Black Friday...

Black Friday is quickly becoming one of my most favorite days of the year. I first got into the early morning shopping routine 5 years ago, but am getting it down to a science more and more as the years go on. The last 2 years, I have even been able to convince my best friend to join me (thank you, Tammy). This year, the key stores I shop at opened up even earlier than in the past, so I was able to get in, get my items and get out earlier than before! And thankfully my parents took the kids overnight for me until Friday afternoon so I didn't have to worry about rushing too much. Our first stop was Toys-R-Us. Tammy and I got there at 6:30pm on Thanksgiving night and managed to be the top 30 people in line. Even though they weren't scheduled to open until 10pm, they started letting in groups of 20 at 9:30pm. Our group was in and out of there with everything that was on our lists by 10pm!

Tammy and I trying to stay dry and warm from the terrible weather...

We were joined by my friend, Ramiah...

And then Amanda and Sara...

After leaving Toys-R-Us, it was on to Target to wait in line until they opened at 4am. We got there around 10:15pm, and surprisingly still had 50 people ahead of us in line! In order to stay warm, we rotated every 45 minutes with one of us sitting in the warm truck while the other held our spot in line outside. However, somewhere around 1am we both ended up falling asleep, me in the freezing cold and Tammy in the warm truck! It wasn't until 3am that I finally woke up completely frozen!. And to top it all off, not only did we find out it was a waste of time because the "door buster" camera in the ad that we both wanted wasn't even in stock prior to Black Friday, but I also wound up with pneumonia! Total injustice!

Tammy and I huddling together to stay toasty outside of Target...

Although we weren't able to get the camera we both really wanted, we did manage to get some other great deals and were checking out 25 minutes after walking in the door. Now that's good teamwork! And even though we were both exhausted, we mustered up enough energy to head to Menards at 4:30am to wait in line outside again until they opened at 6am. Talk about a long night!

Me, as snug as a bug in a blanket, outside Menards...

Tammy trying to smile in-between teeth chattering... 

Again, we split up once the doors were opened and each got the items on our lists within minutes. And again, we were standing at the register to check out within a half hour of walking through the doors. We did so well that I was back home and in bed by 7:30am, with 75% of my Christmas shopping done! Quite an improvement from the last few years. I hope to become even more efficient in future years. That is, if I can talk Tammy into going again :)