Black Friday/Happy Monday

Black Friday struck fear into my heart years ago, when crowded parking lots and inevitable "while supplies last" disappointments turned me into a shopping cynic. Something in the back of my mind kept speaking to me this year, however, whispering: "You know you want to... give it another shot!"

So I went out shopping Friday morning (alone becaues I couldn't convince any of my family how "fun" this would be), boldly braving the long lines and shopping crazies. I had one item in mind: a new artificial Christmas tree to replace the sad, drooping tree that has served me for about ten years. I had specific requirements in mind and a certain price in mind as I walked into the first store. I walked out a few minutes later, realizing that I would have to either tone down my desires or ramp up my budget. (And by "ramp up" I mean "double.")

So I continued on in my quest. I tried Home Depot, Walmart, Lowes, Michaels, Kmart, Target and eventually Roberts. Eventually I found the perfect tree at almost the perfect price, just $25 more than I wanted to spend. Good enough! I got it home and unpacked it to discover that it is HUGE. The floor model was definitely not this big. It's 9 feet tall and 4.5 feet wide, so we had to move furniture just to find a place to stick this thing. Now that it's up, it's beautiful. I took a nap on the couch next to it, and was delighted to wake up to such a beautiful, sparkly tree. Yea!

While I was at Walmart, I became obsessed with one other special: the LEGO King's Castle Siege set. At $50, it was on sale for half the normal price. It was sold out online and there were none to be found at the Lindon Walmart. I even checked the reshelving baskets and asked numerous annoyed employees if they had any more. Then I bugged my Mom and husband to call other local Walmarts, all with the same result. The employees' tones of voices indicated something along the lines of, "Umm it's 10 a.m. Seriously, you think we would still have any of these in stock after 5:15 a.m.? You're insane, lady."

Saturday, I hopped online to just drool over the set again and hope they might be available on walmart.com. No such luck. I even checked yesterday (Sunday!) because I wanted this set so badly. Sigh. The shopper in me didn't want to accept the truth. I refused to surrender to fate! So I looked online again today. Still out of stock, as you might have guessed. I called Lindon again. The annoyed salesperson said no, of course they're out of stock. I turned away from the computer, feeling sad, when I decided to try ONE LAST TIME. I called the Orem Walmart and the salesperson said the same thing: no of course we don't have any. Then she paused. "You mean the King Arthur set?"

I corrected her. "No, the King's Castle Siege." She told me to hang on and put me on hold. She came back and said, "You're in luck. The vendor just arrived with two sets and I will hold one for you if you can come within the hour."

I am now the proud owner of the awesomest Christmas present for my boys. I even bought TWO and am giving one to my sister's boys for the holidays.

I succumbed to Black Friday madness. It spilled over into Black Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday madness! I thought it would be insane. It was. Guess what? It was also SO FUN! I can't wait until next year. :-)