SHOPPING MEMORIES

Melanie arrived at the house Thanksgiving evening and we spread out all the ads and made our lists. This year I'm at a loss as to what to get the kids, but I had no problem listing all the specials I could stock up on. I set my clock for 4:15AM, and for the first time since we've been shopping, I couldn't get up. Richard said I kept hitting the snooze button. I jumped out of bed at 4:45AM and off we went. We arrived at KOHLS by 5:15, but the parking lot was so packed, we turned around and headed to Fred Meyer's to buy our socks. Gone are the days when we were first in line and people tried to push past us to get the coveted shopping cart. We're getting too old.....
We haven't pinpointed the year in which we began this insanity.....we're thinking 19 or 20 years. The year I was pregnant with Jon we stayed out all day and my legs hurt so bad that I couldn't walk the next day (NO KIDDING!) and I had to miss a Temple trip I was scheduled to go on with the youth. I can't forget to mention the year when we literally drove around for an hour trying to get a parking spot at a mall in Oregon, then when we came out 4 hours later, we found Melanies car had burned up. That was a shocker. They had even been paging us in the mall, but we were oblivious as we loaded up our arms with packages.. Through the years we've started out at different stores... when we first started we would just meet a the designated spot. As the years went by we would spend the night with Melanies mom in Portland to be closer to where we would begin, but for the past 10 or so years, Melanie has spent the night here and we shop mostly in Washington to avoid the traffic. Like I said we're getting old. (Melanie lives in Rainer Oregon an hour from Vancouver)
Nothing has deterred us, not even Kristie and Barth driving all the way from BYU to see us. Kristie says we got her hooked. Such a selfish Aunt to leave my guests to go shopping. (I can always repent later).
Somewhere along the way we started wearing the matching outfits. Melanie usually buys them, hoping for my approval. She says I like the old lady Christmas sweaters, and since she doesn't, she buys them....always at a very good price. We wear them for a few years or until they wear out or we get tired of them. Sometimes we recycle them and bring them out of retirement. She has very good taste and I always approve of her choices. One year we started taking before and after pictures and then during pictures. We usually find some nice souls to click our pic as we wait in line like madwomen. We always run into the same people year after year and we catch up on news of the past year. You cannot believe the comments we get about our matching sweaters!! We usually get asked if we're sisters,which we don't mind, but this year I was asked if we were mother and daughter!!! (who did they think was the mother???)
When the kids were younger it would be a rush to get to all the stores for the specials we needed on toys or electronics. We were so glad when we didn't need to go to TOYS R US anymore. There, one of us would wait in the hours long line while the other shopped, then we would switch so the other one could shop. Then there was last year when I HAD to have the 50% off fabric for the quilts I was making for the kids. There was a 2 hour wait just to get the fabric cut, then another line wrapped around the store to pay. While waiting for our number to be called to cut our fabric, we quietly pushed our cart to what looked like a good location, I put my coat on top of it, and we went shopping at another store. When we got back one of us got in the long line to pay, while the other one got the the fabric cut. All in all that was a 3 hour purchase.
Now, life is easier, our legs are weaker, our lists shorter, but we still find it a thrill to get out there with the throngs of other crazy people.............
until next year!!!