Black Friday

Typically, I avoid Black Friday completely.  I will go to great lengths, if I absolutely have to leave the house, to avoid all shopper traffic.  It tends to bring out the inner Scrooge in me.  However, I love shopping the web for the awesome deals!  There was only one item featured in all the Black Friday sales that I really, really wanted -- a gel mat for my kitchen.  Holt woke up around 3:00 am and after he was fed, I checked the website.  The mats were already sold out!  Of all the toys, electronics, and jewelry at ridiculous prices -- it had to be my mat, the only item I wanted, that sold out!  Sigh.  Holt was showing no signs of sleeping anytime soon.

At this point, I figured I had two choices:
A) I could stare longingly at my adorable bundle of joy, wishing that he would fall asleep so I too could get back to sleep
B) head to Kohl's and try to score my cheap gel mat

Desperate times called for desperate measures.  It was insanely cold outside, so I bundled up myself and Holt, and off to Kohl's we went!  With Holt in his stroller, I darted through all the aisles towards the back of the store.  As I neared the kitchen rugs, I spotted one, solitary gel mat left.  Unfortunately, I had wanted to get two but I was still delighted to even have one.  I threw it across the top of the infant carrier and began to shop all the other deals.  The baby, who 30 minutes prior, showed no signs of sleeping, was now, thankfully, completely zonked out.  Ninety minutes later, I kept hoping that Holt would stay asleep because he was now buried under a mountain of merchandise.  No joke.  The stroller was completely loaded down.  There was not a single nook or cranny in the stoller left empty.  Navigating the aisles strewn with the aftermath of the earliest Black Friday shoppers had become an impossibility with the overloaded stroller.  Time to check out and head home!  I wish I could have snapped a shot of my makeshift basket but there were lots of Christmas presents in my mountain of merchandise.  Wouldn't want to spoil anyone's surprise!  However, I did capture a picture of my little helper.