Black Friday is my E.T. ringtone.

I feel compelled to write about being thankful. That's what most bloggers do this time of year. And being new to the blogging game, I want to follow the rules. I am a rule follower.

But then I decided to put my own spin on it. State upfront that, yes, I am thankful for my family, my health, my abundance (so true, but so boring), then launch into a bunch of random things I am thankful for, like my first gel manicure. Simply revolutionary. Especially for someone who messes up her smoothly polished fingers before I make it home. Usually fishing keys out of my purse and always after letting them dry twice under the (absolutely, positively covered in lethal amounts of nasty bacteria) handy hand dryer. 

This lovely new process still requires you to insert your fingers into a gadget, but it's more like a toaster oven where the polish then cooks onto your nail beds courtesy of UV rays. The safety is questionable, but you leave with shiny color that won't chip even if you drop your keys in a big bucket of razors and sharp rocks! (This hasn't been proven.) It is amazing, or was amazing until an entire finger's worth of polish peeled off in an eerie and unsightly way. I was able to push it back down and it seems to be staying for now. But it has me on edge.

So I've changed themes. 

It's Black Friday and I just don't get it! The last place on earth I want to be is surrounded by nutty shoppers trying to get a deal. I would rather pay a premium for just about anything you could name to avoid a store on Black Friday.

We were driving to Gwyn's for Thanksgiving yesterday. In my opinion, Lancaster is the perfect distance. You get the feel of trekking somewhere far off without reaching the point of total backseat breakdown. Satellite radio helps. For part of the ride we listened to Radio Disney, which I unabashedly like. A lot. To a point. Then we turned on the 80s on 8, which has a quick between song bit that features sounds like an arcade game and E.T.

Lu hates E.T. I know hate is a strong word. I think if she saw the movie for the first time today, it would be different. But she saw it several years ago and was traumatized. She didn't like the look of him and she really didn't like or understand the dramatic climax where he nearly dies. Hate is appropriate here.

Every time they played that bit with E.T.'s voice, she flipped. So I asked her, if we were to buy you an iphone so you could call and text like a frantic almost tweener would love to do, BUT only under the condition that your ringtone would be E.T.'s voice reminding you to phone home, would you take the deal? No way, she said without hesitation. No way.

Black Friday is my E.T. ringtone. No deal is good enough.

My shopping habits are haphazard. I try to look for a sale, but I don't really seek it out. Unlike my husband, I am not a coupon clipper. It's not the cutting that I can't handle, it's the juggling of coupons in the store when I'm trying to get in and out with a 1 year-old who desperately wants to climb from the basket and be free! But only after taking her shoes and socks off and throwing them somewhere in the cereal aisle.

In my defense, I will choose the product that's on sale if there's a choice. But I'm brand loyal so in some cases that doesn't apply.

Okay, I'm a terrible shopper.

My memories of shopping are pretty dim. I remember going to the Clover on rt. 73 with my mom and hoping against hope that she'd buy me a soft pretzel and slushy on the way out. 

In the spirit of holiday shopping, I remember going downtown with my family on the train and shopping in Santa's Secret Workshop at Wanamaker's. My parents would pay some unknown amount of money so I could take a mini cart through a makeshift "store" and buy things for my siblings. Lots of combs and stinky perfumes. They'd wrap it at the "check-out" and my Christmas shopping was done! Easy!

Maybe that's why I like easy. I'm a big online shopper. My latest purchase was for Beazy and I love it. Love, love love. To tie this random post together, I am grateful for the opportunity to shop from my kitchen rather than brave a crazy, crowded store where I might get pepper sprayed. And I really appreciate clothing that is handmade in this great country and doesn't require me to thread flailing baby limbs into small armholes. I am thankful for purple ponchos.

What are your shopping memories? How would you describe your shopping habits?