Black Friday shopping: a guest post by Erin Dunkle

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I won't have time to post this weekend, so I recruited my blog friend Erin to write a guest post. Erin and I have never met in person, but we have a special connection. Her husband, Geoff, is waiting for liver transplant right now (and he's been waiting patiently for a long time) and as some of you know I've been through that myself. So, needless to say, when she found me through my other blog we became fast friends (if we lived closer, I am sure we would hang out and drink wine and shop together!!). Anyway, read on for her reflections on Black Friday shopping!! And after you read it I hope you'll drop by her blog, Life With the Dunkles, and find out the latest with LiverWait '08. Please say a prayer for her husband, too.

It’s coming…

And no, I am not talking about Thanksgiving or Christmas. I am talking about Black Friday. BRING. IT. ON. This is one of those days that I get so fired up about. Okay, so, I know the economy is bad and my Roth 401K is gone, and my husband is waiting for a liver transplant, but I am throwing that all out the window (well not the husband and the liver thing) and jumping in feet first!

This is an annual tradition (one that I cannot wait to pass onto my daughter) that my family and I have done for years. It starts on Thanksgiving morning. We are up bright and early scouring the ads one-by-one, placing them in their appropriate piles, and re-reading them just to be sure nothing was missed.

The piles are typically labeled:
1) MUST-MUST have
2) If we can’t get the must-must haves then we will move onto these items
3) If we strike-out on the first two piles then let’s just buy these items so we don’t look like total losers for getting up at 3:00AM

It’s sick. It’s an addiction. I know. One year I stood in line at Best Buy starting @ 4:00AM with my mom and aunt just to walk out of there at 5:30AM with a $5 Johnny Cash CD.

This year I’m taking it up a notch. This year I will be shopping at our local outlets at midnight on Thanksgiving. That’s right you read that correctly, the local outlet mall is opening at midnight for their big “Thanksgiving Sale”. I’ve recruited some friends and my mom. Were all set to go. Since the ads have not “officially” come out (I’ve been Googling the ads for days online), I’m not exactly sure how my day will go, but one thing is for sure, tomorrow I will be up at the crack of dawn putting together my “piles”.

Happy Shopping!

The verdict

Thanks for all the feedback about the Christmas tree dilemma. Carl and I discussed this yesterday, and we decided that we are going to get a tree this year (a small one!). We pretty much live in the Christmas tree capitol of the U.S.A. (I'm not kidding -- we have at least 10 tree farms, probably more, within a three-mile radius of our house), so buying a tree supports our local economy. And, fortunately for us, we have lots of lots of ways to recycle trees around here. We usually leave ours out for the Boy Scouts (they take it away for a $5 donation). To find a tree recycle program in your area, click on over to the National Christmas Tree Association's web site. All you have to do is enter your zip code, and it will tell you where you can take your tree for recycling.

The Advent Conspiracy

So, as you all know (because I said so here in this blog), this time of year really, really drives me nuts. It's not that I don't love Christmas. I do love it. And I love Christmas because I love Jesus. Christmas is about His birth, and the fact that God came from Heaven to Earth to redeem us. What I don't like so much is how our society has turned Christmas into a holiday that is all about gifts, food, decorations, parties and, well, stuff.

This year, however, I think people are starting to get back to basics. Money is tight for lots of us, and in the context of the holiday season I think this a blessing. I won't get a Coach handbag this year, and I'm not going to get the new piano I want either. I'll admit that I am really bummed out about the piano -- but I also know that I'll get one when the time is right. It doesn't have to be for Christmas.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. Today, I heard about a very cool project called The Advent Conspiracy. The idea? Worship fully, spend less, give more, love all. Find out more in this video ...

To tree or not to tree

I have a dilemma. Should Carl and I get a Christmas tree this year? A nice tree will set us back at least $30. At least. And if you've read my previous posts, you know that we are trying to cut back this year (read: we have to cut back this year). Then again, Christmas trees look so pretty and smell so nice. I love sitting in my living room with a book and cup of tea (or wine, or hot cocoa, or even water) and the tree and the lights and the stockings and all that.

If we skip the tree, it won't be the first year we've done this. For a while we put up a fake tree from Target, but we sold it when we moved into our current home in May 2005. I'm pretty sure we celebrated Christmas sans tree that year (and the holiday was just as happy).

Anyway, I'm just not sure what to do. Should I invest in a tree or not? If I do, I want to put it up right after Thanksgiving so I can enjoy it for the entire month of December! But that involves crawling up to the high shelves in the garage and getting down the ornaments in, like, 10 days. I just don't know.

New poll: What is your favorite Christmas movie?

Hey! I just added a new poll -- favorite Christmas movies. I actually love all of the ones on my list! If I had to pick one, though, it would probably be A Christmas Story. I'm laughing now, just thinking about poor Flick with his tongue stuck to a flag pole.

Favorite Christmas memories

I have a lot of fun childhood Christmas memories -- in part because my parents are really into celebrating the season. My mom goes all out with decorating, and my dad basically loves everything about Christmas (I'm not sure how I wound up with such a ho-hum attitude toward the holiday season). My favorite memory of all, however, involves our annual Christmas tree search. Actually, I'm not sure if we did this every year or just a couple of times -- but I like to think it was an annual event. Anyway, my parents would pick me up from school at Carl Cozier Elementary and we would ride in our blue Ford Comet out to a tree farm where we would search and search until we found the right tree. I believe it was almost always a Douglas Fir. On the way home, we would stop by the Mt. Bakery for a treat (we lived in Bellingham, Wash. near Mt. Baker at the time -- cute name for a bakery, huh??). This kinda goes to show that Christmas isn't about all the stuff under the tree, doesn't it?

What's your favorite Christmas memory?

Gift cards!

Who doesn't love receiving gift cards??! And for that matter, who doesn't love giving them? It's so easy -- you go the store, plunk down some cash (or, plastic -- which I totally don't recommend unless you intend to pay it off as soon as the bill comes) and your gift is ready to go. Nonetheless, it is important to equip yourself with some knowledge about gift cards before going out and getting one for every single person on your list. That's why, today, I am sending you all over to Leah Ingram's fabulous Lean Green Family blog, where you can read up on Five Tips for Buying Gift Cards.