I made out pretty well this morning...I was up at 5:15 and at Toys R Us at 6:10 (they opened at 6). It was crowded, but not too bad, and everyone was in good spirits. I found all I was looking for in pretty short order (amazing) and only waited on line for about 10 minutes. I was out the door by 6:50. My next stop was Target. Same deal...crowded but no line at the register (doubly amazing)! I found all that I was looking for there, plus a few extras. No stress, though, because the few extras are Christmas gifts for my kids from my MIL (she doesn't shop too much, so I pick the things out and she reimburses me). Then I went to Eckerd to get a DVD player for $18 (amazing). They opened at 7, and by the time I got there at 7:50, they were sold out of the 4(!) they had in stock. Frustrating, but it wasn't out of my way, so I didn't sweat it. Then on to Circuit City. Now this is where Black Friday gets me. They opened at 7, I got there at 8:05. The parking lot was really crowded, and the line for the register had to be 150 people long (no lie). I started to pick up the things I wanted and then realized how ridiculous it was -- it would have taken an hour and a half to get through that line, and I needed to be at work by 9:30. I decided that none of the deals were worth that kind of time and walked out. Fortunately, there was a Chef Central store right next door, so I went in there and got two other things on my list, so it wasn't a total waste. On the way to work I picked up a Hess truck from MIL to my son, went to the post office for stamps, and made it to work at 9:20. All in all a pretty productive day, and it's not even 10:00!

Looking over my to-do list from a few days ago, I see that I managed to get everything done except the laundry. So that's on the list for this tonight, along with putting up the Christmas tree. Friends are coming tomorrow afternoon and sleeping over, with other friends joining us on Sunday, which means I need to clean the house and hit the grocery store. If I spend $40 more dollars by next Saturday (which I definitely will), I'll qualify for my 2nd 10% off coupon, to be used by the end of the year. I'll need to do serious planning for this to maximize my 20% off. We are having hubby's family for Christmas dinner (15 people), friends over one day (8 adults) and my sisters and their families over another day (7 adults). While everyone brings something for these events, I'll need to carefully plan the menu and lump my purchases into one trip so I can get the 20% off all of it, particularly the meat.

Other than enjoying the tree, music and company this weekend, I want to finish my Christmas cards so they're ready to go on the 1st. I'm well set. Ho Ho Ho...