Black Friday Experience

We were up early and out the door by 6:15 AM for our Black Friday shopping trip. We started with a stop at the Sam's Club in Surprise. When we arrived at just before 6:45 for the 7 AM opening, there were already about 100 people in the line. The Sam's Club employees were very considerate. They were walking down the line asking shoppers what item(s) they were interested in, and they were pointing out the location inside the store where they could be found. They also passed out flyer's with all the sale items listed. Josie was afraid that all the people in line were after the same item she wanted - the Cuisinart cookware set - so she was concerned.

The doors opened at 7 AM and we went directly to the area where our item was located and there was as a stack of about 50 of them. No problem. We then walked around to check out other deals before checking out and heading to Costco for our other items.

Costco didn't have more than about 25 or so people in line at 7:45 AM. We thought they were going to open at 8 AM, so we waited. Folks standing in line around us also thought it was going to open at 8 AM. Wrong. It turned out that 9 AM was the opening, so we walked away from the line and went to the local Denny's for breakfast. When we returned at 9 AM, the doors were open and no line was present. We got our items there and left. Following a car wash at Costco, we returned home at about 11 AM. That about summarizes our Black Friday experience. We both forgot our phones, and therefore, our cameras, so no photos were taken of our experience.

We watched Austin's game against Northern Illinois for the MAC conference lead and thought they were going to win their seventh straight game - until the second half which began with WMU leading 21-7. The NIU defense completely shut down WMU's offense and the game finished at 31-21 in favor of NIU. Austin was hurt on the final play of the game where he was drilled by an NIU player and hurt his hip. Patty said he received a shot from the team doctor and came home with them for the weekend. We hope he is OK and will be well enough to play in the team's bowl game - to be announced at their banquet next Sunday in Kalamazoo. What a great turnaround and great season for his team this year. They went from 1-11 last year to 8-4 this year, and will only get better for next year.

That was the extent of our Black Friday. Josie goes to work today and I will - finally - complete my cross stitch project and take it to Michael's for framing. Somehow, we will also get the Christmas decorations set up over the weekend...