Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open. - Thomas Dewar

Black Friday shopping. Oh my.

Now, growing up, we never went Black Friday shopping. We stayed in, and set up one of our two Christmas trees. We ate cookies, relaxed. Dad watched football, and normally the rest of us (my brother, sister, my mom and myself) played an extremely aggresive game of Monopoly. If you think Monopoply cannot be a competitive sport... just play with my family. We are serious opponents. It becomes a 3 day feud. At night (after hours and hours of playing) we write down everyone's money count, property count, and whose turn is next on a sheet of paper, only to return the next morning with our most combative game faces. I think we all secretly lie in bed, listening. Listening for foot steps of another opponent trying to sabatoge the game. Trying to get one up on us. Thoughts race through our head like "man, it tooks me 3 times around the board to finally get BoardWalk, they better not try to switch it for Park Place!" or, "Maybe I should trade Ema Kentucky Avenue for the Electric Company. Oh wait, then she will have all three and totally dominate the game. No, I should stick to Steve and trade him Short Line Railroad for Water Works. Oh thats the perfect trade!" and tomorrow just can't come fast enough to make the deal. Its serious.

Well, the past few years, my brother joined the Air Force, Ema went to college, and I got a dern take-up-all-your-time job, and 3 day Monopoly squabbles have become just short 2 hour games. Although, they are just as aggresive.

This year, Steve wasn't able to come home, and Mandy, Ema and I all went out Black Friday shopping. And oh boy, was it something. The outlets, where we shopped, opened 12 AM on Thursday night. Amanda and I were in line at Old Navy for and hour and a half before they opened. They gave out little bracelets for the first people in line to get a free Wii, PS3, or Xbox game. However, Mandy and I both forgot to claim our prizes. This is us, outside Old Navy, you can see the lune behind us, but thats barely anything... The line went on, for pretty much... well.... forever.

You can see my game bracelet =] Oh, the deals were so good. We didn't get home until 4AM!! Mandy and I began "Tired Laughing". It is terminology we came up with, its when we laugh so hard at nothing that is at all humorous, but we just can't help ourselves. We are in such a state of exhaustion, we find the dumbest things funny...seriously, the dumbest things. Anyways, I found the most amazing deals, and have now decided that I am Black Friday shopping every year!! However, the only downfall I find about this... No, it isn't the pushy crowds, or the zero parking, or the bad attitude sales associates, not even being overly exhausted the next day, its the fact the everything that falls into my shopping basket is EXACTLY my size, and favorite color. I don't know how it happens, but it makes it absolutely i.m.p.o.s.s.i.b.l.e to Christmas shop. How was everyone else's Black Friday?? Any horror stories??