I Am Offically Crazy

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We certainly did and I have photos to prove it although I forgot and left my digicamera at my mom's house. I have LOTS more to say about Thanksgiving but I need a little time to formulate my thoughts before posting (you will learn what I mean very soon).

Today I did what I thought only a crazy person would do - I went shopping at 4am. Yup, I got out of bed at 3:20, brushed my teeth & hair, put on sweats, poured a cup coffee into a travel cup and out the door I went. The roads were delightful! There were just enough cars to feel safe in the dark and everyone was parking and walking to the store at about the same time so that felt safe as well.

I quickly discovered that I am an amatuer. The "others" had already figured out exactly what they were going to buy, knew where most of it was located in the store, and went right to the items. When I walked in the doors of the Kohl's store at 4:07, there were already people at the check out (with single, large purchases). Silly me - I hadn't even seen the ad! I believe I may have been the only person in the store browsing. The amaizing part is that at 4am the shoppers had busy cell phones. Who were there people calling & texting? Friends in Europe?!?!?

Apparently I missed the boat on this early shopping in other ways as well. Seems many of the people were talking about having started their adventure at Ellenton (a discount mall about 30 miles away) at midnight, when they opened, and then made their way back in time for the 4am & 5am openings locally. Respecting their experience & shopping wisdom......

I made my couple of small purchases (but all really good deals of course) and drove across the road to the mall where the stores were opening at 5am. I got there before 5am hoping to sip the remainder of my coffee but JC Penny's was already open so I kept moving while I had the shopping momentum going. Next, I went to Macy's which I was looking forward to and had scanned their ad but bought nothing. Then to Game Stop for an advertised items, and finally the Pièce de résistance, Target, where I bought nothing. They had some excellent values but the one thing I wanted from the ad was already sold out.

I decided to call it a morning, went thrugh McD's for an Egg McMuffin, and was back in the house at 6:23am. On a normal day, I couldn't travel between those stores that quickly simply due to traffic on the road, much less the volume of people. All in all, I would say it was a good experience and I would do it again just for the peace, quiet, and good parking spots! (Note to self: really study those ads and get organized next time :)

How I Spent My Birthday -or- My Trip Across The Sunshine Skyway Bridge

I spent my birthday traveling today. I had to cross the scary Sunshine Skyway bridge as part of my journey.

It's so high! Can you blame me for getting nervous over this? Actually I did better today - either I am starting to get used to it or my "trick" worked. What trick? I told myself today that since it's scary and you have to pay $1 to cross it, then it's just like a scary ride at Disney or Busche Gardens!

This is what it looks like when you are at the top IF you are in the center lane. For some reason I find the inside fast lane scarier so I ride in the outside lane and you can see over the edge down into the water. Perhaps that's not a good choce???? Oh, don't worry - I didn't photo while I drove. I got these photos from Wikipedia.

This is what greated us at Aunt Flossie's house. She has a beautiful salmon color Christmas cacus in prime bloom. She said she had two but due to overwatering she now only has one.

Here's today's photo of my Dad and his sister Flossie. She lives in Arcadia which is about an hour and half away from us. Dad will be spending the week there. I wil pick him up next Saturday. He spent Christmas with us and will spend New Year's with her. They were already making plans when we were leaving. if you happen to be in DeSoto county Florida this week and see an 80 year old man and a 92 year old woman driving in a big car, look out! They are up to no good, LOL.

I loved the ambiance in Aunt Flossie's front room. The combination of the Christmas lights and pig lights created a nice light and mood. It was sort of a pink/peach glow which is one of my favorite colors. I just KNOW my complexion looked good in those lights so it was hard to leave ;)

But leave we did. On the way home, mom and I stopped at Prime Outlets in Ellenton to spend some of my Christmas & birthday $$$. I had this big wad of cash and felt like I was on "What Not To Wear" as I tried to be super critical of cut & fit to ensure that I would wear the items I bought. Too often it's "good enough" and then I only wear it once or twice. It was hard to shop smart instead of settling. I spend about half and bought 3 pairs of pants, 3 tops, 1 dress, and a suit jacket. I truly felt like Stacy & Clinton were over my shoulder telling me something was nice but not right for me. Serious shopping is hard work!

More Wrapping

Here's some packages going to Seattle........................

And these tins went to Jerry's work along with some trays of food.

Plus, I am still shopping today. Next year I will do the out of town shopping early or online and save the local shopping for later. I goofed this year and did DOG shopping early and people hsopping late. In fact, I have gifts for the dog of a friend of mine here in Clearwater but nothing yet for her, LOL.