The Lengths to Which We'll Go, aka My Thanksgiving

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BeesKnees

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I've debated whether to post this and finally decided, why not? It's a laugh on me so it's mine to share with those who would understand.

My intro to soapmaking was HP so it's currently the method with which I am most familiar and comfortable. Standing around watching the soap cook, though, is a drag so I felt ready to have a few crockpots running at the same time and saw a big box store's Black Friday ad listing crockpots at a very good price. The online sale was to start at 12:01 am EST Thursday morning, allowing me to continue avoiding Black Friday sales crowds, so I stayed up Wednesday night and got my online account set up and my shopping cart ready in plenty of time. In case the sale started early I was checking the site constantly by 11 pm EST. At 11:42 pm I saw the sale was live but already the crockpots were sold out. Oh darn! For the next few hours I kept refreshing the page to see if they re-stocked and also checked out other store ads, looking for a comparable price. No go all around. Drats! Foiled!

So I did something I'm not proud of. :twisted: The Black Friday sale was to start at 6 PM Thursday at the store. I thought that meant the store opened at 6 PM but SIL told me it opened at 3 PM so my husband and I went to the store more than an hour before the sale was to start. Yes, I went to a retail store on Thanksgiving. The depths to which I would sink for my soapmaking addiction......

We were there early enough that we were able to stand right next to the crockpots. It helped that no one else seemed too interested in the crockpots. All the pallets were shrink-wrapped so no one could grab anything early. As the time grew closer to 6 pm, attitudes were getting pretty tense, people started telling stories of previous Black Friday shopping frenzies and how crazy the crowds got, they started getting ready to grab and defend their desired items, saying, "It's about to get ugly." I was regretting having brought a handbag instead of something that could let me shop hands-free and started trying to decide if I really wanted the crockpots that badly. Oh yes, I did want them that badly! I'd been there over an hour already, I wasn't leaving without some crockpots.

At 6 pm the shrink-wrap ripping began with a frenzy. Thankfully hubby and I still seemed to be the only ones interested in the crockpots so we had no problem getting the number I wanted, which shall remain unspecified.* I may have gotten caught up in the frenzy and overshot that number a little, although in my defense I did buy a crockpot for our food usage and one for MIL for her birthday as well as the ones for soapmaking. Fortunately that was the only item we were there to purchase so we headed for the checkout lanes and were able to be second in our checkout line.

Looking around as I raced the buggy to the checkout area, I was glad we only wanted the one item. It was pretty nutso in the shopping aisles. We were able to exit the store in good time and were hauling for the car when some guy stopped us. I tensed, thinking we were going to be mugged or something, but he only wanted our buggy. My husband reminded me we only had crockpots so it wasn't like we had a high-dollar electronics item to be resold, LOL. Hey, I had felt like we had a haul so why wouldn't someone else? :mrgreen:

We already had a full car so I may or may not have had to carry a crockpot in my lap on the way back to the in-laws' to finish Thanksgiving day. Fortunately if I did have to carry one in my lap it was the one for MIL's birthday gift so I was able to give it to SIL to hide and didn't have to ride home with it in my lap.

The lengths to which we'll go.... Oh yes, I think I'm hooked on soapmaking!
 
Bees, I love your story-telling style. It gave me a laugh. I think we've all done some crazy things when it comes to vocations we are passionate about.
 
That is hardcore dedication! You couldn't pay me to shop retail on Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday unless we're talking online shopping. I did take advantage of some online Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals but really tried to be a good girl. My big splurge was FOs from FragranceBuddy and surfactants from Chemistry Connection.
 
Great story! I could just picture it, you ready to throw yourself over the mountain of crock pots to get your unspecified amount, your hubby with his dukes up, ready to clobber anyone trying to get in the way of your unspecified amount.... Love it! (I'm going to guess you bought an even dozen :twisted:)

This year was the first time EVER I went Black Friday shopping. I got a few good deals but nothing worthy of shouting from the rooftop. I laughingly invited my hubby to ride along and his exact words were "You couldn't pay me enough to get me in any store today. (grumble, grumble) Not even a hunting supply store." :crazy:
 
You are one brave woman! :lol: I don't think there's a big enough deal in the world that could ever make me want to go out shopping on Black Friday or on Thanksgiving. It's too much of a zoo out there. I'm a chicken- I don't even like to drive anywhere on Black Friday, never mind stopping in anywhere to shop- too many crazy, desperate drivers hoping to beat everyone else to the next sale. I like to stay hunkered down in the safety of my house until it's all over. lol


IrishLass :)
 
I'm going to guess - 6. :)

I am going to guess way more than 6, there were so many that they did not fit in the trunk or back seat. She had at least one on her lap.

My Black Friday was spent working. The only shopping I did was online. I ended up buying several things on Cyber Monday, including a Kindle Fire 8 tablet for $59.99!!! Now my hubby can inherit my Paperwhite (that costs way more, why???) I did buy FOs from WSP on Monday also.
 
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Love your story, BeesKnees. Kudos for Mr. BeesKnees, for his physical and moral support.

I have yet to go out shopping on a day like that.

My husband went shopping at Best Buy one year on Black Friday. I thought he was crazy and there was no way I was willing to join him. He does not seem to have been tempted by the notion since then, although he did suggest it this year if I still wanted to swith to an iPhone, but I said No. Then he checked our service provider and said the savings advertised was only $10 less so not worth the trouble anyway. Good.

If you don't write for a living, my dear, you really should explore that option. You write so well. You capture your reader's attention and keep us engaged. A rare natural talent. I am glad you are here so I can enjoy your stories. Keep 'em coming.
 
Dang! In my world when someone puts an asterisk next to a word, it means there will be more explanation in a footnote. I am dying for more clues about how many you bought!!

That was supposed to be the "silent" emoticon, not an asterisk. I wouldn't want you to die, though, so I'll think about clues. :think:

Love this. And also that your husband was willing to go with you.
It was indeed a sacrifice on his part but he was a good sport about it. He dislikes shopping but it probably helped make him happier about it that it meant we got away from some seriously obnoxious PD behavior for a while. That behavior was making going Thanksgiving day early Black Friday shopping look like the saner alternative. :? Yes, I said it, I called a spade a spade.

I'm going to guess - 6. :)
Too low. Stopping there would have meant only that the shopping cart was full. There was still room on the top for another layer of boxes! lol

I am going to guess way more than 6, there were so many that they did not fit in the trunk or back seat. She had at least one on her lap.
Susie, what I didn't include because it was too much detail was that we had our 2 60-lb dogs with us so the back seat was quite full from them and their accoutrements were in the trunk. We didn't want to leave them at the in-laws' with the personality-disordered individual to mess with them or lie about them. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes.

Okay, I'll spill--we bought 9 crockpots, 1 for us for food and 1 for MIL's birthday so that left 7 for soaping. Nine of those boxes was a full layer of boxes over the shopping cart rim +1 so I carried the 9th to prevent it from sliding and falling off the cart. Granted, the cords on them are short--maybe 2 feet/.6 meters--but at just under $10 each it was still a very good deal. I've already used about half of them. :)
 
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Great story! I could just picture it, you ready to throw yourself over the mountain of crock pots to get your unspecified amount, your hubby with his dukes up, ready to clobber anyone trying to get in the way of your unspecified amount.... Love it! (I'm going to guess you bought an even dozen :twisted:)

This year was the first time EVER I went Black Friday shopping. I got a few good deals but nothing worthy of shouting from the rooftop. I laughingly invited my hubby to ride along and his exact words were "You couldn't pay me enough to get me in any store today. (grumble, grumble) Not even a hunting supply store." :crazy:

Well....I hadn't mentioned this but since you brought it up......When we arrived, we saw people already standing around the items they wanted, leaning against the pallets. So yes, I actually was waiting until 6 pm draped over the shrink-wrapped mound of crock pots, lol, daring someone to reach past me and lose a limb.

I'm with your hubby on that. Normally I would not have even considered going within a mile of Black Friday shopping. But the soaping addiction and those $10 crockpots were apparently my tipping point. That it was going to get us out of the house and away from the insanity was just a happy bonus! LOL

Susie, I can't wait to hear how you like the Kindle Fire 8! I eyed them but have spent so much on soaping in the past month I didn't want to buy anything else right now.

IrishLass, that is exactly how I feel, which is why I titled the thread "The Lengths to Which We'll Go", LOL. Normally I would have only had nightmares about being within a mile of BF shopping. But no, for the lure of crockpots so I could make more HP soap I faced my great dislike of crowds and frenzied people and boldly entered the fray. Just a month past a soapmaking class and I am that hooked! LOL

What next?? Just how low will I go for the promise of making just one more batch and trying out one new fragrance???? LOL
 
Errrr nooo it's an *
:)


Hrm, and I was seriously considering two of the 8qts....settled for one...might need another LOL


Love your writing style!
 
Okay, I'll spill--we bought 9 crockpots, 1 for us for food and 1 for MIL's birthday so that left 7 for soaping.

:clap::clap::clap: That's a beautiful number! Where do you put them? That would be problematic for me, both for storage and counter space while I'm soaping. I am also wondering what you're using for molds when you have that many going -- several smaller molds or a couple big ones?
 
:clap::clap::clap: That's a beautiful number! Where do you put them? That would be problematic for me, both for storage and counter space while I'm soaping. I am also wondering what you're using for molds when you have that many going -- several smaller molds or a couple big ones?

CaraBou, my work space is in an outdoor building currently on 1/2 a sheet of plywood on 2 sawhorses. Because I am currently limited by the size of my power strip/extension cord combo to 4 outlets, I run 3 crockpots side by side and use the 4th outlet on the strip for the hand blender. I'm keeping an eye out for used cabinets and countertops (such as someone redoing their kitchen so it would already be together) and would like to put them on wheels so I can roll my work table around in the building. Roll it into better light, roll it away from the door if winds are too strong, roll it toward the door to catch a breeze in the summer, etc. A rolling shelf unit holds my supplies.

I have a number of silicone loaf molds on hand. I have a number of other types of molds (such as milk cartons, etc) for trying CP but so far have been doing HP for Christmas gifts so I can get those out of the way before trying CP.
 
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