Black Friday Insanity!

Yes, I was one of the crazies out there last night/this morning, staying up all night to save a few bucks. This was my fifth year of being a Black Friday participant and I took it to a whole new level today, officially making me one of those insane people I always joke about every year. I found the ads a week or two ago on black-friday.net and spent days making my shopping list. Then I took it to the next level by going to Toys R Us, Target, and Walmart on Tuesday and casing the stores, mapping out in my mind where all my shopping items were stationed so I wouldn't waste any time once I entered the buildings. This year Toys R Us opened at midnight, a first I think. I heard a few hours before that the first 100 people in line get a Zhu Zhu hamster. I know this is the hottest toy right now and very hard to get (don't ask me why they are so cool, but kids seem to gravitate toward them). Thankfully, my kids have no clue what they are, but I thought if I could get a ticket for one, that would be a nice bonus to getting there early. I left our house at 10:20pm, with Jake shaking his head in disbelief. He asked me as I was heading out the door if I was sure I wanted to do this. I almost laughed out loud. I live for Black Friday and love the deals and the rush you get, running through the stores with a bunch of other crazy people like yourself. I got to Toys R Us at 10:50pm and was already about 80th in line. By 11:30pm the line wrapped around the store, out through the parking lot, and then almost to the stoplight on 13th East. I'm sure there were close to 1000 people out there! I became fast friends with a younger couple, and a mom and daughter from Tooele. It was nice to have some people to talk to while we stood in the cold for an hour. By 11:45pm it started getting insane. People were trying to cut in line and the security guards had to send them back. I was excited to actually get a Zhu Zhu ticket and thought that was worth the hour outside (if anything, I could sell the thing on eBay and make $35!) Right at midnight the doors opened, I grabbed my cart and headed down the main aisle. I ended up getting everything on my list and got into line to check out around 12:20am. I finally made it out of the store at 1:15am and then headed to Target. So, then I took the craziness to the next level and actually camped out from 1:40am until 5am, when the store opened. I was the 18th person in line, and I plopped my camping chair out, cuddled up with a blanket, heavy coat, and gloves, and munched on cough drops for 3 1/2 hours. There were 3 girls in front of me, Lacey and Brianna from Bountiful, and Nicki from Farmington. I think the cold and late night was getting to them because they were being very silly, talking about Twilight for nearly an hour, and about how they had to go pee but didn't want to leave the line. I was slightly entertained and have to be somewhat thankful for them, otherwise the 3 1/2 hours out in the below freezing weather would have completely overtaken me. At 4:30am a Target employee handed out maps that showed where the doorbusters were located. I was very thankful for that because the number one item I wanted from there was not where I thought it would be, so there was no guessing. When the doors opened at 5am I grabbed a cart, ran straight to the item, put it in my cart, grabbed Elf for $3.99, and a shirt for Ben, and then I was headed to the check-out. I was in Target a max of 7 minutes! Then I headed to Walmart and couldn't find a parking spot so had to park across the way at a car wash, and book it to the entrance. I walked in around 5:18am and already there were HUGE lines for the checkout. Thankfully, the things on my list there were not big 'wants' so if I didn't get them I wasn't going to be too crushed. I found a doll Ashleigh wanted me to get her, then I went back to find a FurReal Tuggin' Pup dog for Emma, regularly about $27, on sale for $9. I couldn't find them anywhere. Right in the middle of the toy aisle there was a lady standing by a cart with about 15 of the dogs in there and I went to grab one, thinking she was an employee because who in their right mind would load up a cart of 15 toy dogs? Well, this lady was very quick to tell me they were 'all hers' and they ran out about 5 minutes before. I searched another 5 minutes, hoping that someone had changed their mind and left one in an aisle, but no luck. So I got in line to check-out and there were about 40 people in front of me and eventually about 60 behind me (and this was all for ONE cash register!!) About 30 minutes into my wait I spotted TWO FurReal Pups discarded on a shelf and no one seemed to be going for them. I quickly asked the girl behind me to save my spot for 10 seconds and I ran over to the pets and grabbed them both! Oh JOY! The adrenaline was pumping and I was thrilled. I know, I know. Who cares about a dumb toy. But when you're shopping at Black Friday, it's those sweet surprises that make the whole day worth it. SO, all in all, I got everything on my list and I figured I saved an average of 50% on everything I bought today. Not too shabby. The best part is my Christmas shopping is 99% done! WOO HOO!

PS I ended up listing the Zhu Zhu hamster and the Fun House accessory I got at Toys R Us on eBay about an hour ago and expect to make at least a $50 profit. Nice! Black Friday, baby, it's addicting (and for crazy people like me!)