I'm a newbie at this Black Friday thing.

And I'm not sure that I liked it.

Now wait!! For those of you that absolutely LOVE it ~ hear me out! :)

A little bit of info. about me - I'm competitive - VERY COMPETITIVE. Ask Ryan ~ I don't like to loose. I had my mind set on starting out at Circuit City to get a laptop for $299. You also got a free printer, router and security software! (I LOVE FREE!)

Melanie and I got our plan mapped out on Thursday night, and we were set to meet at Circuit City at 4:00 a.m. I took two benadryl at 9:30 so that I could fall asleep. That didn't work so well, so needless to say ~ I got a maximum of 3 hours of sleep last night. I got up at 3:00, made a pot of coffee and ran out the door. I got to Circuit City at about 3:45, only to see the longest line ever. Surely they all weren't there for the same laptop for $299, right? Nobody looks at those sale ads, right?!? Little did I know that I should have pitched a tent (like some people actually did) in the hopes that we would get a voucher for the laptop, and had so much fun. We were absolutely freezing, but it was so much fun to joke with our newfound friends in the line behind us. I think I had more of a cardio workout this morning at 4:00 than I've had in my whole life! :) We were jumping around to keep our feet warm. My friend Katie ended up showing up near 5:00. We ended up going into the store once it opened, just in case we missed something, but we ended up not getting the laptop special. Not the end of the world, but I really felt defeated.

On to Old Navy. They were giving out free MP3 players for spending $20. Surely people wouldn't go to Old Navy on a morning like this. Wrong-O! They were gone by the time we got there - which was about 5:15.

Next stop Toys R' Us. We waited in a line for just a couple of minutes, and then made it into the store. Mel and I were looking for specific things, and we were very determined to get them!! We wanted to get the Fisher Price Pixtars for Brett and Ben. Orig. $40 - On Sale for $14.99!!! Got 'Em!! We were so excited! We also found some other really great deals. By the time we had to get in line, we couldn't find the end or should I say the beginning of the end of the line. Anyway, apparently Toys R' Us ran out of the blue tape that directed people to the check-out line. They were directing people every which way, and it was just chaotic! Don't they do this every year? Are you telling me that you couldn't have gone to Home Depot across the street for some more blue painter's tape? They really need to get their act together over there. We ended up waiting in line for 1 and 1/2 hours! It was crazy, but again, had alot of fun with the people around us in line.

Next stop Wal-Mart. By this time it was 7:30, and the rush was over, so it was actually quite nice to somewhat leisurely shop. We found what we were looking for and a whole lot more at this store. Some pretty good sales there.

Overall, I'm just not sure if it's worth it. Sure, I saved alot of money at Toys R' Us, but was it really worth the sore arms, because they ran out of carts and we had to carry our stuff the ENTIRE time we were in line? And did I mention that the line weaved in and out around the ENTIRE store? And yes, I got a printer for $25 at Wal-Mart, but was it really that important that I couldn't wake up at 7:00 and go then? And I'm so bummed that I didn't get the laptop for my inlaws, so I'm ticked that I got up at 3:00 and waited in line for absolutely NOTHING!

So, I'm just not sure how I feel about the whole thing. It was definitely ALOT of fun! I know that sounds dumb, but because I've never done this before, I just didn't know what to expect. We just laughed and had so much fun while trying to stay warm.

When I was driving to Circuit City in the morning I was on the phone with Mel, and we just couldn't believe the amount of people out. It was crazy! The line for Kohl's wrapped around the store! Now tell me - what is so important at Kohl's for that many people to go there at 3:30 in the morning?!? Am I missing something? Maybe I wasn't looking at the sale ads properly the night before. And maybe the stuff that I really want just wasn't on sale, because after Wal-Mart, I was done. I wasn't going anywhere else ~ but to decorate Christmas cookies with my family at my in-laws house.