wittenlover

Yep same here - things are always nuts! I just looked this morning and it seems they have maps for Burton and Flint but not Grand Blanc or Clio. Hope they get the maps up for you soon! (By the way - well acquainted with Flint area - went to GMI!)

What kills me is I'm going to be out of my area for the first time in many a year on Thanksgiving morning. I am going to be hard-pressed to find a paper by the time I get back in town! AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! lol

In and around Ann Arbor, MI area

I use all my vacation going to NASCAR races (laugh if you want), so I take my chances with some of the BF stuff. Thankfully, I'm rarely after the stuff everybody else wants, so I don't actually have to camp out at BB or elsewhere. Might be changing this year, though. I'm due for an upgrade on my phone and that Samsung GS3 is looking mighty tempting...

Hey! A fellow Wolverine! I like the avi pic, rlm. I was able to bring up the map for my local store in Ypsi - is it possible not all the stores have maps yet? Maybe look again later? I don't usually brave the WM by me, so I'm not sure how it all works.

I have a basic idea but, like many, these scattered opening times are killing me. I do not intend to go out until Friday morning, so if what I want is gone from Target and Kohl's, oh well. Nothing I really *need* on my list this year, but want to do some recon on the $59 tree at Home Depot this weekend. If I like what I see, that will be my first stop Friday morning. From there, on to Meijer for just a couple small things, then on to (of all places) PetSmart for a new cat tree for my DF's (dear felines!). After that, my car has a date with the mechanics for an oil change and coolant flush and I have a date with a Salvation Army bell for an hour starting at noon.

Keep watching, pinkdecorator. As Brad mentioned above, many of GottaDeal's online tools and lists should be coming online this weekend. Keep your eye on the main page and here in the forums.

Wow Len. I guess I didn't do a very good job stating my point. Thanksgiving and Christmas are observed as *national* holidays. aka No banks, no mail, etc, much like other national holidays throughout the year. However, some services are still needed on those days such as police, fire, doctors, security, military, etc. Folks that go into those professions usually do so with the knowledge that they may well be giving up holidays at home with their families and, for that, I am very grateful to those willing to make the sacrifice. Sabbath days and other religious holidays (i.e. Easter) are *not* national holidays and do not need to be (nor would I expect them to be) observed as such.

I have zero issues with hospitals being open on a holiday, as they provide vital emergency services. I don't mind at least some gas stations being open, as some of us have to work right up until Thanksgiving and cannot travel to our families until Thanksgiving morning, with many needing to be back home that very night for work on Friday morning. Sometimes that travel = more than one full tank of gas. I see no point in opening retail stores on Thanksgiving, though. Unnecessary. Good to see employees are starting to push back on this issue, even if I don't think strikes on Black Friday are necessarily the smartest way to go about it. (Thinking angry customers vs striking employee clashes are HIGHLY possible and likely dangerous to all.)

niki7 - If you can, visit the stores ahead of time that you're thinking about BF shopping in. This will give you a chance to get more familiar with the layouts of the stores when it's not so chaotic. Other than that, I think the others have covered it quite well, so I'll just say best of luck to you and have fun!

For sure! One skein of floss doesn't last very long at all! I have boxes of the stuff in a full rainbow of colors! LOL

Good question. Been years since I shopped for the cross-stitching kits (but I do miss sitting there with my hoop and watching the picture appear as I worked)... I do think they go on sale occasionally but you might be better off using those X% off one item coupons that often appear in Michael's and JoAnn ads to get the best deal on them. Just my $0.02.

Oh wow. Yeah that sounds like your WM could descend into total chaos pretty quickly with a plan like that, tinkrbel. I don't even go anywhere near the WM stores by me. The people that go there around here are too dang crazy! lol

There was but Brad had to take it down. (Cmon Home Depot... Really??? ) Hopefully he can repost it soon.

Well, I still need to take a closer look at it, but I did like the $39 deal for the Shark steam mop. Been looking at those for a while now. Not a fan of the "classic" style mop, especially in small areas in my apartment - always messy and invariably resulting in wet carpet. Otherwise, I see they have the buy one get one for $1 shoe sale like always. I try to get my Skechers when they run that deal. Also saw some good deals on baking supplies in one of the three ads - $1.88 for butter is a steal these days and I bake a TON of cookies year round, but especially at Christmas time.

iPhone 4 is also free on Sprint with contract. 4S is $99. Not sure if they're running any particular specials other than GSIII for Sprint on BF.

Anxiously awaiting this Meijer ad... Cmon Meijer... Not nice to keep us BF'ers waiting!!!

I am totally going after that $59 tree! My last one finally bit the dust (12 years old, paid $50 for it at the time), time for a new one!

I've already started scoping out what's where in stores I know I'll be running in to... Most of my friends think I'm , but I don't care!

Ann Arbor, MI

Radio Shack, Acer laptop, 399.99 Target, Western Digital 1TB Desktop HD, 59.98 Target, 2 Home Fuzzy Blankets (yay warmth), 19.99 each Nickel left over for the red kettle (I'm with Bopeep on this one - great use for the spare change we have!) Total: 499.95

The first stores I hit open at 4, so I try to hit the sack by 10 Thanksgiving night and get a few hours in... I'm up at 2:30 and out the door by 3, being only 10 minutes from my first stop. I usually have my route planned (thanks to this site!!!) several days before Thanksgiving, so I just go through the ads really quickly to make sure they didn't change anything from the postings here.

Got started early on with BF, going out with my mom. Took a few years off once I was out on my own in college, then a friend of mine convinced me to go with her and her hubby and I caught the BF bug again... :) Now I'm out there every year at oh-dark-30, usually by myself, sometimes with friends, but always having a blast. I've even now hooked my best friend's little brother on the BF festivities!!!