Midnight Shopping

What can you do with a group of lunatics that prepare to go shopping at 12 midnight? Eh, nothing really but roll over and go back to sleep.

The army has been assembled. We go in teams of two. Well, my team has three members, but that's okay. We got stuck with the rookie so it's like having two. Either she'll jump in and be professional by 7 a.m. or never ever do this again.

We've studied the sales papers. We've got our map tracked as to where we go and when and who is responsible for getting a certain item. Cell phones are charged so we can communicate inside stores.

First we were going to leave at 4 a.m. Nah, we need time to scout. Then it got moved to 3 a.m. Then we remembered that the Walmart Supercenter was open 24 hours!! You can't buy til 5 a.m., but you sure can stand by your item and guard it with a coffee induced ferocity. We then decided to leave at 2 a.m. and thought again because the Sister in Law and I have to pick up her sister (the rookie). We need time to brief her and make sure she knows the seriousness of how we operate. My cousin is a big strapping guy who is getting off of work at the hospital at 11 p.m. and is going home to shower and change (the ER can be quite messy at times) then go right back out to stake our claim on a few major items. He seriously counts for two people on his own because at 6'2"...he can intimidate nicely.

We're seriously going to miss Fred this year. It was a bonus having two tall guys on our team who could easily reach over squabbling women to get something we want. Plus they can tote the heavy stuff. I feel a back ache coming on.

My mother gets bonus points for keeping 4 children this year. Paige decided she wanted no part of that scene and is staying home to sleep in peace. She has three phones beside her head but I don't anticipate her coming up for air until around 10 a.m. or so. Mom gets bigger bonus points because 3 of those kids are sick. I had a small amount of pity on her and doped them up before I sent them over. They should be snoring quite nicely about now.

Paige and I turned the T.V. up loud and talked loud because there was no fear of waking anyone up. We thought we were on vacation!

I am not going to attempt to sleep because if I do, it'll be all over with before I stir and there's nothing more embarrassing than having your LF (life friend) call and ask...."Where the h**l are you????" I cannot let the team down. This is our tenth year and we're going to celebrate the anniversary with a nice big breakfast when all is said and done!

Wish us luck. It's pure madness out there and we love it!!!!