It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Just today and tomorrow left for the Farmers Market! Check it out! I know you'll like it :)

Beauty
Believe
Courage
Determination 2
Determination

Dreamer
Encouragement
Kindness
Memories
Moments 2

Moments
Overcoming Trials
Photography
Photography Attitude
Scrapbook

Scrapbook Attitude
Self Esteem
Smile
Soul
Take a Moment

OMGosh, you guys! Black Friday? Oh yeah, baby! It was a MADHOUSE!!!

I was up at 3:30am getting ready to go. I was picking up Andrea at 4am. I made us some hot peppermint herbal tea, and put it in water bottles for us. Nice and warm on a chilly morning.

We headed toward CompUSA, until we realized that we didn't wanna go there anymore. Walmart. That's where we were going. But we didn't wanna go to the "Jaurez" Walmart. It's always so busy. And when we drove through their parking lot, it was definitely packed.

So we went to the WalMart on the east side. It was even more croweded, if that's possible! The parking lot was SO full, we had to go 2 parking lots over. And walk. A long way :)

So we get to the store at 4:40am, and get inside. There's people EVERYWHERE. It was insane. Just standing around. We coudln't even push our cart in the store. TOO busy. At about 4:45am, the croweded surged, and the bins in the middle of the isles that were filled with the "sale items" were drained within minutes. We were near the clothes, but wanted to be near the Electronics. Yeah, it wasn't gonna happen. We tried our hardest to get back there, but by the time we walked/pushed/shoved/wiggled our way back to electronics, everything was gone.

I did get a $2.00 movie. Speed Racer. And Andrea got a $5.o0 movie, The Dark Knight (one of my favorites). We found some kid jammies, and I got a size 5T for Jimmy. Cars christmas. He should like them. Hopefully they fit - LOL!

It was SO crowded back by the electronics. Seriously. We were holding hands, trying not to get separated, and people were touching us on all sides. Like at a concert or a dance. I swear someone was ramming a shopping cart into my butt crack. Not so cool! There was NO room for shopping carts that morning. Barely room for the people :)

Check out the sea of people. See, you didn't believe me that it was this crazy. There was actually a fist fight that broke out right before the sale started, and someone got kicked out of the store. What the crap is that??? Come on, people! It's just TV's!

We decided to go to the in-store McDonalds, and get some food. Egg McMuffins were on sale 2 for $3.00. Mmmm, food. We need some energy for waiting in that LONG line.

We found really soft, fuzzy blankets for $4.00 ( I got green and Andrea got blue), she found some towels for $2.00, and we each got a mini food chopper for $4.00. All in all, nothing that we needed, but it was pretty fun watching the utter chaos that was WalMart in El Paso on Black Friday :)

We left the store at around 6am, and drove back on post. We got stopped at the random check point, and had a ton of fun talking to the guards. We showed them pics on my phone of the chaos of WalMart. They thought it was crazy too!

So on to the PX. They had a 1.5TB EHD that I really wanted. But, of course, they were sold out. It was 6:30am when we got to the PX. It had opened at 4am. The computers were sold out too. But I did get a picture frame (digital, 7 inches) for Captain America, for $29. And a flash drive, 4GB, for $8. Not too bad.

We headed home, getting sleepy. I went back to bed, trying to go to sleep, but it wasn't happening. I got up, and situated the kids, and Tom and I decided to go out for some more shopping. Captain America was still asleep, and I think maybe Jake too. Everyone else was watching Speed Racer, the movie I'd just bought.

We went to Big Lots, which didn't really have a lot. They did have $3 movies. I got Cloverfield, Jumper, XFiles, and Vantage Point. All good flicks. We'll be saving those for Christmas :) I told Tom not to tell anyone - hehehe.

We went on to KMart, which was next door, and looked for more deals. Nothing much. It didn't have 1TB EHD. Dang. I was SO disappointed about not getting the one at the PX. I really wanted one. I did get a 2MB MP3 player for $9.99. I figured that wasn't such a bad price. My plan is to use it for Books on Tape.

Tom and I then headed off to Target. Maybe they had an EHD. We walked around, looking at the electronics section first. They were out of Wii's (we're pricing them out - anyone know of a good bundle package???), but I found an EHD!!! For $59! Such a great price - for a 1TB? I was SO excited :)

Next, we stopped at Burger King for some $0.50 Sausage Biscuits, and brought them home. The kids were excited that I'd cooked - ROFL! Captain America was up, and the kids were doing their chores. WE cleaned for a little while, and I busted out my EHD and started moving stuff over. It's gonna take a while, I think :)

At 9:30am, I put a cake in the oven. There's an older lady at church who died this week. Andrea and I were both asked to make a dessert for the funeral. The funeral was at 11:00, and the luncheon after that. We were leaving the house at around 11 am.

Unfortunatly, just as I was about to get in the shower, she called and said that she needed to go to the commissary first, so we needed to leave early. I threw on a dress, grabbed my cake, and off we went.

She bought a disposable pan, and filled it with store bought cookies. My mom used to do that ALL the time as desserts to places. Works for me :)

We got to the church at 11:30am, and the funeral was in progress. We brought our food to the gym, and looked around for the rest of the food (they had pleanty), then decided that we weren't really needed there, so we went out to lunch. hehehe.

We wanted Olive Garden, but it's at the mall. We drove there, and there was literally NO parking spots in the whole parking lot. It wasn't happening. We drove through the Wal-Mart parking lot, and past Hooters. It's parking lot wasn't full. I'd never been there, and she'd never been there, so we decided to go to Hooters - ROFL!!!! I know, we're dorks. We'd always heard people say "I go there for the food".

Let me tell you, people don't go there for the food - hhehehe. It's all greasy and fried. Not my kind of food. But, we had fun, none the less. We ordered Fried Pickles for an appetizer. Never had them before, but Leslie was talking about them the other day, so it was fun to try them. VERY salty. I could only eat a few.

Andrea and I both ordered appetizers, then split them. 4 Mini hamburgers, and 4 steak quesidillas. Besides the greasy factor, it was pretty good. Just not my usual kind of food.

Andrea and all our food.

Me and my Hooters menu. And, we found out that kids eat free on Tuesdays. ALL kids. You just need one paying adult. I could go for dinner, and feel me and all the kids, for around $9. That's not bad. Not bad at all, since there's 6 of us. I'm just not sure how to keep the boys from looking at the tight, scanty clothes. Hmmm, maybe free food isn't all that :)

We got home at a little after 1pm, and Captain America was still at work. He left at the same time that I did, 11ish am. He got home shortly after that, though. The kids had kinda made a mess while we were gone, so I helped them clean it up, let them eat all our leftovers, and sat down for a while.

I continued to play with my EHD and my MP3 player. It's amazing how much time it takes to work those things :) I did some dishes, and cleaned some more.

Captain America and I talked about our Christmas budget, and I designed the Christmas card picture. And sent it to Walgreens. They have a 50 prints for $5 deal going on. Not too shabby.

I went to the park with the kids at 3:30pm, for about an hour. We came back home, and ate left overs. I think I'm done with Thanksgiving dinner, though. Two times is my limit. hehehe.

At 6pm, Captain America and I headed out to pick up my prints. We swung by the Dollar Tree, and bought some Christmas Tree Balls, some gift wrap, gift tags, and Christmas Cards. I know we got out of htere with a ton of stuff, but I can't remember now what it was.

We walked down to Best Buy and CompUSA to check out their deals. Captain America needed a new mouse, so we picked one up. But nothing else seemed to be such a great deal. Seeing all those big TV's definitly made me want a differet one. We have one of those chunky 26" TV's. Yes, we're a bit behind the times.

We came home, Captain America getting online to play games with the boys and the Uncles in St. Louis. Eme and I got to work on decorating for Christmas. We got the tree up, and on an end table. It made the little thing look taller - heheeh. I strung up 2 strands of multi-colored lights, and all the balls. Then I realized that I hadn't put on the top section of the tree. Dang! I wondered why it looked a little funny - ROFL!

I coudln't really get the lights up any higher, but I did manage to get a 1/2 a line up there. I moved some of the balls to even it out, then got started on the other ornaments. I was surprised at how many nice ones we actually have. I guess after 13 Christmas', you acquire a few things :)

I finished off the tree, then put out all the little kincknack stuff. It really looked good! I think it's the first time that my tree hasn't looked like a "Charlie Brown" tree - hehehe. Putting it up on the end table was genious. It adds a lot of height to my tree. Sweet! Jimmy and Joe haven't seen it, and I'm excited to see their faces when they wake up in the morning.

So after all the decorating, I went and sat down and started to get ready for Farmers Market, and blog, and design. And chat with Andrea on Skype. And check emails. And Facebook. Sigh. Maybe that's why it takes me so long to get anything done - ROFL!!!

I'm so glad that the Christmas holiday is upon us. I love the lights, the sounds, the smells, the kindness, the hustle and bustle, the candy, the presents, the love, the music. I just LOVE Christmas :)

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