Black Friday is Coming! Oh, yeah, Thanksgiving too....

Today I was making my list of things that I would like to get on Black Friday. The annual event that makes people everywhere crazy makes me pretty crazy too.

I've blogged about this crazy day in the past. I love watching people shop like maniacs. I mostly go for the people.

This year there are a few deals that I want. I don't usually shop for electronics any other time of the year because I don't want to pay more than I have to. I'm often seen in the line at Best Buy at 2am on Black Friday, but as I look at the preview ads on bfads.net, I'm pretty sure I'm going to skip that one this year. I'm not going to spend my Thanksgiving in line there, so I'm not going to get the cheap laptop (there's never more than 2 in the store for those things).

This year I'm hitting Walmart (I usually avoid that place because crazy people tend to literally run each other over there), probably Kmart, and Sears. I'm still debating over Toys R Us.

I usually debate over Kmart. Their main sale is on Thanksgiving. I'm squeezing in the time this year because of a couple of deals I can't pass up. Thanksgiving for us is half the day with my family, half the day with Tony's. We'll be staying the night out in Hemet and leaving the house to my mom. I like Black Friday in Hemet. There are fewer people there and people watching is a completely different.

After the morning shop, the girls and I will be hitting the road to the Teddy Bear Tea Party in Riverside. It's an annual Escarzaga girls tradition. The girls all love sitting with Santa and enjoying the fun show that is always performed. It's great fun.

After that I hit the sack. I'm so tired by that point that I'll never be able to function if I don't get sleep.

That's my Thanksgiving weekend...or at least the first part.

Thankfulness

This month the kids and I are talking about thankfulness.

I know, nothing like going with the obvious.

We are starting on the 2nd because yesterday was really busy. I really wanted to do it every day, but that just didn't work out right. Each day we will be writing down one thing that we are thankful for. On Thanksgiving we will take the paper and look at all the different things that we are thankful for and praise God.

Cool plan, huh?

Today I'm thankful for the trash collector. The trash can didn't make it to the curb in time last week so we had an enormous amount of trash and it's really windy. I'm sure that their job is really hard on windy days.

That's me today. I'll be asking the kids after dinner and we will make our charts.

The Stereotypical SAHM

This week I feel trapped in a stereotype. I spend 2 of my mornings a week volunteering in my Kindergarteners' classes at school. I did all the normal chores at home in attempt to make my house as presentable as possible. I did 4 parent/teacher conferences and 2 awards assemblies. I'm also sewing a Halloween costume, shopping clearance racks for Christmas toys (Did you know everyone is clearing out a bunch of toy to get ready for the holiday rush? I picked up a bunch of stocking stuffers for next to nothing.), took the kids to the pumpkin patch for fall pictures and pumpkins, took the kids to the library for their Fall Festival thing, and I'm also baking for a bake sale for soccer on Saturday and a cake walk on Monday. Then planning everyone's outfits and stuff for red ribbon week (crazy hair day is tomorrow and that is all the girls' favorite). Oh, and don't forget taking the boy to soccer tomorrow and of course his therapy sessions that happen every week...I think that's everything.

Did I miss anything for the stereotype?

I don't have any girls in ballet...yet. Becca is practicing the violin, though. I think I've hit just about everything.

There's nothing there that is particularly bad, I'm just feeling like the mom from some TV show. It's not really me. I really don't like to sew, but I'm just too cheap to go buy a sheep costume for Ali (Becca is going to be Little Bo Peep, Ali is her sheep...they decided to update the nursery rhyme, though, and Ali will be wearing a GPS tracker...even my kids refuse to be normal). I'm not a baker normally, but I'm not going to be around to help sell stuff on Saturday, so I'm guilt-ed into making something for the soccer bake sale. Parent/teacher conferences are just a fact of life, no getting around those without being an out-of-touch mom.

I've probably got an excuse for everything, and there's nothing wrong with being the stereotype, I'm just wishing for a chance to go to work out at the gym...of course that's another bit of the stereotype too.

I just don't like being "normal".

It's a weird thing to complain about, I guess. Kinda crazy. Someone pass me the happy pills, I've joined the blah mom club.