Sleep deprivation is the true meaning behind Black Friday.

To be completely honest, I've never been a fan of Thanksgiving. With my family, it was usually awkward because someone would not be talking to someone else, or my mom would make some comment about the food I took, or some fight would break out. Everyone would eat as much turkey as possible so we could pass out as soon as we could and escape familial obligations.

This year, we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner with our dentist and his family. He's a fantastic individual with a family to match, and was appalled when he heard about our lack of turkey plans for this allegedly fantastic holiday. So come Thursday morning, we made a couple loaves of the famous Brigman chocolate chip pumpkin bread and headed over to Draper, UT to spend the day at our dentist's mother's house with two of his siblings and all of their spouses and corresponding offspring. I anticipated feeling very shy and awkward the whole time and wasn't really all that excited about another Thanksgiving.

IT WAS THE BEST THANKSGIVING. EVER.

You know, it makes a huge difference when you're spending the holiday with emotionally well adjusted individuals that are not therapy-phobic. There was a ton of good conversation, little Jack made me a little baby-hungry because of his freakish adorableness factor, and our dentist's mom made the best freaking jello I've ever had in my life (seriously). Though I made a horrific discovery: pumpkin pie? Not as fantastic after experiencing chocolate chip pumpkin bread. Ah, well.

When it was time to leave, I was actually genuinely sad we had to go. But duty called! It was approaching 6:30, and we needed to make sure to get a good spot outside of Best Buy.

Yes, that's right. We camped out. Again.

For those of you who are unaware, last year we camped out in front of Circuit City for the heck of it. People were huddled up in blankets and in tents to get big screen TVs, laptops, cameras, and we were just interested in getting some cheap DVDs (three dollar iRobot? HOLLA!). We received a few hilarious shocked expressions when we told people what we were there for.

This year was different in a few aspects. For one, we were actually after stuff. I had my eye on a fantastic Eureka vacuum that is pet specific with all the beautiful attachments to get pet hair off of furniture. I was laughed at when we were at Thanksgiving and I told them what I was after, but I'm okay with that. I'm also a total teeny bopper and was excited to get Beyonce's new cd for $8. Our plan after hitting Best Buy was to go to Target to get Juno and 27 Dresses for $6 each, and The Holiday for $4. Once my boss heard my plans, she gave me a shopping list. What's better than spending the night on the sidewalk to get sweet deals? Getting even better deals on more expensive stuff with money that's not yours. She was after a blu-ray DVD player, a Nintendo DS Mario edition, and the Sex and the City movie. Wednesday night we went by the store to scope out the layout so we'd be more efficient in going after things, and there were people camping. On Wednesday. As in, the day before Thanksgiving.

Now, that's hardcore.

This year was also different in our preparation. Last year was kind of a whim decision to sleep in the freezing cold on concrete, but this year we were determined not to become human popsicles. We took our very nice sleeping bags that were bought with Black Friday in mind, and they were totally worth it (mmm, warmth). The other biggest difference this year was that given my inherent inability to produce body heat (yay lack of circulation), we brought Peli. She was my personal furnace all snuggled up in my sleeping bag, and spent our shopping time snuggled up in a pile of blankets in our backseat.

At around 2 a.m. this year, people started packing up their tents. This meant we had to move, which is something we learned last year. When people break down their tents, large gaps are made (typically, people standing take up less room than a tent), and this is when people rush in to cut (the cardinal sin of Black Friday that is not treated kindly). So from 2 a.m. until 5 a.m., when the doors opened, we were standing. In the freezing cold. There was lots of dancing on my part to keep warm.

Around 3:15, Best Buy staff came out to hand out tickets for their big items. We weren't sure anything we were getting constituted a "big item", so we had already planned our attack on the store. Since starting our campout, we decided to take advantage of the great deal on the Garmin GPS they had in addition to our vacuum (which is a freaking SWEET vacuum, don't kid yourself). Our plan was to have Bobby go after the Blu-ray and then grab the GPS. I was going up the other side of the store to grab the vacuum and the Nintendo DS, and then we would reconvene to get the movies and CD. Hot freaking dang, though, we were close enough to the front of the line that we got tickets for both the Blu-ray AND the DS, which meant we didn't even have to stress out about it. As the guy was giving us the tickets, he handed us a map, and when I noticed they didn't have the appliances labeled on said map, I asked if the vacuums were in the same place. He looked at me like I was a freak.

And I'm okay with that. Because it's a freaking sweet vacuum.

While the tickets were being handed out, there was a blonde lady who thought she could get away with sneaking up twenty feet in the line to try to get a laptop ticket. Black Friday crowds, especially the Best Buy variety (there was a cop car surveying the front of the line for a reason) do not take kindly to such behavior. A lot of yelling ensued, and the staff were notified (several times) that the lady was not in her appropriate spot, and she did not get her ticket. Molly Sunshine (as I called her) was not pleased and spent the rest of the time in line pulling staff aside to complain and demand free stuff. Another gal came up from further in back and started protesting the ticket process, stating that it was unfair for the staff to hand out tickets for one of the laptops to the front of the line, and then give the front of the line equal access to the other laptop on sale ticket. Whether that was okay or not, this lady seemed determined to start some sort of protest (/riot) and took the same approach as Molly Sunshine, demanding free merchandise to compensate for her long wait. When she was turned down, she got into her car and left 25 minutes before the store opened.

5 a.m. Insanity.

There was the usual pack of people hanging out right outside of the front door that had just arrived that attempted to get in when the rush began. I wasn't too concerned, because I had my eyes on the prize: The Vacuum.

If you are an employee at one of these stores and happen to be working the morning of Black Friday, I am so sorry. It must be absolutely terrifying (and an employee at a Wal-Mart in NY died this morning because of the rush). However, while I sympathize with what you have to endure, it makes me want to claw your eyes out when you insist that I have to get into the laptop line to get my vacuum.

There were very cranky people in the laptop line.

Imagine my dismay when I realized that standing directly in front of me was Molly Sunshine. A few spots in front of her was a guy that had six lap top tickets. He was there planning to pick up the laptops for himself and for all of his friends that camped with him while they got the other stuff they were in line for. Molly Sunshine saw the abundance of tickets, and threw a hissyfit comparable to a tantrum some of my emotionally stunted children clients throw. While I was close to the front of the line, the line was not moving at all due to some complication with the first group of people getting their computers. Bobby called to tell me he got all the stuff he was after and asked what was taking so long. I explained, refraining from cursing Molly Sunshine's (pseudo-) name for making the ten minutes I was standing there absolutely horrific. The guy with all the tickets was actually a very nice guy, and had started the conversation with Molly Sunshine with the (obvious) intent to give her a ticket after asking her why she wanted a laptop, but when she continued to bite his head off, he explained that he was planning to give her one but her "attitude" made him change his mind (and I couldn't blame him). That escalated everything, so I was incredibly grateful when Bobby called and told me to get out of line because he ran in and grabbed the vacuum after they removed the barricade blocking them.

I ran out, and Bobby had the vacuum, the CD, and a couple of Garmin GPS devices. He couldn't decide which one to get, and after consulting with the employees, we went with the more expensive one (and hoo boy, I'm SO glad we did!). While we're struggling a little financially, the GPS was worth getting simply because Bobby doesn't want to drive the whole 16 hours back to Kansas for Christmas, and after the Wyoming incident, he wasn't completely sure he had any other option (patooey!). Complete and utter lack of a sense of direction? No longer a problem.

We got in line to pay, when Bobby started to whine a little bit. He had gotten a ticket for my Christmas present after he got into the store, and was conflicted because he knew I would see it and my present wouldn't be a surprise. Instead of trying to be sneaky, I just got my present today. FREAKING BRAND SPANKING NEW ORANGE IPOD NANO! I don't think I've owned any electronic device as nice. I've named it Barack (Barack out with your hawk out!).

So we got out of Best Buy with EVERYTHING we were after, and had to chuckle at the large stack of giant TVs that were going untouched (yay for a failing economy!). We headed over to Target and got there just as they were letting people in at six, and waited until the line was almost gone before heading in. I was worried that meant we had minimal chance of getting our super cheap DVDs, but they had about a million (no. exaggeration.), so we got our Juno, 27 Dresses, and The Holiday. We endured some more funny looks as we got into line with our few meager items, but we were too deliriously sleep deprived to care, and with all of my goodies, who was I to complain?

Yay for going to bed at 8 a.m. I woke up at noon to get the Ratatouille Bobby downloaded for me to put on my iPod, and am quite pleased with my spoiling. Working at the domestic violence shelter has really helped me relax a little bit with getting things for me. This holiday was typically spent focusing on what to get other people, and I'm totally and utterly content with getting myself some shiny toys.

Black Friday? One of the most fantastic days of the year.

Today also commemorates the third anniversary of the passing of Brianna Reed, a friend from high school show choir and musicals. You're a beautiful gal, Miss Brianna, and your beauty continues to decorate my heart even with your premature departure. See you soon, lady.