BeepBeepBeep. BeepBeepBeep. I was up at 5am Friday morning. Bravo grogilly trotted up the spiral staircase from the basement to my parents’ bedroom. “Are we going shopping?” I called up. “Yup we’re up.” My dad called back. We were on the road by 5:30am and walking in the doors of Home Depot minutes after they opened at 6am. We chose Home Depot for our first stop because they had the most items we were interested in and what we considered to be our best deals of the day. I was really interested in getting an artificial Christmas tree for $49. There were three types for that price and I really wanted the one with pinecones and berries, but sadly those that waited outside in line grabbed them up right away. I walked around the corner toward the Christmas section and there was one left. I took a moment to decide if I wanted it because it wasn’t the decorated one I was hoping for, but it only took a second for that little voice to say “Kelsey, it’s $49! Just buy the freaking tree!” We met dad in line. He was really upset that he didn’t get his hands on one of their shop vac’s. He’d even tried to bribe a guy who had two in his cart. At the check-out we were amazed that the shopping cart full of gifts we’d just purchased only cost as much as one at regular price.

After seeing the insanely full parking lots on our way in to town I figured that most of the items I was interested in would have already been cleared out, so we decided to head to Ace Hardware. On our way we reviewed the ad to discover they had shop vac’s for the same price as Home Depot and we were arriving half an hour before they opened. We laughed when we came around the corner to discover about 5 people waiting outside the doors. When they opened the store Dad hurried over and grabbed two off the stack and had me stand watch over them while he ran to grab the other tools on his list. Mom scored lighted reindeer for $10 each.

After one of the ladies in the Ace line said she’d just come from Shopko and that it was quite tame, we decided to give it a try. We stealthily zig-zagged to the back of the store where the games were, but I was let down when I saw the empty spaces where the sale games were supposed to be. Dad and I scanned the shelves over and over, and just as we were about to give up Mom looks behind us and says “Is that it?” There were several more directly behind us sitting on the top shelf. Sweet! We quickly cut through to the electronics where I grabbed $4.99 DVDs. Then Dad took a spot in the line while Mom and I darted to the other side of the store to look for Christmas earrings and to grab $.99 cotton gloves.

The final stop was Target. I was completely convinced that the $59.98 1TB & 500GB external hard drives would have disappeared first thing in the morning, but after asking a very helpful employee Mom and I were quickly standing in line with TWO 1TB EHD’s. The employee was all excited that someone was asking for them because they’d just found another box of them. He said they’d had to turn people away earlier because they’d thought they were all out. Score #2!!! Target was our longest line wait. At least 20 minutes. But we got a $10 gift card for spending over $100, so that made up for our wait.

After Target we were all exhasusted. We suddenly realized that we hadn’t eaten and we all had to potty. So we tried to decide on a place to have breakfast. Sadly we took Dad’s recommendation and went to Rustler’s Roost. I don’t even want to describe the slop they tried to pass off for food there. Dad and I pushed our plates away and eventually we all just walked out.

Totally turned off to the thought of breakfast, we had no idea what to do for two more hours (when I was going to meet an old friend for coffee). Trying to waste just a bit more time Dad decided to make one last stop at Best Buy. After seeing everyone lined up at the store on the news the night before I’d completely written off scoring one of the $64 wireless printers. But we went in just to see. We weaved through the lines, found the printer section and I got the last one!!!!! I couldn’t believe it. I was in total shock.

Mom and Dad added up all our items’ regular prices to an estimated total of $1400. We spent just a little over $400!!!!! Absolutely AMAZING!!!

The only thing that is a bit disappointing is that I’ve purchased all of my own Christmas gifts this year. I’ll be wrapping them all as well, so I know exactly what I’m getting.

I’ve been on a mission to find red/white/green Christmas lights for our house. After driving all around CDA last weekend I thought I’d finally found them at Lowe’s. I was so thrilled. Lo and behold when I opened them up today they cannot be strung together. I was so ticked. But Mom saved my back up lights and brought them all over this weekend. She and Dad helped me string them all up. It took us most of the afternoon. We were all soaked through by the time we finished. But it was well worth the work. The place looks just beautiful. I may not have gotten my red white and green lights, but red and white looks just wonderful. (Pictures to come later.) I’m so excited for Matt to see it when he comes home in 2 weeks.

There were a few scary moments; like having to put the ladder in the bed of Dad’s truck so we could reach the peak of the gable on the garage. But it was by far the best when we all started singing the Jack in the Box “Mini Sirloin Burger” song. Mom and I nearly peed.

My tax class is going really well. I’ve been so busy studying and trying to keep up with things around the house while Matt is away that I haven’t been online much. This week I only have to attend class on Monday and then we’re off for Thanksgiving. The following week is the final week of the tax prep class and then I have two weeks of proper procedures.

I’m planning on spending the week at my folks’ house if the weather is good enough to make the drive. My trek over there in last weekend’s snow was not fun so I’ve sworn off making the trip at night if it’s snowing.

Matt left early Monday morning. I’m back to cooking for one for a while.

My Tax Pro classes are going well. I’m surprised that I’m understanding and retaining things so well. I took my second quiz today and I was really scared that I wouldn’t know the answers, but I did just fine. I have to keep telling myself to take my time reading the questions. It’s always been a problem of mine to not fully read questions on tests and miss a critical word. I’ve really connected with one of the girls in the class. Her name is Bridget. She is my age, married and has two young kids. We found that we are very similar. Today we even found that our husbands are very alike. Her husband works on power lines. They travel all over the country for his job sometimes living in a hotel for a month and sometimes (like now) being able to settle in for a whole year. I’m really enjoying the class. I just hope that the actual job is as satisfying.

Bravo is almost adjusted to Matt being gone. The first day he cried. He searched high and low for Matt when I got home. He thought every little noise was Matt pulling in the driveway. Later when he realized it was past the time that Matt usually comes home he lay by the front door and whined. It made me really sad. He had to do one more search through the house before he would come to bed and then slept on Matt’s side almost the whole night. Today he still looked for Matt when I got home, but he settled down a lot faster and I think he’s stopped expecting him to come home. I know he still misses his daddy though. Matt gives him so much energy. That’s a nice way of saying that I’m out of shape and get totally winded when I try chasing him around the house.

It’s my first week of training and I’m sick. Go figure.

This week has been insanely busy and all I want to do is eat soup and lay around. But I have to learn tax law. I’m extremely grateful that the classes are every other day. It’s giving me some time to rest in between.

Bravo seems to be doing well with the adjustment. Our neighbors have been taking him an hour or so after I leave and dropping him off an hour or so before Matt and I get home. I’m hoping that by doing this it will help him get used to being alone and teach him that he’s not being abandoned. I was really happy to see him come trotting around the corner from the living room when we unlocked the door yesterday evening. It was breaking my heart to think that he would just be lying by the front door while we were away.

Matt is leaving for Virginia on Monday. I’m not looking forward to being alone for a month, but I’m glad that my classes will keep me busy. If I can get over this cold I plan on doing some Christmas shopping and decorating before he gets home. As a bit of an early gift I’m going to hire someone to install our garage door openers. It’ll be so much easier to push a button once the snow flies.

Our Halloween/Houswarming Party went really well.  Everyone showed up in a costome in the evening.  I was really impressed with the amout of trick-or-treaters we got.  This was the first year we’ve ever had kids come to our door.  It was so much fun seeing their costumes and giving out candy!

Posted in 24, Daily, Washington Tagged: At the Nichols' Estate, Attempts to be Young, Halloween, Our First House ]]> http://hisredhead.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/the-halloween-job/feed/ 0 hisredhead