badger feels badgered by shopping

this is my Black Friday story.

like anna, had you asked me about 4 days ago about Black Friday shopping, i may have stared at you befuddled and slightly offended. "what is so black about it?", i may've said. "it's FUN! okay, maybe a little crazy, but that's what makes it fun." in david and i's dating years and the first year of our marriage, i felt privileged to be introduced to and included in the family tradition of shopping at before what i often fondly dub "the butt crack of dawn". it may be duly noted that some have said of other exposed butt cracks: CRACK KILLS ~ it may or may not bear relevance.

so, a month ago, when my sister invited me on a day-after-tgiving shopping WEEKEND, well, i only balked momentarily, largely due to the fact it would be in a city two hours away and however would we get the early bird specials?! she assured me that we would still find excellent sales (having done this the year before?) and it would be an all girls weekend, adding to the fun.
as the date grew closer, my hesitation increased a bit because i really shouldn't be spending money at all it feels with all the expense of adoption, but Christmas gifts would be bought, no way around it, so they might as well be as inexpensive as possible, and, besides, david needed a few work clothes. thanksgiving day i perused the ads, with david's assistance, gathering advice on what i could and could not spend. i anticipated it the way a sailor anticipates a storm at sea... i was determined to enjoy myself.

thanksgiving day, my sister and melanie, having never experienced the early bird rush, decided to join in as observers, with no particular agenda for purchases, but nonetheless, open to "steals and deals". feeling that, as a veteran, they should have a guide them in this venture, i agreed to accompany them. i awoke at 4am. they were, uncharacteristically, early, arriving to pick me up at 4:40. i was packed and ready for an overnite and clambered cheerfully into the van, with complete confidence i would conquer this weekend with graceful agility. the local department store was, as i anticipated, a mad house, but amusing, especially since we weremere observers. melanie found a coffepot for $3.97 and kari got the last shop-vac of the pile without a fight. she was bumped by someone's cart who did not apologize, but she was entirely unscathed, and disappointed that she did not receive more injury. pity, she just wasn't trying hard enough... we even got through the check out without trouble- probably since all 24 lanes were open, for once! we were in and out in 45 min!

after we left, we headed back to cheryl's house. there, the van was unloaded of misc. purchases, and reloaded with an additional 2 ladies and their overnight effects. thus, we began a cozy 2 hour drive. singing and whistling Christmas carols, stopping for a sit-down breakfast, even napping (in spite of 2.5 cups of coffee). finally, we arrived at the first store. we were there approx. 90 min. i purchase 1 thing. we also met up with an addition to the party- 3 other lively lasses (one who'd slept 3 hrs in the last 24). next store (home improvement), i picked up the pace and beat all with 3 purchases. on to the mall. malls are exhausting places to me any day of the year. the first thing we did was put in reservations at the attached pizza joint. 45 min later (after hiding a pair of pants i wanted to purchase in the linens dept b/c we didn't have time to stand in line) we were called back to the restaurant. we relaxedly mowed through pizzas and further exhausted our already dead-on-his-feet-yet-somehow-cheerful waiter. then shopped there for another 4? hrs. near the end of the second hour, i was ready for a LONG nap.

my cheerfulness, unlike the waiter's, often drains with my energy. i'm not sure what happened between the mall and dinner... another store or straight to dinner? yet another sit down expensive meal- i could've ordered cheap, but i was "famished" and hoping to regain energy, or at least repair my broken muscles. finally, the hotel. very nice. kari made me a cup of immunity-boosting cider. david called from chicago. sleep finally found me.

saturday, we repeated a similar shopping cycle, that thankfully did not include expensive dining. my christmas list buying was not terribly succesful, since all that i could find was either too expensive, or couldn't be found because of its "common-place" nature (no discount superstore shopping on this trip). i got about 1/4 of the things i set out to find. somehow, after a full night's sleep, i was still drained to the dregs, more mentally and emotionally than physically.

my memory began to remind me of the reasons i wane quickly with shopping: vintage disposition (ie: it doesn't have to be new and shiny); indecisive nature leading to rash purchasing which then will be returned; easily overwhelmed by a myriad of choices and bands i don't like playing too loud; the seeming unlimited apetite of companions for this flourescent activity; needing (abnormal amounts of?) alone/home time to unwind so as to be refreshed and ready to spend time with others. hence, as dear as my shopping companions are to me (i truly bear them no ill-will), i was ever-so glad to enter my own front door and lay my burdens down. in fact, i utterly ignored my purchases for another 23 hours. my energy returned for the evening to help my father clean up 6 inch thick piles of plaster and lathe from the wall we tore down the day-before-tgiving, shower, and write in my journal. i even got up in time for church's early service.

i journeyed yet again to a dept. store this afternoon (with my dad, on a prompt time schedule) to return and exchange some items, and will have yet to return to the same dept. store and a nearer mall to return a large bulk of the purchases i made for david that didn't fit right or were not to his taste. he'll be coming with me. this will conclude my shopping experiences for the next 6+ months, besides groceries and necessities. for now, i'd much rather make it than buy it.

which is to say, ask me next october if i want to go day-after-thanksgiving shopping with you. i'll probably be fool enough to say yes. though i'll probably be calling it black friday. and i'll definitely insist we stay in town, and no shopping past 12pm, or at least let me sleep in my own bed... .... ....


you read all this?! you're nicer than i thought. this is the next to last sentence. give yourself a hug from me!