shop till i drop

It was a busy and bountiful weekend. In addition to Thanksgiving it was my sister-in-law's birthday!! My parents came back to my house for the weekend with my brother and his family so we were all together. We had a wonderful time, hanging out together and spending time catching up with various activities.

My sister-in-law and I got some knitting time in which was really lovely. We also horror of horrors! went to the mall on Friday. Yes, BLACK Friday. For those who know me...I hate to shop. For those who don't know me...I HATE to shop. I usually make it a point to avoid all of the big shopping marathon events. Unfortunately all of my kids needed clothes, S was home from college for the weekend only, there was a sale on, and I somehow decided that if my sister-in-law and niece came with me it would turn out to be fun. How silly of me.

Getting to the mall was fun. We laughed and joked in the car on the way down (it's a 45 minute drive). Arriving was a little overwhelming, it was packed. But we managed to find a spot. Entering wasn't too bad, the older two girls split off immediately to shop on their own leaving my sister-in-law, niece and I with the adolescent hormonal tornado that is my youngest. I believe she was rather miffed that she had to shop with her mother. It was not a pretty sight. I will admit that the fact that I hate to shop and she loves it doesn't help. That's she's a teenager reduces the odds. That it was crowded, noisy, and overwhelming made me realize that I had lost any semblance of sanity and this was a lost cause from the moment the stupid idea to shop on BLACK Friday occured to me.

We struggled through and emerged alive and rational (barely). This near death experience included a stop at the food court where I discovered that advice received from my Aunt was true; you can go into McDonalds tm and order a cheeseburger hold the burger. One of my cousins and her children are vegetarians and my Aunt told me how my cousin figured out that her kids could still experience McD's this way. Not that it's the best food for you but I admit to a weakness for their fries and it is convenient sometimes. I did have a little trouble when I tried to order because the person behind the counter didn't speak English very well. When I ordered she enquired, "You want a burger but not a burger? Just the bun?" I said, "No, a cheese burger hold the burger". She was very confused. We went back and forth a couple of times until she turned to the woman next to her, asked her a question in Spanish. The other woman said, "No carne, no carne." Showed her where the 'no meat' button was on the register. We got a cheeseburger-no-burger happy meal and D was happy (at least with the meal).

I have said this before but I have well and truly learned my lesson...I will NEVER take my children shopping on BLACK Friday again!