One million plus ONE ...

That's how many other shoppers I encountered at the stores this morning - one million crazy people. The one is accounting for myself.

Oh Yes I Did ! I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving !

Last night, I mapped out my sale route and accepted grandma and grandpa's offer to watch Elaina at home while I enjoyed my early morning spending spree. I woke at 4:00 a.m and was scraping frost off of my truck at 4:30 before hitting the gas station for my morning fuel, cappuccino. I joined a respectful stream of cars on the way to the mall, which is about 25 miles from my parents' home in the dark, dense fog. I arrived at my first destination at 5:04 for the sale which supposedly started at 5 a.m. I was surprised to see customers rushing out of the doors with their carts brimming with bargains. Silly me had to remember that the store I was at was open 24 hours. Duh. I also heard that those same shoppers had been there since 2 a.m. waiting for the sale items to roll out onto the floor. That takes shopping to a whole new level of commitment. (They should be committed. ) Apparently, I'm not there yet.

I made some new friends as I stood in line in the electronics department to request a Magellan GPS navigator as a Christmas treat to myself. Because the register lines were almost to the back of the store when I arrived, I took my time browsing through the store to seek out the remaining items on my list. By the time I was ready to check out, the line was a tolerable 10 minute wait.

My next stop was to the mall where I was surprised to find so many incredible buys. I loaded up in Elder- Beerman, took my toll on Bath & Body Works, overwhelmed myself at JCPenney and struggled out of KB Toy Store. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. It made me wonder why the mall doesn't have carts ? I was about to d i e a slow and painful death of shopping-bag-overload. Lucky for me I was able to recover long enough to hit one more store.

I'll admit that I impressed myself with getting so many gifts purchased ( for other people too !) and that I racked up some great deals in the meantime. I did find my way home in the 11:00 a.m. hour, bringing lunch to my diligent babysitters. And about getting up at 4:00 a.m. - that's so not me. I'm generally not even conscious at that hour, let alone wanting to peel myself out of bed. All in all, I am pleased with my finds and enjoyed scouring so many stores at my own pace. Today marks a success and the beginning of a new tradition. Thanks mom and dad for rendering your grandma and grandpa babysitting services !