How do you know Katy?

How do I know Katy?  Well, she just happens to be my own personal Black Friday Crazed sister.  So I bet I know her better than any of the random folk she befriended last night when she drug me out to Wal-Mart at 11 p.m. 

Now to be fair, I suggested the Wal-Mart frenzy because the line at Toys R Us was beyond ridiculous and I was claustrophobic just thinking about entering that building with all those people.  For those of you who don’t know, Wal-Mart will price match any competitor’s price on the same item for Black Friday, so why go anywhere else? 

Once I reminded my shopping savvy sister who always loves a good bargain (though why she’s not a coupon fanatic I don’t understand) about this little realized fact, we were in the Honda Pilot and on our way faster than those fat turkeys flying away from the farmer in Madelynne’s Thanksgiving song.

And it was on the end of the bike aisle between a case of Leggos and a pallet of scooters that I began to learn some interesting things about this sister of mine…

…she has never met a stranger.  Within two minutes she had reconnected with a worker from her childrens’ old daycare center, befriended another young mom staking out those Leggos, and talked the sweet lady guarding the scooters into saving two for her.

…she is not afraid.  There were some shoppers who were bigger, bolder, and scarier than her, but there was no one louder or more helpful.  You want to know if that Magna Doodle that’s $18 is on sale in the Target ad?  Don’t worry, Katy will let you know.  And if you guard her cart or stand in a line for her, she’ll run down the aisle and fetch you anything you want.  Then she’ll tell the manager what price you’ll be paying and show him the ad so all you have to do is whip out the VISA.

…she can operate within her parameters.  She may not like it.  Budgets and Katy have never been the best of friends, but if she’s got a certain amount than she’s going to stay up all night and be back in line at Wal-Mart at 5 a.m. because that’s when the portable DVD players went on sale just to make sure she’s stretched her dollar thin enough to make Christmas for her kids and someone else’s. 

Because truthfully she does have a heart of gold and that’s worth more than a price match on a pink Leapster anyday of the year.

P.S.  My favorite Black Friday deal?  A Shark Steamer Mop for $36 and my free toothpaste and M&Ms I scored at CVS.  How was your shopping adventure?