Black Friday memories

First of all Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for...I don't think it could fit in a room.

So, as we had some friends over for Thanksgiving we were talking about how now Thanksgiving is overshadowed by the commercialism of Christmas. We can hardly enjoy a day to be thankful because we need to rush out the door to buy more stuff. We can't even enjoy the day now, because some stores are opening tonight at 10:00 pm for deals that cannot wait another few hours. (I don't know what our world would come to if we didn't have yet another cute pair of shoes, jeans, jewelry...)

Before I was married I didn't even hardly know about Black Friday. I just enjoyed the long weekend home with my family. Then I got married and my husband introduced me to the joys of finding a deal at 3:00 in the morning.

The most memorable Black Friday I went to was nine months pregnant with my first son, which truly should have cured me of it. I was introduced to the "thankful hearts" of many that pushed me around and made me stand in line just like everyone else. I guess I should say thank you to all of them, because I was in labor the next evening and gave birth to our son 12 days early for the love of a good deal.

I should have learned my lesson, but the deals reeled me in another year...a laptop for $200 or something like that. We snatched one of the prized possessions only to find out our brother-in-law scooped one up too and was hiding the the clothing section to get away for the angry mob until it was safe to purchase. He bought the one we needed and we were able to gift ours away to a kiss giving Billy Bob Thorton look-alike. It was magic!

Well those two years and moving to a town an hour away from Wal-mart have almost cured me of Black Friday. Part of me wishes I could wake early and stand outside just to feel the rush of buying something for a smoking hot deal. But I think the smarter older side of me will win this year, the one that wants to stay in bed until my kids force me out for another day filled with gratitude.

Happy shopping to all those who brave the madness!