My First Black Friday:P

Hard to believe that I have never participated in Black Friday seeing that Shyrl is my Mother, but it is true. I am used to Boxing Day but that does not even come close to the the horror/crazy stories of Black Friday I have heard over the years. This year I knew the sales were going to be well worth the effort, and the loss of sleep, so I ventured out into the darkness hoping to find some light and keep some cash in my pocket.

We left Paul's and Janis's house around 11:00 p.m. and headed over to the mall ... The Disney Store was having an amazing sale at Midnight and I was dead set on getting the matching Tree Skirt (they only had 3 left in stock) to match our Minnie & Mickey Tree Topper. The girls thought it was quite exciting that they got to go to the store so late and we were the first ones there...that did not last for long, a crowd started gathering but I must say Disney Folk are very polite and did not try to butt in line. I am happy to report that at the stroke of 12 I was able to get my Tree Skirt at 60% off and the girls their Christmas Jammies also at 60% off. I saved so much money I was able to get myself the matching stocking. I saved $65. I was soooooooo happy:)

I took Wes and the girls home and waited till 3:00 a.m. to head over to our Super Walmart. Now remember this my first experience with this CRAZINESS so I had no idea what to expect. I got there and about 450 people were lined up inside in the front of the store. A Manager was on the P.A. telling all the customers that they were not allowed to have anything in their carts or be by the merchandise until 5:00 a.m. I started questioning my sanity. I knew I was going to save a good amount of money but was waiting in line for two hours with a bunch of WII hungry lunatics ... worth my safety? I guess so because I stayed. The woman behind me was there to get one of the 40 WII bundles they had on sale and she was telling her daughters to do "what ever it takes" to get back to that section. Knock people over, hit them, pretty much anything. She meant it too. All I could think was "Wow" ... I was appalled. The store started to get so crowded that there was no longer a line. At about 4:30 the Manager got on the P.A. and told us we could all go and stand in front of the sale items we wanted. There were well over 1200 people in the store. I have never seen so many people scatter so quickly. I walked back to the DVDs, it was nice to take a stroll with no one around.

Now whoever set up the sale items clearly was not thinking straight. The DVDs were smack dab in between the 52 inch HD televisions and the 32 inch TVs...those people were out for blood, there were only a certain amount and they made it a point to let everyone around them know that they were not leaving without that precious item. It was scary. So I am thinking I am going to get trampled to death just so I can get a few copies of Kung Fu Panda and some Pet Shop Toys. The other people waiting with me to get the DVD's were very kind and we all came up with a plan so we could all get what we wanted. It was refreshing to know that in the midst of all the madness there were still some friendly and kind people not willing to bludgeon you with their cart.

5:00 a.m. hit, and it is still all a blur. I can't even explain the things that I saw or what people were shouting at other people. All I know is that I got my movies and now had to make my way to the other side of the Super Walmart so could get the Pet Shop Toys. I am very lucky I am so small and persistent ... I got crushed in between two carts and trapped in the Video game section (that is where all the maniacs were) but I was able to push my way through and get my Pet Shop Toys. I was full of adrenaline. It was a high I have never felt...the people in the toy section were like hungry hyenas on speed...it was insane.
I started mapping the best way to get to the front of the store and figured that getting to the paint isle would be the safest exit...who is buying paint on Black Friday? It took me about 4 minutes to squish my way threw the crowd and I only had to go a couple of feet. I have never been so relieved to see a can of paint. I finally felt safe, it was a wasteland. I saved about $40. Next year if I decide to brave Black Friday I will definitely go for a bigger item.
I then headed over the the Bonton and got a few games for 50% off. It was not crowded and everyone was pleasant.

I guess I was still really pumped up when I got home because Wes thought he was going to have slap me of sedate me to get me to calm down from the adrenaline. I guess I could not stop telling him about everything that I saw and repeated the story a few times (this is all kind of fuzzy) with more enthusiasm each telling. I ended up getting a few hours of sleep.

Did you know that we had people in our family in all time zones at Walmart for the early morning sale. Andy was Pacific, Mom, Aunt Robyn and Danielle were Mountain, Marcie was Central and I was Eastern Standard Time. Look, we all did something as a family:P

Happy Thanksgiving

I had my most relaxing Thanksgiving ever...I did not cook. I only had to make 3 things (candied yams, a pumpkin cheesecake pie and vegetables...I can do these things in my sleep) and then we went over to our friends' (Paul & Janis) house for Thanksgiving. It was really weird at first. I am so used to doing the whole production and always being so busy that just being able to relax was a little bit of a shock at first. Don't worry, I acclimated. Paul went to culinary school...I think he is our only friend who is not intimated to cook for me. Dinner was lovely, very stress free. What was even better was Wes and Paul doing the Thanksgiving dishes!!! I got to play with their 6 mo old baby boy and plan my attack for shopping on "Black Friday." Wes went out of his way to make sure that I had a peaceful Thanksgiving...I am Thankful for him and his thoughtfulness.

Catching Up

Nut update - I can eat Pistachios...I am not sure quite yet what I think about them. We were at the mall the other day and I finally got fulfill something I have always wanted to do. I got to eat warm Candy Roasted Cashews. They were AMAZING!!! I have so missed out.

It has been snowing like crazy here. We have a ton of snow and it is supposed to snow all week. We put the Christmas tree up and the decorations and that seemed to help with my "snow depression." All of a sudden it seems alright to have snow...just for the sake of Christmas.

I had a Pampered Chef Party two weeks ago. It was snowing really heavy so I had a lot of people cancel but I still had a pretty good turn out. I went to my first Pampered Chef party in October...now only if Williams and Sonoma would start doing parties. Anywho...I thought some of their products were quite good (and some I would not touch with a ten foot pole) and decided to have my own. I made the food and the consultant (who is a friend) demonstrated it. We had Cranberry Fizz Punch, a Dark Forest Trifle and a Mediterranean Cheese Dip. The Cheese Dip was outstanding.

I'll Take Gerbil For 1000 Alex...

I got a phone call from Hannah's teacher this evening. She asked me if I could send in our bag of Gerbil food so she could take it to the School District. She needs to prove that there is indeed a Gerbil food without nuts, so that Hannah's class can procure the classroom Gerbil. I really hope that they're getting a Gerbil that can juggle or swallow swords...what a hassle. On the same "Gerbil" note; Ms. Buso (Hannah's teacher) asked me if our Gerbil died today and that she was sorry. I told her that Indiana Jones died about 2.5 months ago. I guess Hannah finally felt comfortable talking about it in class, just not the specifics. That is Hannah for you, Hannah Standard Time. Ms. Buso felt really bad...I told her not to worry, that we had another Gerbil, Mocha Joe, and she was still alive and kicking. Though...two nights ago when I was putting the girls to bed we passed by her cage and she way laying in her cage and looked like she was dead...we shook the cage (I know, Shaken Gerbil Syndrome) and she did not move. I thought for sure she had died but when I started to really give up hope. Mocha got up, looked at us and went into her little house. She is always taunting me!!! She was probably thinking I would open the door to check on her and she would make a run for it...ha, ha...I am on to her evil plan.

In other news we took the car into shop before it could ask for it's Christmas Present. I am really hoping that the car will take note of the effort and leave our Christmas bonus alone. We ended up having to have some extensive work on the front end (tie rods, bushings etc...) and had to get 4 new tires. I told the shop that I only had a $1000 to spend. I smiled pretty and they gave us two 20% off discounts, 10% for AAA, and a $50 rebate on the tires. The total came to $999.71. Good Stuff:)
Whenever I have to put that much money down to fix the car or something in the house I always think of how many clothes or Little Pet Shop toys I could buy with a thousand dollars. The car is driving like a dream, so I guess I can cope:P

Twilight Quiz

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Over Exposed

We went to JC Penny's to get our Christmas picture taken. Frankly, I should have gotten the school nurse to take the pics...that is how bad the experience was

I should have know that these pictures were destined to be a failure. I had to go to 5 different stores just looking for a pair of white dress shoes for Audrey and could not find any, so ended up with silver. The dress that we had bought for Audrey, the only one that fit her, had a smudge on the front (we got a good discount for it) and it did not match anyone else's clothes. Saturday morn, I took the girls to get their hair done...that was a lot of fun, but the girl had quoted me $10 for each of their updos (even after she had seen Audrey's hair and told me it would be fine) but after it was all said an done she charged me $20 for Audge's hair.

The girl who took the pics clearly wanted to be somewhere else. She asked me what the pictures were for and I said that we were here for the family Christmas-pic...pretty straight forward. I guess I should have drawn a little diagram with stick figures so that she could understand better. She called the girls "you" and not once did she try to get them to smile, to pose them (I posed them) or give a flying whoot that we were even there. The only pic that turned out decent was lucky. She blamed Wes being so tall for her equipment not working (when she clearly had no idea what she was doing) she hit me on the head with one of the lamps and did not even say sorry. AHHHH!!! So we get done and are told to wait 15 minutes to see the pictures. 15 minutes pass...then 30 and then 40 and by this time I am seething. I go and ask when we can see our pics and am told that they are short staffed and that we are going to have to wait another 40 minutes to an hour. My voice started going up exponentially and that is when the manager screamed out that they would give us two free sheets. I thought, ok, I have a coupon for no sitting fee (because hell would of frozen over before I paid $40 for that photo session) and a free 8x10...that is 3 free sheets. Alright, we will walk down to the bookstore and wait.

We get back and the same girl (I will not call her a photographer because she isn't) shows us the pics on the computer. She took 25 shots and they had made a few of them into those special fancy sheets that cost more money and those were the only ones she showed me...I asked where the originals were. She pulled up the pics and only ONE of the family pictures were even on the screen. Her Manager had gotten rid of the rest because they were so lousy. I had steam coming out of my ears. I kept telling her "I need a minute, I need to talk to my husband" and she just stood there like I was speaking Russian. So I grudgingly decided on a couple of pics for my free sheets, and was told I could not have them because they were special sheets and were excluded. I wanted to just walk out but we had spent so much money just getting everything for the pictures that I was not going to walk out empty handed. Then low and behold the girl's cell phone goes off...I am in the middle of asking her a question and she tells me to be quiet and tells the other person that she is supposed to be off and she is trying to get out of there. I looked at her and told her to go and get her Manager and leave. Good Riddance!!! That was probably the highlight of the whole experience.

(I did call and complain to JC Pennys customer service. They are sending me a coupon for two free sheets and a free photo session. Yippee:P)

So we had a major dilemna: we still needed Christmas pics and didn't want to pay anyone to do them. We didn't want to drive two hours to the good photographer, so if you want something done right, do it yourself. We got home and took pics of the girls and then our neighbor came over and took our family pic which turned out FABULOUS!!! I can not post any on this blog because that will ruin the Christmas card but here is a good pic of me.

The Land of Cashews and Almonds

I finally got up enough courage to try an Almond again. I have been craving them so badly that I have been replacing the taste of Almonds with the "Almond scent." I have been smelling cleaning supplies, fabric softeners, hand creams and candles...just to quench my new-found passion. I broke down Friday night while Wes was home, and ate an Almond Joy. I slowly ate the chocolate bar and nothing happened so I ate the other one. AMAZING!!! Wes was worried the whole time but was so relieved that the past Almond experience was not just some weird fluke and was actually a revelation. He got so excited and started pondering what nut I could try next. We settled on Cashews because those are his favorite.

We went to the store the next day and were in the nut isle...it felt so weird, so foreign and strange. I felt like death could get me at any minute but I had to explore a new found journey...of nuts. (I know I sound so dramatic)

We started looking at roasted Cashews and, low and behold, the Cashews are roasted in PEANUT OIL. Who was the genius that thought this was a good idea? So, we looked at another brand and, the same thing. So all these years (I am almost 32) I thought I was allergic to tree nuts but come to find out I was allergic to the oil that some idiot was roasting the tree nut in. We went to the nut bins to see if they had any organic Cashews and they did; safe, as far as peanut exposure.

That night I took the little Cashew out of the plastic bag and smelled it ...no reaction. I then stared at it a little while. I had never even felt a Cashew, so that was a little strange. Then I took a bite... HEAVEN...forget the Almond. I mean, my life has been meaningless without the Cashew. Everything was perfect, no swelling or itchiness. I ate another one and then my mean husband took the bag away from me and told me I had to wait until the next day to try another so we could see if there was going to be an allergic reaction of any sort. I woke up the next morning and everything was right as rain. Thank goodness I made that mistake a couple of months ago or we would never have had this epiphany. To think I don't have to be scared of these two nuts just as long as they are natural and not roasted is a big load off my shoulders. The next nuts I am going to try are Macadamia Nuts and Pistachios.