Black Friday!

Ok ladies...shopping day was here and now it's gone. How could 21 hours of shopping go so quickly?! I know why, because I was with some of my bestest girlfriends! Becky, Tammy and Sherry (who we lovingly call Mama Merk) . She is a hoot!!!

I have shopped with the same 3 friends for 12 years. Tammy and Sherry have shopped for...I think 16 years together before Becky and I shoved our way in! Becky and I have been BFF's for about 16 years! Her and I have been through so much together and we've been through lot's of wet pant's together! LOL! She wets her pants when she gets to laughing! Um...a few of us also do the same but we won't talk about that. I can't tell you everything about me!

Back to Becky - it would not be the same if she didn't have to change her pants at least one time during the shopping spree! And usually the changing is done in the car! Over the years, Sherry has been just as bad!

We even have an ornament exchange every year. There's only the 4 of us but we make it official by drawing names. Usually it takes a few times because we keep pulling our own names. This year my BFF did not even put my name in the drawing - she put Sherry's in twice so I got an ornament this year that wasn't really meant for me...LOL! I love putting the tree up and laughing when I see all of the ornaments over the years that I have recieved and remembering the fun it was hunting for just the right ornament!

Here's the agenda for the day:

Alarm, with it's shrill scream, rings/screams at 1:45.

I jump out of bed! HAHAHAHA! I moan and groan and gripe and roll out of bed and head for the shower.

I laid out my clothes the night before so I could jump into them and head out. Of course I had to do my hair and put on my face first - NO ONE wants to see me before all that happens!

I met the girls at 3:30 am. My friend Tam, beat me this year! And believe me, my phone rang at 3:30 am so she could rub it in! Whatever! It won't happen again Tammy! I was 10 minutes late and she is usually the one strolling in! Most of the time it's because she can't find shoes to wear! LOL!

The girls had their "hands free" shopping satchels strapped on, ads in hand and we were out the door!

First stop - Walmart! I despise Walmart so much! Did you all hear about the employee at "the" Walmart in New York? He was trampled by customers when the doors opened! So very sad! We didn't trample any employees but we did bump a few carts out of the way! And there are MANY hateful people out there! Don't get up and shop at 4:00 am with a scowl on your face! We laugh the entire time! And people - seriously, why do you drag out little ones at 4:00 am and then gripe at them because they are crying? I will never figure that one out!

Then off to all the other stops - Kohls, Meijer, Target, the mall. We spend most of our time at the mall. The lines were really long but we waited and waited..who can pass up a bargain?! And we got some bargains this year! I'm thinking the economy didn't stop alot of people! The one thing that NO ONE had enough of was those awesome fuzzy SOFT socks for little girls! Couldn't find ONE stinkin' pair for M! I'll keep looking.

We have pizza in the mall food court at 6:30 a.m. - It's good! Don't judge! : ) We had lunch at Don Pablo's - YUMMO! And we top the evening off with Steak N Shake!!! By the time I get home, my stomach is a wreck!

Plus we got a little surprise this year - Our girl Tam, got us Preferred Parking at the docks!! We could park at any docking/service area at the mall! You have no idea how thankful we were to have that! We were able to shop, get arms full of stuff and then go drop it off at the car - no crowds - NOTHING! We thought we were SOMEBODY! We were the only ones that thought that, but does that really matter? Check it out!

Here we are parking - not a soul around us...



And here's the sign...sorry for the blur, I was very cold...



I wish I would have snapped more pictures with my phone! I'm not sure what I was thinking! But we were on a mission!

We had a blast as usual and it's always sad at the end of the day. I wouldn't miss it for the world! It's not all about the shopping or the bargains...it's about the friendship and the time we get to spend together.

Love you girls!! See ya next year! LOL!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Keli