Making Progress

Would someone mail this to Regis and Kelly please. He should probably win something for this.

Black Friday 09

If you know me at all you know I really like to shop. I admit, it's shallow. But, for whatever reason, it brings me great happiness and I'm at peace with myself. I'm not addicted and my Visa bill is always (okay mostly) under control. I LOVE a good deal but I don't like to scour the city or dig through a dirty bin just to save a few bucks. But this year, I became one of the crazys. Black Friday rocked my world. As luck would have it some furniture I ordered in the states came in and was ready for me to pick-up on Thanksgiving. (tender mercy) So, for the first time in 12 years, I was going to be south of the 49th parallel for American Thanksgiving. Well, almost. After a week of heated debate about taking the kids with us, I lost and they all came. We got up early Thursday morning and made the 10 hours drive in record time - arriving at my parents house as they were eating the last bites of pie. Not to worry, my mom made 18 pies for 17 people - 10 of whom were under the age of 12. But then came the real dessert. The world's best sister-in-law: Lindsay Byram brought out the real treat. They were beautiful, thick, smelled new and brought the festivities to a fevered pitch... behold, The Black Friday Flyers. Lindsay has been a Black Friday warrior for many years, the rest of us - clueless of this beautiful sub-culture. We poured over the places we would go, drew our battle plans, discussed tactics, and scrutinized our strategy. In the end, we dubbed Lindsay "BFTL" Black Friday Team Leader. She lived up to the title and was awarded the Purple Heart. So, when 4:00 AM rolled around, I was up, dressed and teeth brushed in 4 minutes flat. My troops picked me up at Lindsay's house (she was gone... left with the earlier squadron.. okay just Alison, but still) The drive to Idaho Falls left us time to hone our final battle plans. (for some reason, even though I'm the oldest you would never know it at this stage of life. My sisters all boss me around like crazy, and I let them.) So, when Kristen, my youngest sister said, "Erika, I feel like you're the most useless, go stand in the check out line." I gave her the thumbs up. Turns out it was a brilliant move. Here's how it went down. 4:45 am Pull into the parking lot of Target - in awe of the massive wall of people waiting in line. 4:46 am score the world's best parking spot, on the side but right in front. 4:47 am stand humbled, looking at the live-truck, massive security guard, caution tape and the start of the line. 4:48 am get worried about the battle that's about to take place. 4:49 Random stranger #1 join us, we joke mentioning "hey next year let's wear red and khaki and go in the employee entrance." 4:51 Random Stranger #2 joins us and says, "You know, there are enough of us, we could just charge the security tape and break through it." 4:52 am lots of laughter over that one. This is one funny lady. 4:59 am more chatting and I decide to get out my video camera for the big moment. Plus, we've come to terms there is no way we're getting in the building before 7 am. 5:00 am Bell rings, crowd cheers and random stranger #2 charges the security tape, distracts the guard and slips in the store. Serious. My camera was rolling. 5:01 am the line is moving fast, we start waking to get to the end of it. 5:03 am Random Stranger #3 yells at us, thinking we're trying to cut in line. Kristen looses it and yells back, "We're not cutting and you have on a really bad vest." 5:02 am pretending to be shocked over Kristen's "crowd mentality" I reply, "Kristen, what kind of person are you? You just yelled at someone who has clearly made some poor life choices." 5:03 am Target employee offers Breakfast Burritos to the line. (my bad, I thought they were free) 5:04 line is moving really fast. 5:05 am Operation Divide and Concur is in full force. Andrea hits toys. Kristen, electronics. Me, the check out line. (which no one is in yet because the doors just opened) I grab a sweatshirt that's not even on sale just to look la git in the line. 5:06 am The Toy Department. Andrea steals some guys cart as he turns to grab a toy. This proves a crucial move, how's a girl supposed to carry 2 easy bake ovens? 5:06 am Electronics. Kristen makes her way to the front of the counter and starts telling people where they belong in line. This proves a pivotal moment as she scores the last 4 of the $88 digital cannon cameras. 5:07 am people are starting to line up and I panic. The only thing I have to show is that red sweatshirt. I buddy up with another random line holder, offer to help her put things on the belt and then tell her she can go ahead of me. Where is the rest of my team? 5:10 am Kristen appears in the horizon of the line crowd. Triumphantly holding the $80 chi's and the camera's. 5:12 am Andrea emerges. Easy Bake ovens and all. 5:13 am - more adrenaline as we start to check out. 5:21 am Mission accomplished! We call BFTL (Lindsay) to report our success and listen for our next marching orders.

If you want to know what happened next, blogstock Lindsay or Kristen. I'm tired and Darren just flooded the kitchen. But, Black Friday was a blast. Put it on your bucket list. And no, I didn't finish my Christmas shopping.