Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, and I get it. Be thankful; for freedom, for family, for friends, for food and for having a warm dry place to call home. I am always reminding the kids that there are many people in the world who have none of those things, so be thankful for all your blessings - even if you don't quite know how to appreciate them just yet. Aside from that mushy stuff, one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving (besides Roxie's green bean casserole) is the day after - Black Friday.
Two years ago we ventured out to pick up a few sale items. We browsed a few fliers, and headed out well past 10 AM and casually shopped alongside the zombies who had risen at 3 AM. A few sale items came home with us, but nothing too exciting....AMATEURS!!!! Last year, we initiated ourselves into the "crazy-4 AM-shop-in-your-jammies-after-a-Thanksgiving-food-coma" club.
IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!!
It really wasn't THAT crazy. We weren't the people waiting out in the cold to stampede in through the doors and run around like an animal...we showed up a little while after those people. Last year was a great learning experience. We had a goal of replacing a TV in our home, and found one for $190 in the Wal-Mart sale flier. What we didn't realize was that you have to get to a certain area of the store depending on what size of TV you are after. Ours happened to be in the dairy section, and a familiar face was at the head of the line. I asked her what in the world is going on, and she said you have to have a coupon and get in line and they would release the TVs in an hour. She had JUST given her extra coupon away to a stranger, and they were out of tickets so we went on our merry way. We proceeded to load our cart with $2 DVDs and I don't remember what else.
We knew Lowes and Runnings were also opening early, so we hit up Lowes for a Maglite (reg $29, sale $9) and I also pointed out an air compressor/nail gun combo (reg $189, sale $58) for our little projects. It is wonderful!!! Then we ran over to Runnings for a shop stool (reg $58, sale $19) Aaron had been eying and also got our nephew, Taet, a "heavy duty trike" complete with a hitch (reg $100, sale $39 with an $8 instant rebate).
It was probably about 6 AM when we finished up at Runnings, and we decided to pack up our car and doing a little shopping in Sioux Falls before heading to Dakota Dunes for Morford Thanksgiving. We stopped at Pier 1 for a few gifts, and popped into Old Navy (which was a nut house!) and were quickly on our way to Sioux City. I can't remember if we slept first or headed out first, but I think we hit up Target and Kohl's and wrapped up our morning of shopping and took a long afternoon nap. The day was crazy and exhausting but it was a really great adventure!
This year we have plans of going after a TV again, some toys, baby items and of course DVDs - they are the best stocking stuffer! Wal-Mart is opening their doors at $10 pm, so we will probably show up around 11. We were at the mall in Sioux Falls yesterday, and it was so crazy that I wouldn't dream of going to their midnight sale, but more power to the brave shoppers who do! I am usually half done with Christmas shopping by now, but I haven't been very successful with making a shopping list this year. It really is true that it gets harder and harder every year to buy for everyone!
The weekend after Thanksgiving, we always try to decorate our house for Christmas. We turn on Christmas movies and cover the house in ribbons, ornaments and glitter. Does anyone else have this tradition? With the first snow this weekend, we actually pitched our pumpkins and gourds, took down the exterior Thanksgiving decorations and put up the garland and Christmas wreath. Just in case we got more snow or ice this week, I wanted to be done with anything that involved ladders and climbing on the roof, but next weekend we will have to put out the deer lawn ornaments and light it all up!
I am excited for the glow of Christmas lights as I drive home each night. Our neighborhood is well lit, and there is even a crazy Griswold style house with a special aneurysm display in the backyard. Several times a week I would stop my car in the middle of the road and stare at the lights blinking all over their yard, trying to figure out if there was a pattern to the madness. There wasn't, and there was something new added to the display almost daily. To top it all off, the front yard was lined with milk jug luminaries. It's super entertaining, and I was thankful for the opportunity to smile at the silliness of the display every evening!
A warm and beautiful home, lots of family and friends, good jobs, happy pets, clothes on our backs, a growing baby and my amazing husband - what more can I ask for? Did I mention that Aaron is currently making a dinner of glazed ham, mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy?!!? Wow!!! I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and there are hundreds of things I am thankful for everyday. What are you thankful for?
Noelle
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