Black Friday

My sisters and I always shop on "black Friday," which is a great time for us to hang out and get that last-minute shopping done. I must admit that sometimes my mood is a bit black at the end of the day because I don't love crowds or waiting in line, but today was really nice. Instead of shopping in Illinois, where there is basically one mall for the entire Metro-East area, we shopped in St. Louis. Maybe people were afraid of the highway construction or afraid of the crowds and lines, but we got to the Galleria at 7 and had tons of options for parking. We ate breakfast inside the mall and got our food right away. Then we shopped and had normal weekend-type lines but no worse than that. We were actually ready to switch malls by 10 a.m. The Mills was definitely more crowded, but then it's often crowded on the weekend. Still we hit Bed, Bath & Beyond, Old Navy, Burlington, Archiver's and were eating a nice lunch at Chevy's by about noon (with a very short wait). The only thing black about today were my shoes, which were black in color but also rubbing blisters on my feet all day. That was my fault for trying out new shoes on a shopping day. It's kind of like trying a new recipe on a day when you're having company...not a good idea. Anyway...I love this day to catch up with my sisters. And my shopping is very nearly done.

Hubby didn't fare so well, unfortunately. He was kind enough to take care of the girls until I got home. Big Sissy was especially whiny and clingy, which was hard, but by lunch it became clear that she had a fever. Her volunteering to "rest" at several points during the day was proof that she wasn't feeling well! She fell asleep on the couch at around 8 and didn't even whimper when we carried her to her bed. Little Sissy was also grabbing her blanket and lamby and reaching for her bed around 8:30. Weird...both kids begging to go to bed. It's kind of nice but I wish they would do that and feel well at the same time.

I feel like I soaked in Thanksgiving, which might be my favorite holiday, and now I'm ready for Christmas. Too bad I still have 12 chapters of a commentary to read, a 5-page paper to write, and a final exam to study for in the next week. After that, though, I will be exuding Christmas Spirit! :) So Black Friday was really quite bright for me. For America's sake, hopefully the stores are also in the black after today. What would happen to our economy if everyone stopped buying Christmas presents and made homemade gifts? Hmmm...I guess that's a subject for another blog on another day.