Black Thursday?

So I've seen a lot about Black Friday lately and I had to put in my two cents.

Black Friday is a phrase coined in the 60's for when retailers went from being in the red to being in the black - profits-wise.  But the idea of shopping on the day after Thanksgiving is actually from around 1924 when the Macy's parade started to kick off the holiday season. 

Yes, there are deals to be had online and yes, it starts earlier every year.  But, I wanted to look at some of the posts I've seen:

1. I'd rather spend the time with my family.  I do spend the time with my family.  When I go shopping on Black Friday I do it with my mother, sister(s), sister in law, and daughter.  As my nieces grow, they will come too.  We keep each other warm in line, we laugh and joke, we help pick out what the others' kids will like, we wait in line together and catch up in an environment where there's no food to dish out, no dishes to clean, and no football. 

2. Oh, the poor people who have to work that day.  I have been on the other side of the register at 5am.  The people who work that day are there for two reasons: A. If they weren't there it would be an unpaid day off - and people who work retail need every paid day they can get. B. A discount at Target over the holidays is a BIG advantage. 

3. Thanksgiving isn't even over yet! First, unless you live under a rock from Halloween to Christmas, you'll know that not many people care about thanksgiving anymore.  That's a whole other blog post, but come on!  Second, I don't know about your family, but our tradition puts Thanksgiving dinner at 2:00, meaning even with the slower pace of a holiday meal, by 5:00 we're done - dishes back in the china hutch, pies picked over, turkey salad made... all that's left is the turkey coma and shopping replaces that with exercise.

4. The deals aren't that great - it's just a ploy to get you to spend more. God forbid a retailer try to make you spend money in their store! Call the cops it's rampant capitalism!!  Ok, joking aside, of course there are some deals out there that aren't great when you look at them closer and yes they are trying to get you to spend more.  But, that's where research and common sense come in.  Look at a price - would you pay that for an item normally? Would you pay more? Is it something you've been wanting to get anyway?  If you buy for the sake of buying you will get screwed.  But savvy shoppers can get awesome deals and have some fun too. 

5. What about the crazy people? I don't want to get trampled. OK, there are two options here (well three if you count just stay home).  You can stay calm, stick to the edges of the crowd, say please and thank you and excuse me and be willing to maybe miss out on the loss leader sale.  Or you can become one of them and run like a madwoman towards that must have toy in the back using your elbows to clear a path (why do you think I've been in Karate for a month?) :) 
   P.S. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES GO TO WALMART AS THEY OPEN THEIR DOORS - THAT IS CRAZY AND COULD GET YOU KILLED

Anyway - as I see it, Black Thursday/Friday is a treasured tradition that has hit its peak.  It will eventually fall back into obscurity, shut down or reduced by the Amazon crowd.  So, whether you shop on line or in line - just shop and help our economy grow. 

Tuesday

Everything flies around in a whirl,

I try to hold on, I try not to hurl.

Breakfast and lunch, laundry and dishes

There ain’t no time for dreams and wishes!

There’s dinner to make and torn dresses to mend

Bible study, PTO, playdates with friends.

Then homework and Girl Scouts, Karate and life.

Don’t forget to smile and be a good wife.

Be pretty and thin, congenial and happy

Don’t expect flowers or cards that are sappy.

Can’t run out of milk, or cereal or cheese

Remind everyone to say thank you and please.

Be up to date on all the math rules

And teach all the stuff they can’t learn in school.

Like life isn’t fair, not everyone wins

And most time life isn’t giggles and grins.

Take 30 seconds and write it all down,

Make it all rhyme so it won’t make people frown.

Now that it’s out get on with your day!

The living room’s a mess and you have the dentist today!

Intolerance

I absolutely have come to detest intolerance.  Not the racial or gender kind which ARE bad, the food kind.

My son is allergic to nuts, which means no nuts in our house anywhere, no nuts in our desserts at dinner, no nuts in snacks or meals... no nuts at the baseball game.

My daughter, in addition to being a type 1 diabetic is now lactose intolerant.  Do you know how many things have milk in them? Almost everything!  They use milk solids to fill out foods, they use whey to stick things together, they put cheese on everything!  Trying to find kid snacks with no milk in them is nearly impossible.  No cheese, butter, milk, ice cream, chocolate.  Nothing good at all. 

Thankfully we don't have a gluten problem, although that is becoming more popular and so there are more gluten free products out there. 

Some people say it's because we aren't supposed to drink the "breast milk" meant for baby cows.  But what are we supposed to do? Have dairy's full of women who are milked daily?  People have been drinking the milk of animals for thousands of years.  God talks about it in Deuteronomy, so we know that they drank goats milk.  People in other parts of the world drink milk from yak, water buffalo, sheep, goats, horses, reindeer and camels.  Why do we suddenly have a surgence of allergies and intolerance? 

I don't know - hormones, chemicals, pesticides or just change - whatever it is, it's a pain in my butt!

cars

I was walking in the parking lot today, glancing at the cars as I went by.  I realized that our cars have become an extension of ourselves.  More than just a machine that takes us from one place to another, we use our cars to advertise information about ourselves.  You can tell a lot about someone by their bumper.

Political stickers - I think you should NEVER advertise your political views on the bumper.  First, what happens when they lose and you're stuck with Perot 2004 on your car forever?  And with the political climate being what it is nowdays, you really could end up in some kind of road rage over your Obama sticker.  Just not a good idea, but lots of people do it.

Family stickers - I admit, I have these.  The little stick figures that represent each member of our family.  However, if you have to put two rows or even cover the entire back window just skip it.  And fine, your dog and two cats are part of the family, but the fish, bird, lizard, turtle - whatever?  COME ON!!

Licence plates - my plates are JDRF in support of my daughter.  So are my husband's.  Colorado has quite a few charity plates, each showing what you believe in.  They even have Rockies plates this year - man was I torn!

Sports stickers - I continually replace the Colorado Rockies sticker on my back window because it gets hard and chips off.  Whether it's college, high school or pro, you can find a sticker. 

Animals - I had a SeaWorld Manatee bumper sticker on my car for awhile, but people have all sorts of things.  From Dogs to Save the Whales we try to convince people to believe our way by reading 6" on our bumper in traffic.  Do these really work?

Stupid stuff - I have not put one of those cutesy bumper stickers on my car since high school.  Stuff like "back off or I'll flick a booger on your windshield"  "husband in trunk"  "my other car is a pumpkin carriage". 

So, before you stick that sticker on your car, consider - what does this say about me?  Because one day someone might notice.

Moving

Recently we moved. 

We weren't planning on moving, but things worked out and fell into place.  One day we're looking at towns online and 2 weeks later we're putting in an offer on a house that costs twice what our current one did. 

Don't get me wrong, I love our new house.  I love my new neighborhood, I love the schools my kids go to and I even love the new church.  I have a fabulous deck out back where I can sit (when its more than 30 degrees) and read and look at the mountains.  I have a jacuzzi tub where I can relax at the end of the day. 

I'm doing well at keeping it clean, even though it's twice as big too.  I've kept up on the laundry and dishes, I've mopped the floor and swept weekly.  Every Saturday we switch sheets and we clean bathrooms. 

But there are things I miss too.  My sister for one.  I barely see her anymore.  And my neighbor Kristin.  She's having a baby, I've been there for all of them, I'll miss this one.  My grocery store.

Now, you say - "a grocery store?  They're all the same!"  But not really.  Sure, some things are the same, but you get to learn where everything is, and you can run in, grab something and run out.  The pharmacy people get to know us (we're there a lot) and you know which gas pump is the best one.

Then there's the new place - finding a place for everything, remembering the place you put it in, deciding if that's the permanent place, or finding a new place and going through it all over.  I've got the kitchen set, and my laundry room is very close.  We have no furniture in the living room, but the food tables are always nice.  The toy room is still a DISASTER of epic proportions. 

Bottom line - moving sucks.  It's stressful on your family, your body, your life, your marriage, your relationships - everything!  But once you're on the other side, hopefully you find that it was worth it all.