The Ritual.

I am a messy person. I regularly leave clothes on the floor and dishes in the sink. I forget to put my shoes away. I clean my bathroom only when I'm expecting company. However, I'm very organized about certain things. Take, for example, my Black Friday methodology:

I usually start reviewing store ads a few days before Thanksgiving on sites like Blackfriday.info. I mentally note things that look appealing. If there's a fabulous deal that I can't pass up, then I place it into that year's Black Friday word document on my computer.

On Thanksgiving, I prefer to get both a local (Ocala) paper and an Orlando paper. This is only excessive if you don't want to see ads for stores like Ikea and Bass Pro, which we do not have in Ocala. Personally, I find the Orlando advertisements to be a crucial supplement.

I then organize them into department store advertisements, and specialty store advertisements. I read through the department store ads first. I usually start with Kohls, then Target, then mall stores. I keep a running list of items that peak my interest and the amount that particular store charges for it. As I work through the advertisements, if I find the same item at a lower price then I add it to the list for the new store, and remove it from the prior store's list. By the time I finish the department stores I usually have a decent list in my word doc.

Next, I look through the specialty stores: Bass Pro. Radio Shack. Toys R Us. PetSmart. Staples. Some years they are veritable gold mines. Some years their ads all get added to the recycling without a second glance.

At this point I usually have lengthy list of possible items. I then prioritize them by necessity. Is it more crucial to get a DVD for $3.99, or a sweater for $8.00? Is the mirror better than the picture frame? Which stores open earliest? Sometimes it works out well- the most important store opens first. This is both a victory and a bonus, since that almost never happens.

I also have to decide which town to shop in. Is there something available in Orlando that justifies the gas and tolls to get there? Do I have time to drive there?

This year, my list was terribly short, but I still went to Orlando. I had the lovely opportunity to do Black Friday with one of my dear friends from law school. (Her husband was happy to sit through New Moon Thursday evening when I arrived, but was not about to go shopping in the cold and dark a few hours later). This year we tried to add something new to our ritual: Outlets.

For those of you unfamiliar with this ridiculousness, please let me share. At midnight, the outlets in Orlando opened with reportedly absurd sales. I say "reportedly" because we never actually made it to the stores. Keri and I did make it to the parking lots- after insane traffic we finally got to the outlets. However, from 12:05 am to 1:45 am we simply circled the lot looking for a spot. This was unsuccessful. We returned home unsatisfied, but our wallets gave a sigh of relief. We went out again at the entirely civilized hour of 8:00am, but only to the mall around the corner. We managed to score some great deals and avoid the mania altogether.

Next year I can't decide if we should take the outlets more seriously, and arrive at 10:00 pm to get parking (Note that most of the people we saw were in pajamas. I'm not sure what to think about that), or if we should sleep till 3:00am and then tackle the mall hoards head-on per our usual method.

In the mean time, I will continue to leave my clothes on the floor and my shoes in the living room. I can only deal with so much organization in my life.