black friday *smile*

Hard to believe that we're in the Christmas home stretch already.  Just 35 short days to go.

We're approaching one of my absolute favorite days.  Just one more week until Black Friday.  Next week at this time, sales will be underway, shoppers will be enthusiastic, sales staff will be chipper and my bags will be filled with all sorts of deals and steals.  Although I will miss most "door buster" sales, I will arrive in the US with plenty of time to still enjoy all the hubba-baloo.

You either love Black Friday or you hate it.  It is crazy.  It can be mayhem.  It is often frustrating, exhausting and angering.  But the deals - oh, it's all about the deals, my friends. And if you plan ahead with an attack plan and prepare yourself for ridiculously unkind fellow shoppers and exhausted cashiers, you'll be sure to find success.

Here is a list of Black Friday links, most with day-after-Thanksgiving flyers.

• Black Friday 2009
• The "official" Black Friday website
• Black Friday.net
• The Black Friday
• 2009 Black Friday Ads

I've been Black Fridaying for a long time.  It's in my blood, I come by it naturally.  Here are a list of things I've learned throughout the years:

1. Have your Christmas shopping list together before Black Friday morning.  Using the ads and your Christmas list, decide what stores have the best prices on the items you already know you want to purchase.  A lot of time & money can be wasted driving around to stores you didn't even really want to go to, spending money on things you didn't really want to buy.  
2. Plan for lots of people and long lines.  This may seem like a ridiculous piece of advise, of course there will be lots of people.  But it is amazing how many people are completely unprepared for lines and the waiting (and there will be LOTS of both).  Plan for it and stay relaxed and calm.
3. Do not, under any circumstances, bring your small children.  refer to #2.
4. Bring snacks & drinks.  The food courts and lines at Starbucks will be insane.  And hungry people are especially cranky.
5. Read the flyer fine print.  If a store only has 20 of a particular item, go elsewhere to find that item.  Unless you miss Thanksgiving dinner and camp out in front of the store (which might be your thing)  you will miss that deal.
6. If you can, wait until after the door busters are done, usually about 1pm on Friday afternoon.  Yes, you will miss some of the biggest and best deals, but you will also avoid many, many, many people.  The deals will still be there, just not the super crazy ones.  (also missing will be the super crazy people!)
7. Have fun!  If you find Black Friday shopping stressful, you don't like the cranky crowds and over-worked staff - please, stay home.  Many of the stores offer great on-line deals & most offer free shipping.  Make yourself a cup of tea and shop in front of the computer.  

Now, time to get to work.  There are deals to discover!

Talkin' About Thursday

Today over at My Cup 2 Yours, the Talkin' about Thursday topic is good reads.  I have several favorites on my list, but really my very, very, very favorites are those classics that we read together with the kids.  over and over and over and over...
This book, along with the entire series of Wemmick stories, is an absolute, all time favorite.  Written by Max Lucado, it is a brilliantly written and illustrated book with an excellent message.

If you're curious, check out this reading with illustrations.  It's not great quality, but the story is complete.

To check out many other wonderful reads, head on over to My Cup 2 Yours.

wednesday without words

don't cross THAT off

*6weeks*6weeks*6weeks*6weeks*6weeks*6weeks*

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go. The 'no Christmas before Thanksgiving' idea is long gone. Christmas begins in October now. But with just 6 weeks to go, I think it is definitely beginning to "feel" a bit like Christmas.

So far, I have my Christmas card list updated with correct addresses and I've ordered my cards, which are waiting for me to pick up in Minnesota. I'm excited to see them. I have also established a Christmas budget which includes everything, not just gifts, to help eliminate some of the Christmas stress that can creep up due to financial strain.

Today I've been reminded about the reason that we buy Christmas cards and establish Christmas budgets and decide on Christmas presents...CHRIST. Without Christ, there is no reason for Christmas.

Although I think it can get carried away and become a point of judgment, I think it's important to make sure that we don't forget or eliminate Christ from Christmas. I will never forget the rule of my third grade teacher. We were told not to write Christmas as "x-mas" because she did not approve of us "crossing out the name of Christ in Christmas". (I wonder how far she would get in the American public school system in today's world?) But those words have stuck with me, two decades later. And I encourage you to "not cross the Christ out of Christmas" either. In whatever way you decide to do that...

As for our family...

• we are trying to spend our Christmas money at stores that do not eliminate the name of Christ during Christmas (ie promote Happy Holidays, etc)
• we have decided that we will say "Merry Christmas" instead of Happy Holidays
• our Christmas cards will be "Christmas" rather than "holiday" cards
• We will take some time to tell the story (again) to our children of the birth of Christ

These are just little ideas. You might have grander ideas. But whatever you do, I encourage you to remember what this celebration is about. The entire reason for the decorations, the travel, the gifts, the food, the family-time, the time off school is because a little over 2000 years ago, God became a man and lived a perfect life to die upon a cross to save every human who would believe. This season is not just a holiday, it is Christmas. Please don't "cross out" the name of Christ this season.

Just for the JOY of it - November 12, 2009

I was going through pictures and videos this past week and I came across this...

What joy there is in laughter!

Head over to Good, True & Beautiful for more joy!

GOV101 refresher

with all the hoopla about the healthcare reform bill passing in the house and heading over to the senate, i though i would refresh my memory on the process of a bill becoming law in the USA.  just passing the knowledge on...

Filling in the blanks

Time for catch-up!   Get it?  I know.  I am not funny. Not funny in the slightest. But I try.  really, really hard.
Anyway - thought I'd quick fill you in on the goings on at the Weed house.  And because I like a list (a bit more than the average), that's what you're getting today:

1. Because I still can't get over it, I mention again that I WON!  The Swiss police found that I was not the cause of the incident of April 30, 2009 and I should not have to deal with scooter-man any more.  *smile*
2. Appetizer party of Saturday night went off without a hitch.  Food was plentiful and, if I do say so myself, quite tasty.  Only flaw (yes, I have many but for the sake of space, I'll limit it to just one) I completely forgot to set out the desserts.  Seriously?  Who forgets dessert?  Moi!  However, after feeling awful about depriving my guests, I am happy to report that dessert is not commonly served at appetizer gatherings.  So, I'm playing this as I was following proper etiquette.  *wink*
3. My upstairs floors are disgusting, but I have missed the UPS guy the past two days.  I'm afraid that he will arrive and ring my doorbell while I have the vacuum running & I will miss him again.  And you only get 3 chances with the UPS guy before he takes it to the warehouse where I would have to go and retrieve it.  *gasp* So I will not vacuum until he arrives.  What if he never arrives???
4. I, for the first time EVER, made up a recipe for dinner last night and (drumroll, please) it was actually good.  Simply amazing to me and my family.  I will share the recipe for a small fee (just kidding).  I will post it later.  (teaser - this keeps you coming back to my blog *hee hee*)
5. I leave for Minnesota in 16 days, 19 hours (not that I'm counting).  Cannot wait for my annual day-after-Thanksgiving trip.  I so miss so many friends that the less than 80 hours on the ground hardly seem long enough.  But somehow it always works out and amazingly I always find time to get some shopping done too.  
6. Parent/teacher conferences have been going on this past week.  We have learned: (1) Alex is showing GREAT improvement in reading and spelling this year (thank you Barton Learning), (2) Ethan is a "sweet boy" with a "heart of gold", who is remarkably "bright" and (3) Ashley is very vocal, has a great "grasp on language" and likes to talk. a lot.  (we were shocked also *wink, wink*)  Funny though.  It really doesn't matter too much what the teachers say.  I think my kids are good kids who generally try their best and really that's all I can ask of them.
7. and finally, I am getting a bit sad.  It's getting close to another one of those times of year when people leave Geneva to head to new destinations.  And I have come to the conclusion that the longer you live here, the harder the good-byes become. 

That's it.  All the catchup is out of the little packet.