Black Friday Bag

Well who doesn't love a bargain? And black friday shopping is, as my dear brother Chris says, "the super bowl" of bargain shopping.

So I combed the internet and studied the ads and plotted my course. Part of the fun of black friday shopping is doing it with a friend. Not only do you snag items for each other (improving odds of getting what you want) but one stands in line while the other shops. You know that's a biblical principle- Ecc. 4:9 says 2 are better than 1 for they have a good reward for there toil. And best of all you have someone to talk to while you wait, which inevitably you do.

My husband and I have gone before, last year we stood in the cold for over an hour to get a new front loader washer/dryer set for $500! It was worth it. This year I had 2 quarters in the shopping super bowl. One at midnight and the other at 4. At the midnight run the line was 5 blocks long at Toys R us and the traffic horrible so we went home after an hour. Distressed I called my bestie in CA who is the guru of black friday shopping bargains. I asked if you could get the same deal online and so as we went back to my brother's home she ordered it for me online-

My sister in law never woke up at 4- so I went on a solo mission within minutes of their home. I hit walmart, target, staples, kohls and home depot. It was a blessed time, I even shared some good conversation with others. Cody's sister helped me when I couldn't find a gamestop store in Ft. Worth by buying what I needed in Duncan.

So the totes above (both new) - my bag from Nepal that I've been carring around these days and the little red thing is a fold up reusable bag I got black friday morning at target. They actually had run out (I asked) and I found it on the ground as I people watched. There was nothing I needed in that store worth waiting hours in a checkout line. The tote found me :)

So begins the Christmas holidays... I still prefer Thanksgiving. Did you know the early settlers didn't celebrate Christmas? they thought it had gotten too pagan....

I did get out the Christmas Boxes- several years back I bought 4 large golden tubs after christmas and vowed I would only have that much Christmas stuff ever, it all had to fit into those boxes each year. Sometimes it's hard but I try and I have to pack smart. The whole tree fits in there too! 4 Christmas boxes are apart of my "rules". I have certain codes I live by. For instance- birthday cakes are always homemade. Today I told silas to stop putting more than more ornament on a branch, he said, "Is that a rule? " Yes it is. I love family traditions but I am not a legalist. There is much grace in my house probably because God's given me so much of it.

Our tree this year is neat, until last year I did theme trees-music for years, then a natural tree with hunting stuff and feathers. I had a small tree for all the kids ornaments and last year we combined and the thing is like a historic monument revealing all kind of windows into our lives.