I had this song from the Spongebob movie stuck in my head all day yesterday. Josh and I got up at 4:30 am. My parents had stayed the night so we could go out early to hit all the sales without dragging the kids along. First we had to get gas and here is Josh bringing me some hot cocoa for breakfast: 
Josh has gone out first thing in the morning almost every day-after-Thanksgiving since we’ve been married. This was the first year I was able to go with him. It was also the first year that we were not in Muscatine so going out early meant hitting more than just Wal-Mart and Menard’s! Wow! I would guess that this year was crazier all over because I heard things like that Williamsburg and Jordan Creek Mall were opening at midnight etc. but I tell you what, wow. I dropped Josh off at Best Buy 15 minutes after they opened and the items he wanted were already sold out! The line to check out was wrapped through all the aisles stretching the length of the entire store! I ran over to Younkers and overheard ladies who said they’d been out shopping since midnight! Amazingly, we eventually not only got all the deals we’d originally wanted, but we also found other great bargains and had a lovely buffet breakfast at the Iowa Machine Shed restaurant. And the parkmaster was in effect all day long! (That’s me, I am the parkmaster for I am known to get pretty good parking even on busy days. Yesterday was no exception!) We had good parking at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Kohl’s, TJMaxx, the restaurant, Hy-Vee and Wal-Mart again! Here is Josh acting out a scene from “the Office.” Anyone remember the episode? 
Now, with the exception of one thing that I need to order I have ALL of our Christmas shopping completed! It was a fun day. My parents took my kids to the historical fire station in Des Moines and when they went home Josh made us pork nachos and the kids and I watched our new copy of Shrek the Third while Josh napped near us.
Glad we could do it. We had fun too! (And we’re thrilled that we didn’t have to go shopping!)