I got there 3 hours early!! I was super surprised that the store was dead, completely empty! I wandered the store, scoping out where the stuff I wanted was. I couldn't find the line for the TVs, so I ended up talking to the manager. She told me to look for the giant balloon that would say "32" TV!!" and a sign as well. I found both of them, and she instructed me to stand there to start the line. Yep, my first solo Black Friday outing, and I was FIRST in line for my item. I was pretty dang proud of myself. As the line started to get longer and longer, I managed to stay calm, because they made the whole Black Friday process so much easier this year. But, as is my luck, everything had to go downhill at some point.
After waiting in line for 2 hours, the manager comes over to tell me that the balloon and sign were put in the wrong spot, and that another customer started another line several rows over. She oh-so politely informed me that I was now LAST in line, and that I would have to relocate to the other line.When all of the people behind me in line heard her say that, they went running to the other line, and I was, in fact, THE last person in line. Buncha jerks!! I was SOOOOOOOOOOO mad. First, if there were two lines started, I was most definitely the first line starter. Trust me, I know, because I wandered the store trying to find the balloon, and all of the neighboring rows were empty at that time. Secondly, I was told BY A MANAGER, where to stand. Check your security footage, and you'll see!! Despite wanting to be "that" lady who starts punching people and throwing things, out of rage, I just went with the flow, and moved to the next line. They're lucky I was first, because I'd be willing to bet that any other person, kicked from first to last, would start making a scene. I'm too mellow for that. The TV was a guaranteed item for the first hour, so I was definitely going to get one. But what made me mad was that even though I would get the TV, I would now have to wait for the 70 other people ahead of me to get their's before I could set off to get the other items that I wanted that weren't guaranteed. And I was a tad bit annoyed that she didn't try to make it up to me by allowing like the first 10 people of our line to get front spots of the other line, since she knew we had been waiting for several hours.
While all of this jerk-Natalie-around chaos was happening, I was in cahoots with my mom, Jack, and Susan, who were at their local Walmart. Ryan was going to be showing up to meet me at 6, when the sale started, to hop in the forever-long line for the second TV. I was going to be able to take home a TV, but he would get the voucher that guaranteed the item online, at the same price. My mom offered to go to her Walmart to grab the iPad that I wanted, and have Jack and Susan each get one, so that we could really milk the deal. What a relief it was to have them helping me! In the end, we ended up getting both TVs that we wanted, 3 iPads, the always-amazing-deal Tupperware sets, more Pyrex sets, and lots of toys for Lilly. And, the best part was that the worst of the shopping madness was over once we got those specific items, we had everything we needed, and there would be no need to wake up at 0-dark-thirty to hit the doorbuster sales the next day. Any shopping done on Friday would be purely stress-free and enjoyable.
As much as I wanted to revel in my amazing deals, I had to drive all the way back home in Lehi, alone. Ryan and Lilly were staying in Layton, since I had to be back in Lehi to take Christmas pictures for someone in our ward on Friday. Having to drive all the way back home sounds like it sucks, (and it did, only because I was super tired, and the adrenaline high was wearing off, so I had to really fight to stay awake) but it actually ended up solving some issues for me. I really wanted to go Black Friday shopping with my mom, Susan, Jack, and Erin, so having to come down for pictures made it so that I could go with them!!
Our first Friday morning stop was Sonic, for mom's addict sticker, err, window sticker for Route 44 sodas. Then it was off to the mall. The only store I always insist on hitting on Black Friday is Bath & Body Works. It's the one day of the year that I stock up on all my hand soaps and Wall Flower scents. I scored big time! The only other store in the mall that I insisted on going to was Victoria Secret, but I can't tell you what I got, because it will ruin the surprise for Ryan, since I know he reads the blog. We wandered in and out of all our favorite stores, and even had fun chasing mom around in her wheel chair. By the way, NEVER volunteer to push an impatient woman around in a wheelchair. 90% of the time, I'd hear her say "you're not going fast enough, we're missing deals!" and she'd go rolling off on her own, or end up making it harder for me to push, because she was pushing against me. The other 10% of the time, I would get distracted and end up bashing her into something. No joke, that happened a lot. Hahaha!
After the mall, we hit Staples, and then dropped Erin off at home, so she could leave before round 2 (round 3, if you count the night before). We went to Michael's to get stuff for Susan's proposal shadow box, and then we went out for lunch. I'm eating my leftovers (LOTS of leftovers) as I'm typing. Jack and Susan wussed out by this point, so we devised a plan. Mom wanted to go to Kmart, I needed to run home to grab my camera, since it was looking like I'd be up in Draper all the way until it was time for pictures, and Jack and Susan needed to head back to Provo, since Jack had work. So, I dropped mom off at Kmart, ran Susan and Jack home, and then ran down to Lehi to get my stuff, headed back to Kmart to shop with mom, then dropped mom off at home, and ran to take pictures in Bluffdale. LOTS of driving. Pictures went well.....I hope. It's hard to get pictures when you have 4 kids that don't want to all be looking at the camera at the same time, and are too wiggly to get a non-blurry picture. I'll post about it more later.
Anyway, I've had a LONG day, and I have another long day tomorrow. I'm taking family pictures for Erin's in-law side of the family at two different locations in Provo, then I have to drive all the way back up to Layton, and then bake cookies for Grandma and Grandpa Moore's 60th anniversary party. But, I'm happy to report that once this weekend is over, I don't really have anymore major plans coming up. I've literally had over a month of non-stop travel, family get-togethers, stress, etc, etc, and it's been draining me. I can't wait to rest a bit.
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| Should have shown this picture to the manager, to dispute any claim that I didn't deserve to be #1 in line. This was taken when I WAS first in line, and when I WAS in a good mood. |
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| Mad house! And the very last thing that my phone was able to do right before it died from being used for 3 hours straight |
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| The best part about pushing around the gimp, was that we got to use her handicap sign, and got front spots at all the stores. Oh, and apparently having her wheel chair got her my iPad early because the manager felt badly for her. Ha! |
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| My mom and I needed to go to Michael's, and Jack SO didn't want to go in. So he and Susie went next door to Ross, and this is the text that I got. Poor guy was hungry, tired, and getting sick of shopping. It takes a lot to make Jack sick of shopping! BUT, what a good guy to go with Susan, even though he didn't want to. |
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| Skyping with my loves tonight. It's weird being on the other end of the video calls. |
It made me laugh hysterically every time mom went rocketing off on her scooter. We affectionately call it "Scooty".
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