Shopping Before Dawn is Fun!

First let me say that Thanksgiving day was wonderful. More food than anybody could eat. All kinds too. And bread from a store in San Francisco! OMG.... Cuzbro Ron made a turkey on the bbq and it was unbelievable! Yummy smoked flavor. His sister, also my cousin, LOL, brought a spiral ham from her home in Mesa, AZ. Her son 14 now and so tall. A great kid too. And my cuzsis Pam had her sister and husband and their kids and one of her brothers, who brought the bread! You can order this wonderful bread in the shape of a turkey or rolls. I have not looked at the catalog out of fear of liking everything in there! Pammy worked her tail off all day and it was a wonderful time. All the love in the preparation and the eating was evident. And the desserts! Holy moly. David made an apple pie and cranberry bread. Yummy. There were other pies and Pam's sister made a cake too! I made Annie's sweet potatoes and they were very good. I even liked them! Thanks Annie.

I woke up at one this morning and decided to plan my before dawn shopping trip. I got the ads out and then thought, hmm, if I can do a couple of these stores online, I don't need to go to all of them. Target was noncompliant! The things I needed were not all on their website. However, Kohl's rocked and I did get what I needed there. Of course I cannot tell you what I purchased, for obvious reasons!

Then I had planned to be at Target when they opened at 6:00. It took me a long time to go back to sleep after shopping in the middle of the night and I woke up at 5:50. I jumped up. Gave the dog his chicken jerky, brushed my teeth, washed my face, got dressed and I was out of here! No traffic on the roads near me, but lots of fog. Luckily, I know the roads, but I did drive safely. We have deer and coyotes around here and I would not want road kill on my conscience!

I got to Target by 6:20. The parking lot was overflowing. I found a spot where somebody was coming out and a great spot too! I got one of the few carts remaining. I got the things on my list. I was not shopping for toys and electronics, so I just had to dodge the carts of the crazed parents! I got Christmas cards for our annual photos of the girls, which I should take today. I got lots of lights for the house. Cool colored icicle lights for the house and soft blue for the fence and decks. I had never seen these before. Selection was great and not many others were looking at them. Too busy in other departments! I got two rolls of wrapping paper that will go with the wired ribbon I bought at Costco a few weeks back. I bought 5 huge rawhide bones for the dog. He gets so excited when he gets one and he stays pretty much to himself while chewing. I also got some cds for myself. It has been a long time since I have done this. I used to have 2000 songs on my computer from our collection and some purchased. I lost all of them when I got a new hard drive on my computer. Better to have to replace the music than the hard drive and my computer will last and last now. I got IL Divo *The Christmas Collection* I am importing it onto my computer right now. Man, not only are these men handsome, but I think they have lovely voices. I got Joe Nichols III. I love love love him! If you like country and have never heard of him, give him a try. His voice changes. Sometimes I hear Merle Haggard, George Jones, Keith Whitley and others in his voice. I like that he is versatile and cute too! And for a blast from the past, I got Culture Club greatest hits! HAHAHA. I love them. Check out was a breeze. Target was running the cashiers and customers like a well oiled machine. I have to admit, I was impressed.

I stopped by Staples on the way home. Actually, I was passing when I noticed they were open. I got a couple of stocking stuffers and some good photo paper. Prices at Target for photo paper are way over priced.

I have been shopping online for years, almost exclusively. This year has been no exception, but I did the Black Friday thing and it was fun. I think more stores should be open earlier, on normal days. I am almost done shopping now, a couple more stocking items and a couple more gifts and I am done!

Now, onto the decorations!