It's day 2 on the farm and now that we've done a full day of these chores, we're all feeling a bit more confident in some areas, and a bit more lacking in others. For one thing, milking really is much harder than we thought it'd be. But surprisingly, everything else is so much easier than we thought.
Unfortunately, we have one more day of busy plans, since this is Thanksgiving Day, and we need to do the chores quickly to get out of here on time again. Making the pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes last night means that I've only got the mashed potatoes to boil. Well, that and the turkey... I'm thinking I need to leave here around 10 to make it down there on time for a 12:30 lunch. I spoil myself with the extra half hour in bed (until 7:30) pointlessly, since I'm already wide awake, and then we go ahead and get to work.
We're all feeling a little disorganized this morning and I head outside without any of the milking pails, asking K to grab them on her way out. The puppy, Olivia, is driving us nuts, chasing chickens around and barking at the goats, aggravating them. I decide it's probably best to put her inside and block the doggie door, hoping that the milking will go easier if she's not upsetting the goats. So A puts her inside and secures the doggie door and as we've got the goat on the stand I look around and realize the pails still didn't make it outside. I bark at K to go in and get them and A promptly tells me that the doorknob part of the back door is locked and now we can't get in. Perfect.
Because we've closed the doggie door, there's no way to get in the house now. We double-check the front door, but it's also locked tight. The girls start panicking a bit, but I remember that the bathroom window is a tiny bit open, though it's very high up and way too narrow for me to fit through. I tell K to sit down and milk while I pry the screen off, and thankfully C is brave enough to climb the ladder and drop into the tub through the tiny hole. She lets us in and we grab the pails and finish the morning chores in double-time now since we're running a bit late. No shower for me this morning, and yet another breakfast at the McDonald's drive-thru. :(
We get down to the house in pretty good time since it's a little early for most folks to be travelling and I get the turkey in the oven pretty quickly. I decided to go ahead and shower in my own home once I got the turkey in the oven, but then I suddenly remembered that I left my toiletry bag up at the farm house. This just isn't my day. The food turns out pretty good, but the turkey is almost an hour later than I'd hoped, meaning we had just enough time to eat our food, rest a little bit, have a quick dessert, and then head back up to the farm house for afternoon chores.
Mike has agreed to come up there around 5 to sit with the girls and the animals while Jessey and I go Black Friday shopping. I absolutely love Black Friday shopping, even if there's nothing I want to buy, and have been known to be out all night spending just a few dollars here and there, simply enjoying the experience. Jessey and I have been going together for years, and although he nearly broke our tradition by going with his friends this year, they canceled on him at the last minute and he was stuck with me. Sadly, Black Friday shopping isn't nearly as fun as it used to be. 4 am shopping was a privilege for the truly insane, and even midnight shopping kept the general public at bay. But now that Black Friday shopping starts at 5 pm on Thanksgiving Day, it's basically just a free-for-all, without the anticipation and insanity that used to surround the experience.
At any rate, we grabbed the Black Friday ads and headed out to see what shops they had up here anyway. The nearest Old Navy was two cities away, though only about a 15 minute drive, and we were excited to see that nearly every other store we were considering going to was up here as well. They even had a Kmart, which we don't have anymore. Our first stop was Old Navy, and we got there about 1.5 hours before they opened at 7 pm. We were shocked to see that there were only about 4 people in line and wondered what kind of night we'd be in for. Either things really have changed this year with the stores being open so much earlier, or Black Friday shopping is much different up here than where we live.
We sat in the car until 6, watching the line slowly grow to about 7 people and looking at ads deciding which other stores we'd like to go to, and then we got out and took our place in line. By the time the store opened, there were probably about 60-70 people in line, so that was more like what we were used to. Jessey needed some pants so I just milled about and picked up a few little stocking stuffers while he shopped. Even with the entire contents of the store on sale for 50% off, the clothes were a bit too pricey for a cheapskate like me (the clearance wasn't 50% off :( ), so I just waited for him. I actually got a few cute things, including some presents for the dog, of all things, and then we made our way to the really short line, paid and left. This was definitely not like the Old Navy we know. The one in the mall by our house actually stops letting people in after a little while because they reach maximum capacity, and if you aren't in line within 10 minutes of the store opening, you better be willing to wait an hour or more in line.
Even with trying on several pairs of pants, paying, and driving to Kohl's, which was our next stop, we were still there about 15 minutes before they opened at 8pm. We got in the somewhat wimpy line that had formed and waited it out. I like Kohl's a lot, and even though there's nothing I really wanted to buy this year, Jessey's search for pants will give me a reason to look around inside. They end up not having any of the things I actually need, and the one thing I was interested in buying is 30% off, but still more expensive than it is on Amazon, so I pass. Jessey manages to find some more pants, though, and I pick up a few more small things while I'm there.
Even though Toys 'R Us is right next door and opened an hour earlier than Kohl's, we decide to skip it because there's nothing I really want in there this year either (except maybe a Wii U, which I'm not buying now), and we're just not into it for some reason. I think the whole reasonable-ness of the hour we're shopping has killed the mood somehow. In some way, this shopping experience was so much more enjoyable when we were sleep-deprived, freezing cold, and groaning with stomachaches from all the junk food we'd eaten.
Our next and last stop is going to be Michael's, but first we decide to hit Denny's for some dinner. Even though it's not yet 9 pm, many places are already closed, so we go for the surety of Denny's. Our dinner's actually pretty good and we chat for quite a while before heading out again. At some point during our dinner, we remember that some of the families in Denny's probably accidentally ruined their Thanksgiving meal, and chuckle a bit at the thought. Michael's has been open since 4 pm, so there's no line outside and surprisingly no one inside the store either. The coupon we have is for 40% off your entire purchase, which I think is pretty good. I buy several more gifts here and Jessey buys a package of googly eyes, and then we both decide we're pretty much done with this whole thing.
We head back to the farm house just a little bit after my prediction of 10 pm, but Mike is surprised to see us. He was sure we'd be out all night. I'd have to say, I know many people were up in arms about stores making employees work on the holiday, and I can't honestly say for sure whether they wanted to work or not or how that whole situation played out, but I can definitely say that it killed the mood for the two of us. There's just something so awesome about standing outside a closed store for 2 hours in the freezing cold in the middle of the night, surrounded by cop cars and metal barricades on all sides to keep the crazies out. Making the trip to follow the line just to find out where it actually ends, discovering unknown alleys in the process. Making runs to McDonald's for coffee and Egg McMuffins for complete strangers while everyone talks hushedly about the items they're hoping to get. Perfecting the in-and-out tactic, tag-teaming who stands in line or splitting up departments to hit. Watching the rookies trying to use shopping carts in the madness. Making it to two or three stores before hitting a parking lot and catching a few hours of sleep in the van before the rest of the stores open up at 3 or 4 am. Shopping with all the bleary-eyed zombies who've also been up all night. Seeing the new friends you made in line smile at you from across the room as you both secretly celebrate their victory in snagging that one coveted item they wanted so badly. Having a second, and maybe even a third breakfast as your body desperately craves some sort of fuel for this grueling demand on it. And putting the thought out of your mind that about 1/3 of these impulse purchases will be returned sometime within the next week.
Or, maybe it's just me.... If you don't love it, I guess you just can't understand.
So, if you hear me petitioning for stores to stay closed on Thanksgiving (like it was any better asking them to get to work at 2 am), you'll know I'm simply pining for the 'good ol' days' when Black Friday shopping was barely-controlled chaos, and the die-hards like us shared a unique experience custom-made for the truly crazy.
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