wittenlover

So glad to see you may not need as many elves as you thought! I found this thread late (my lurking tendencies failed me) so I couldn't get involved this year, but I'll be looking for it next year! What fun!

I'm definitely late to the game, so to speak, but if you find you need another elf, count me in.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Rudolph's Shiny New Year Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July Little Drummer Boy Frosty the Snowman How The Grinch Stole Christmas Charlie Brown Christmas Olive-The Other Reindeer

I echo Princess7915's sentiments... I'll just say this from my heart in addition to her wonderful comments: After reading the posts in here, my most earnest wish for Christmas is that those who are seeking jobs would find them and that those who are struggling to even make ends meet, let alone buy any Christmas gifts, would be blessed in unexpected and amazing ways. Above all, I hope that each family is overflowing with love, no matter the situation. I ,too, am blessed with a good job, but I have several friends near and dear to me who are not so lucky right now. I cannot completely relate, but I can definitely feel the pain. It wrenches my heart daily. Stay strong.

I pledge to stick around! Been great getting more involved in the community this year.

Glad to hear some other folks got the code to work! 10% is 10%, after all. Hope all have had a successful BF today!

My list was short this year, but I got what I wanted. Arrived at my Target last night around 8:20 p.m. Line was long, but not as long as I thought it might be (maybe 300 when I joined the line), so I decided to go ahead and wait. Crowd was in a good mood (turkey after-effect? lol) and I chatted with a couple college gals in line behind me. Target employees walked the line, passed out store maps, answered questions, and handed out some mini Clif bars to snack on. Tickets for some of the electronics were passed out at 8:30. Doors opened promptly at 9 and the store was well organized with employees stationed at regular intervals throughout the areas to help folks find things and keep us on the right path. I easily found the Shark steam mop ($49) I went in for, then cut back up through the DVD area and found the first 2 seasons of The Walking Dead on DVD for my best friend ($8 Season 1, $20 Season 2). Browsed a little more, then headed for the checkout. Line was basically non-existent, was directed immediately to an open register. Total time in Target: 15 minutes, max. Intended to stay up and catch the midnight start of the 6PM.com sale, but passed out early. Woke up at 5 this morning with my alarm, realized I'd missed the sale start, immediately went to the website to check out what was still available. I was on the hunt for some new Skechers and found 2 pairs. One was $30, other was $42, used the 10% off code successfully, checked out for $64.80. Left home a bit after 6 to head to PetSmart. Feline furkids needed a new kitty tree. Small crowd (about 8 of us) was assembled with 5 minutes to go before 7 a.m. opening. When the doors opened, we all mock-rushed the door, having a little fun with the employees, who got a kick out of our "stampede". Good times! Got the kitty tree I wanted ($64) and a pail of the ever-necessary cat litter ($8.99/35 lbs), considered some kitty holiday wear (thought better of it - I like my face not clawed off! LOL), and checked right out. So... About $225 later, I am DONE! Only thing left on my list for today is an hour-long shift ringing the Salvation Army bell at noon. If you're in the Ann Arbor/Ypsi area, stop by and see me at the KMart on Washtenaw! Bring money!

I just used that code successfully & got 2 pairs of Skechers for a total of just under $65 bucks!

I was excited about the Lord of the Rings trilogy till I looked and saw it's bluray... No bluray player in my house... *sigh* lol

Thanks for the info! I'm looking into an iPhone 5 myself and definitely will need a case to protect it from my clutzy self!

Many MANY thanks to all those that make this site such a fun and informative place to be as we approach BF! Especially thankful this year as I will be out of town on Thanksgiving and would not have the ads for my stores without you!!! I always come here for the best info and tell all my friends to do likewise. I've been mostly a lurker for the last several years, but have enjoyed interacting more with this great community this year. Lots of fun people ready, willing, and able to help each other out. Now let's get out there, have fun, and shop till we drop!

I wish, Hansie. I know none of my neighbors. lol Thankful I can look at the ads online - just really like having the actual hard copies in hand! I did get lucky in that a couple of stores put their BF ads in with the weekly ads I get in my mail. At least I have a couple of the "real things"!

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