They call it Black Friday because it is the color of their souls

Yesterday The Man and I decided to venture out for Walmart's 5 AM amazing super discount sale. Being that we're usually in North Carolina and have the responsibility of taking care of 3 little people we've never really had the opportunity to do so before.

At just a couple minutes after 5 we pulled in to the parking lot of the Super Walmart and noted that the parking lot was FULL and people were parking in the surrounding parking lots. I think I've mentioned before my nervousness in crowds.

Nevertheless, we had dragged ourselves out at 5 AM and we were going to do this Black Friday thing if it killed us... and that very well might have been the case. I had two major things marked on my list that I wanted to grab. Walmart was offering the LEGO® Castle King's Castle Siege for a mere $50 and Thomas at Tidmouth Sheds for only $15. It was a mission, I tell you.

Inside the store was a scene I had never seen before. Carts jamming the aisles, people clinging to their loved ones for dear life, multiple giant screen TVs making their way through the crowds seemingly pushed by nothing but pure economic panic. It was grizly... but I was determined to make it to toys and find that Lego set!

After squeezing by about a jillion carts and people, The Man and I made it to the toy section to find that pure mayhem was prevailing there. Everything out of place, people searching with tears in their eyes, piles of Cabbage Patch Kids strewn about. I searched high and low and in between, I looked in every section of the store hoping it had been misplaced, I even looked in other people carts. There was no sign of the Lego set or the Thomas set. It was as if neither existed.

The Man and I ended up purchasing a $5 DVD and a package of Nilla Cakesters.

Later around 1 pm we decided to head back and see if we could find any great deals after the crowds thinned out. We were in luck! There were still great deals to be had! We managed to cross a lot of kids off of our list as well as a couple of adults but I still had not seen either of my two goal purchases. We were tired, we were ragged, it was definitely time to go home.

But for some reason, from the comfort of our minivan, my strength was renewed and I steered the van toward another Walmart. The Man looked at me in a panic. I could see the whites of his eyes as he pleaded with me. But it was to no avail, I was on a mission.

Pulling into that second Walmart we were greeted with another full parking lot. We managed to snag a halfway sort of decent parking spot that someone else was pulling out of and we made our way into the store, bracing ourselves for the worst.

But inside the scene was almost cheerful! People were smiling, the aisles were relatively maneuverable, items were on the shelves where they were supposed to be. Still, there was no sign of either the Lego or the Thomas set. I did locate a large display of Hanna Montana Barbies and then another of High School Musical Barbies, all priced at only $5 a piece. I loaded up my arms and had almost given up before I began casually looking through a cart of items that the stock people were placing back on the shelf.

And then my hand hit it. Could it be? Was it really? It was! I had found the Thomas set. It was right there in my hands! For only FIFTEEN dollars!

And The Man and I felt the Christmas spirit filling our hearts as we skipped down the aisles to the check out hand in hand. All the world was right and good.