Why I don't participate in the madness that is Black Friday (Alternate title: Why I let my husband do the shopping today)

I refuse to go out shopping on Black Friday. The last time I went out on BF was about 7 or 8 years ago and for some reason I ended up at the mall. That was NOT a good place to be. Too many people. Waaay too many people! And it was on that day that I decided to NEVER again shop on BF.

However, each year my husband wakes up at 3 a.m. on the morning of Black Friday and heads out into the crazy crowds to hunt down bargains. And, every year, I stay in bed.

This year was no different. Kevin left at 3:15 a.m. and went to Walmart as his first stop.

[He actually plans this out. Last night we sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by BF ads, figuring out what else we needed for Christmas and the girls' birthdays (which are both in January....yeah, great planning, I know). Kevin had a list and had figured out exactly how much cash he needed to take (for the 1st time ever, we have paid all cash this year!) and then he plans the order of his stops.]

What follows is a recap of his adventure...I am not sure if I got the timeline correct, but it's amusing nonetheless.

First stop - Walmart: Apparently the stores were open at midnight but no one could actually purchase anything until 5 a.m. This boggles my mind, because I cannot understand WHY anyone would want to spend 5 hours hanging out at Walmart. But apparently people did - the stores were packed. Kevin said he went in and found what he wanted to buy ... but it was only 3:30 a.m. and he had other places to go. And he didn't want to wait for another 90 minutes to buy the items. So, he did what any resourceful BF shopper would do -- he HID all the items in a dresser drawer in the furniture department and left. Uh-huh. That's right. I said he hid everything in a dresser. And left the store.

Next stop - JCPenney: Kevin has one reason, and one reason ONLY, to go to JCP on BF. To get me the annual free Disney snow globe. I have been collecting them since 2001 (when he surprised me with the first one) and so every year that's a "required" stop. This year was no different - I got my snow globe!

Next stop - Disney Store (I think): The entire store was 20% ... so Kevin found many good deals!

Next I think he headed to Elder-Beerman (nothing exciting there), and then to Target.

Target stop #1: The trip to Target was only for one thing....a Leapster game for Olivia. The games are normally $25 and they were on sale for $15. So, Kevin heads to Target, finds the LAST Disney Princess Leapster game....and realizes it's nearly 5 a.m. and he has to get back to Walmart ASAP. So....he HIDES the game in the stationary department and LEAVES Target, heading back to Walmart.

Walmart stop #2: This time, Kevin has to park at a car dealership on Central Avenue (three buildings down the road from Walmart). So, he RUNS to Walmart and surprisingly enough, all of the hidden treasures are still in their "places". [Amazing, I know.]. He said when he got in line the guy in front of him said he had been at Walmart since midnight - but had brought doughnuts and coffee so he was doing OK. That. Is. Crazy.

After Walmart, he heads back to Target for stop #2: By now, the lines are wrapped around the store, and Kevin is thinking it's probably going to be a 2-hour wait just to buy ONE video game. So ... he heads to the little Target cafe and asks if he can checkout there. Surprisingly, the clerk says 'yes' ... and with that, Kevin manages to avoid a very long wait in line. Amazing.

He made it home by 8 a.m. and now, all of our Christmas shopping is DONE! The best part? We still have some money left. That is always a good thing.

This is, by far, the best BF story Kevin has had in all the years we've been together. I told him "Honey, you have some MAD shopping skills!"

But it's still not enough to get me out of bed at 3 a.m. to witness any of it in person. And really, with a husband this talented, I don't think I ever need to shop on Black Friday. EVER.