I took one look at that and said "Let's go!" We were out of the store before 6:10. We are pretty proud of getting in and getting out. No wasted time here! Several years ago we were in line at Toys R Us. We knew exactly what we wanted, got it, and checked out. When we left the store we gleefully noted that not everyone in line was in the store yet! We always have a lot of fun and get a few things on a great deal every Black Friday.