Black Friday ... Bah Humbug????

Everyone I know, stays home on Black Friday, including myself.  If you do so because you hate the crowds, I'm with ya on that.  If you do so to protest businesses giving their employees the day off, I'm afraid you will have no affect whatsoever on the holiday calendar of the big boys.  That being said, I NEVER go out the day after Thanksgiving, except for 50 years ago when Miss Patty Chance and I would hit the huge Craft Show in the mountains, picking up ideas for Christmas presents.  I hate the crowds just as much as the next guy.  Yesterday was an exception and a foray into the world of 70-90% off.

The morning sunrise was spectacular enough ... nice way to start the day.  I figured I should take the biggest tranquilizer I could find, but alas all my bottles were empty.  All I need is a couple pieces of fabric .....

There's a new Joanns Craft store that just opened a few miles north.  I waited until noon to leave, spending the morning washing windows.  The decision of washing MORE windows or braving the crowds shopping, was an easy one.  Surprisingly there was little highway traffic.  Immediately in the store, I scored several tin cans for gift giving, if I can ever find a good cookie recipe.  This one was beautiful!!  I never seem to find these, as they are all snapped up on Black Friday.  At $3 a can, this was a nice find.

I picked up a couple of fat quarters (for the men, these are small pieces of fabric that usually sell for $3.50) for a measly 99 cents each.  Hmmmmm maybe I could use a few more of these!!  The fabric I use to back the quilts has run as high as $14.00 a yard, amounting to a whopping $70 ... more than the cost of the FRONT of the quilt!!  I found some pretty nice colors for two small quilts, coming in at $2.50 a yard.  I DID have to work around the lady and her husband ... you know the ones ... they stand right in the middle of the aisle with a shopping cart and refuse to move even an inch!!  No matter, I'm pretty happy by now!!

As I moseyed through the drapery material, I found this nice example of old-western-hotel drapes.  EXACTLY what I've spent the last couple months looking for!!  It's 50% off.  Commercial drapes have come in at $2000.  If I make them, this material will cost $400 ... but with 50% off, $200.  That's a pretty nice deal.  The best part of ALL ... I'm hanging them on rings.  If you turn this material upside down and hang it from the hem, it looks a totally different color.  One light, one dark.  That's TWO sets of drapes for the price of one.  This Black Friday shopping is looking better than ever!!

On my way up to the check stand, I see a sign that says "Text FUN to this number, get a discount coupon and receive 5 text messages" at which time you can text back STOP.  Well lets just see what kind of discount coupon they have!!  Immediately a 20 digit number comes back, which takes the cashier 4 times to enter correctly.  I was shocked to say the least ... I got ANOTHER 25% off of EVERYTHING I purchased.  That means I only paid $150 for the drapery material.  Bah Humbug just went out the door.  Now I see why people get hooked on this Black Friday shopping!!

I have to admit it was difficult finding a parking place, and I almost got in a fight with a lady who gave me a VERY nasty look when she thought my truck was going to hit her precious 25 year old Toyota.   One more quick stop at Ulta (makeup central) and I'd be heading home a happy camper.

The place was packed and the checkout line was literally out the door.  I just need a couple of things .... but I should have turned around and left.  It was hard to maneuver around the women standing in the aisles trying on absolutely everything they could get their hands on.  Most of the samples were gone ... I can't believe people steal these.  They have had everybody's finger in the pot testing the colors, and now you want to put this on your face??  Yikes ... or YUCK!!!  At the end of the first row I slipped on a french fry on the floor and it wasn't long before I found part of a hamburger.  OMG people ... don't you know what a TRASH CAN is???  

I found the section I was looking for and reached for the product, only to retract my hand and discover a brilliant red spot on my finger!!  As I tried to figure out where THAT came from, I soon noticed it on my shirt ... and my purse ... and my levis!!!!  What the???????  Some snotty nosed kid ... or teenager ... had taken several of the lipsticks and written all over the front of the display.  Okay, I'm outta here!!!  That did it for me!!  I notified the salesgirl, who apologized and offered up her spritzer of alcohol to remove the mess from my fingers.  It didn't come off.  Hmmmm that's a pretty good advertisement for a lipstick that stays and stays ... but since we couldn't figure out which one it was, I promptly left the store.

All in all, I have to say Black Friday wasn't so black after all.  Certainly it depends on where you decide to shop and if you know just how much they raised the price on that item before giving you half of that back.  I guess I can't "Bah Humbug" Black Friday any more!!