Black Friday and Cracker Barrel

I survived Black Friday! This year was the first time I've ever gotten up in the middle of the night to shop the day after Thanksgiving. I got up at 3am and left home, coffee in hand, by 3:30.

My first stop was the mall. Sears had down comforters, any size, for $19.99. I couldn't find them, and when I asked, I was told that only the 'bigger' stores got those in their shipment. Bummer.

So off to Kohl's I went. I found exactly what I was looking for, and even a little extra, but then stood in line for one hour. It was one of the longest hours of my life. I was sandwiched between two former coworkers(not mine, each other). The one behind me was pregnant with her first baby, due in June. The one in front of me, with good reason, was ecstatic for her.

...you get the idea.

That was all I heard about. That and the fact that the woman in front of me had daughters, granddaughters, 13 nieces and not one nephew. She had no idea how she would shop for a boy because she had never had to.

...me neither.

They were very nice, but I was ready to check out and move on.

I had mentioned (to the woman behind me, the pregnant one) that I really wanted to get there early to get gifts for my girls' teachers. Later in our conversation she asked me how old my girls were. Luckily she didn't ask me how many children I had, boys or girls, etc. Because I would have been really stuck with my answer. I wouldn't have wanted to deny Grady and not acknowledge him, but I also didn't want to have to tell her what happened to him out of respect for her, being pregnant and all.

Thank you Lord for that blessing today.

From Kohl's I headed to Target. I didn't spend as much time there, but I did see a man almost come out of the passenger window because another car wouldn't let his car in front of him. And this was leaving the parking lot, not coming in!

From there I struck out at Academy Sports and Old Navy. But I did buy myself some new comfy purple house slippers. Jessica is trying to steal them, but I'm not gonna let her. But I will share, you know.

I'm glad I ventured out because I do feel like I saved a good bit of money. Even though I'm not a shopper, it was kind of fun. I'm even considering doing it again next year!

I came home by 9am and was ready for a rest. I tried to nap and dozed off and on. I got up around 11am to find Jessica a bit puny and very glassy-eyed. She had a fever of 102. That was a bummer because we had tickets to the Nutcracker for a 2pm show. Needless to say we stayed home. She did take a short nap, but she still hasn't felt well all day.

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Gib and Jessica decided to throw the football yesterday afternoon before going to dinner. It was cold! (at least to us southerners!)



We had a great time last night. The food was great, sweet tea was perfect and our waitress even let me substitute my pumpkin pie for pecan pie and the girls got chocolate pecan pie. Yummy!

We looked around the gift shop after dinner. These three decided they wanted to start their own band right there in the middle of the store. Too funny! Be sure not to miss the tambourine in Gib's hand...





We came home and enjoyed The Polar Express in our pj's in front of a fire. It was sooooo nice and relaxing! We took these pictures before getting in our pj's - I know you're glad!





I was trying to get a cute picture of me and the girls with Buddy, but he wanted to attack me instead. (If you look hard enough, you can see the top of his head between my legs. I was holding him down for the picture)





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I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm having lunch with my friend, Mary Beth, who is in town from Indiana. I've been looking forward to seeing her for a long time. I haven't seen her in quite a while, and it's always great to spend time with her. Our visit this year will be much different from last year's Thanksgiving visit.

Instead of her visiting me with her new baby and meeting Grady, she came alone, brought a meal for my family and sat and cried with me. As I recall she also stopped by McDonald's and brought me a diet coke and some french fries. They sounded good that particular day. She knew I wasn't eating and brought me what she thought I would eat. This year (tomorrow) we're planning to have our usual, Mexican. Can't wait!

That's all for tonight!

Love,
Tonya