Merry Sickness

I had fun plans for the holidays, I really did. But of course something always seems to derail the best made ones so the past few days have been a little out of sync. I'm glad I did a post on Tuesday morning because that was back when everything was on track and I only had a few last minute things to do. Later that day I had to get photos from Walgreens (done) and something to put them in as a gift from the kids to Grandma (not done) so it was decided that hubby would take the two older kids with him and drop them off and help with the kids Tae Kwan Do class while I ran over to Target for the last minute gift. On the way there he called and asked if I could get something for his grandma too--OK, no problem. Thankfully there is a very nice Christian bookstore right behind Target so I was able to swing by there and pick up a nice book. Target of course was crammed with people and the parking lot full so I had to park out in the far regions and of course it was cold as you know what. I bundled poor Andrew up and off we headed. As I was cruising along attempting to find the perfect photo album Andrew started fussing. So close, just a few more minutes and I could give him the crackers I had in the cart and off we would go away from the loud noisy crowded place. All of the sudden the poor kid threw up all over himself in the middle of the store. YUCK! I apologised to the nice employee who just happened to be right there and said that she needed to call a clean-up crew out for the mess and got over to the bathrooms ASAP to attempt to clean up the mess--no luck. A very nice good Samaritan (AKA Angel of Mercy) volunteered to watch Andrew for a few minutes so I could bring the van up front and load him there instead of carrying his smelly soaking self out into the frigid night air. No, I didn't have the diaper bag with me, I wasn't planning on having a major clothing emergency and Andrew was too disgusting and fussy to go and buy a new outfit to put on and the lines were long enough that I would be standing there for quite awhile anyway. After a brief stop over (5 min detour) to let hubby know what was going on I headed back home and got Andrew cleaned up. It was a long night. I think we managed to get to bed around two but Andrew threw up again an hour later so after cleaning that up hubby took chair duty for a few hours until I got the fun around 6 or so when I was awakened by Carolyn throwing up in the bathroom. Yes, another Christmas Eve spent with a sick child. I do have to say I would rather spend it with walking pneumonia than stomach flu but I didn't get much of a choice. Instead of spending a nice fun day preparing for Christmas and having lasagna for supper followed by a Christmas light tour of the greater Sioux Falls area it was naps and soup for supper followed by You Tube videos of Christmas houses. Thankfully everyone woke up happy and refreshed the next morning. The kids at least. Hubby and I were up until the wee hours of the morning trying to get excited kids to go to bed and fall asleep and then I still had to wrap their gifts. Christmas Day was wonderful. The weather was great and we headed down to Yankton for the Schwarz Family celebration. My mother in law moved this past year and her new house has so much more room. It was great to be able to have a nice dinner without having to eat in two different rooms and open gifts without practically sitting on each other's laps. I must have the weirdest kids in the world because they were so excited to get clothes as gifts. They did get a few toys from Santa but there were quite a few books and clothes too. They really don't need more toys. I got an awesome pair of shoes from the kids..my new Tae Kwan Do uniform wasn't in yet so I got shoes. The coat I bought for the loving husband didn't quite fit so I need to send it back but he did enjoy the other gifts he got from the kids. OK, I confess, Jim wanted specific shooting stuff so all I had to do was go to the check out part of the website he brought up and buy the items he had picked out so that was pretty easy. By the time we got home that night I was not feeling all that well. I really hoped it was too much Christmas food but by early the next morning it was very obvious that Andrew and Carolyn had given me their Christmas bug. So much for those great after holiday sales. After spending much of the day on the couch or in the bathroom I was feeling better just in time to go to bed for the evening. I did notice that Carolyn was again not feeling very good and had a fever so I gave her Motrin and sent her off to bed. I also figured out that the cat probably had a bladder infection based on the smelly wet blankets I found downstairs so I made a mental note to call the vet first thing in the morning. My morning then started with me taking the cat over to the vet's office to drop her off. The vet had several other emergencies that morning so they told me to bring the cat in and the vet would look at her when she had time. Carolyn woke up still not feeling well and still had a fever so Jim took Matthew and Andrew and went and worked out and I stayed home and tried to get some laundry and cleaning done. I also had to pick the cat up. She wouldn't give a sample so they just gave me antibiotics and told me to give to the cat for the next week. By afternoon Carolyn still had a fever over 101 and was pretty much a lump so I took her over to Urgent Care to make sure she didn't have Strep or any other illness. Now that she is older she is more help when it comes to asking medical questions. She can answer yes or no and point to places that hurt. The strep test came back negative so they did a blood and urine. The tech was a pro and they only needed to do a finger prick so it wasn't too traumatic. For the potty sample they put a container in the toilet under the seat so all she had to do was pee. Much simpler than trying to get a 4 year old to go in that itty bitty cup they use . The verdict was a possible bladder infection (Gee sounds familiar doesn't it?) and I got antibiotics. The funny thing is that both Carolyn and Trina are on the same antibiotic. I have both containers in the fridge. There is enough of a difference between the two that I shouldn't get things mixed up--I hope. I'm supposed to call the doctor's office on Monday morning to get final results on the culture tests they did to make sure that Carolyn needs to be on antibiotics and if the one she is on is the right one for her. I'm hoping that by Monday we are all healthy. I'm getting sick of illness.

Busy Busy Busy

Wow, only a few more days till Christmas. I've wanted to post but it is just so hard to get a few minutes away from it all to write. I'm soooo glad I did 99% of my shopping last month as I am not feeling the "oh my gosh I've got to get to the mall ASAP and what happened to my list of gifts to buy??" What have I been doing these past two weeks? Baking and more baking. A few weeks ago my MOPS group had a goodie exchange so I spent some time making people puppy chow and oatmeal scotchie bars. I got some great stuff in exchange and that did not last too long in our household. With two children in school it becomes common to give out gifts to those who are such a big part of their education like the teachers and bus drivers. Last year I gave coffee and Casey's gift cards. This year I had a few more people on that list so I needed something more budget friendly so back to the oven I went. I do like to give out puppy chow as a nice gift and have done so to teachers in past years but with peanut allergies so common, especially in Matthew's class I decided to forgo the puppy chow in favor of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. The really nice thing about baking in the winter is that Mother Nature provides you with the perfect blast cooler to chill the cookies when they first come out of the oven. One Saturday it was very below zero with really really cold wind chill so all I did was take my pan out of the oven, put it on the chair I had sitting outside my patio door and wait five minutes or so. Presto--perfectly cooled cookies and a cold pan to make more. I got everything bagged and ready for the next week, happy that I was done with that set of gifts. The funny thing about gift giving is that all of the sudden people pop up on the list that you have totally forgotten about or did not expect to add. After a few days of handing our bags of cookies it became quite apparent that I would not have enough for everyone on the list. Last year I tried to give our mailman a gift card and we got it back with a very nice note saying he was not allowed to accept monetary gifts so I had planned to save him a bag but quickly realized that another cookie baking session was needed. I also had to make something for hubby to take to work for all his coworkers and boss. Between bouts of baking there was the snow shoveling. Luckily we did not get the massive amounts that other places got so I only had to shovel eight or nine inches total. Why was I doing the shoveling? Because the snow kept falling during times when the loving husband was not at home. Last Friday he borrowed my van and did not move his car into the garage the night before so when it did snow everything was covered and I had to go out and shovel the driveway and clean the car off due to Andrew having an appointment for his ear check. I wasn't too happy with him until later that night when he came home and the van had been equipped with a brand new stereo system that was MP3 compatible. I love my Christmas gift. Driving around looking at lights just got a whole lot better. We were supposed to drive halfway across the state this past weekend to meet my parents for an early Christmas but there was a blizzard warning out for almost all of the state plus it was going to be really really cold out with the double digit below zero wind chills so it has been rescheduled to next week. I hope the weather cooperates. Yesterday I finished up my stocking stuffer trip to the grocery store. It is amazing how easy it is to buy items for the stockings without the kids even realizing it. They helped pick out the apples and oranges and selected the candy too. I had this totally paranoid thought that I would forget to buy the last minute stuff and all the stores would be closed on Wednesday and the kids would only have a small toy in the socks. I also got our of lasagna (thank you Stouffer's) for Christmas Eve dinner. I need to make cookies for Santa so the oven will be warm. Santa doesn't like the store bought kind or the stuff that comes out of a refrigerated package so this year he'll get peanut butter. I'm hoping that they will look better than last year's chocolate chip disaster. I still need to wrap all the gifts and my Christmas letter is written but the loving husband still needs to finish revising and reformatting it. I'm hoping to get those out tomorrow--so much for Christmas cards on time. I will try to write once more before the big holiday but if I don't get to it--Merry Christmas everyone.

Superworms

OK, I gotta give this one to the loving husband... Tonight we were watching the 10 pm news and there was a story about Sioux Falls running out of cemetery space in the next 20 years. Hubby comments that there is a solution to the problem. I jokingly ask "what, bury bodies on top of each other?" 'No", he replies and then starts to tell me that over in China and India they have developed a type of super worm that they dump in with the body. After a few years there is basically nothing left but a hole in the ground. My brain at this point is going Wait, that's not very nice, what would the family members think? I'm also getting that tingling BS sensation because this does sound a little odd. I mean how would you place a grave marker if in a few years another person would be occupying that spot? Of course China and India do have very large populations so maybe this is true, and there are bugs that eat decaying flesh. A few minutes later hubby finished his tale by telling me that the worm has a specific marker..a Big S on its chest. Yes, he got me.

Six Things That Make Me Happy

I've been tagged by my friend Jackie to list six things that make me happy so here goes....

1. Chocolate Just writing the word makes me want to go upstairs and get some. This is the most perfect food ever created. It comes in a variety of flavors from milk to dark and you can smell it, eat it, drink, it, wear it, bathe in it, use it as a decoration, the list goes on and on. I of course use it as a cheap alternative to Prozac. I also use it as a bribe and reward for good behavior. Oh, yeah I also let the kids eat some too.

2. Hugs There is just something so warm and wonderful when I pick Andrew up from the crib in the morning or after a nap and he wraps his little arms around my neck and hugs away. This of course is the child who thinks that people were created just to give him a warm lap to sit in and an excuse to snuggle up with a sippy cup of milk. Carolyn is more reserved in her hugs but loves to sit on your lap and let you read her a book. Matthew lives for the hug. Forget the food rewards, just tell him he gets a big hug and he is willing and able to complete any task. Tell him he was good and give him the hug and his day is complete. Then there is the morning husband hug. Every morning before leaving for work hubby gives me a combination back rub hug and kiss. What a great way to start the day.

3. Completing a task There is something so satisfying about actually finishing a job. My days as a stay at home mom mean that I'm in an endless loop of cooking and cleaning from morning to night. Feed the kids only to have to do it again, sweep the floor only to have someone dump a box of cereal out, do loads of laundry over and over...you get the picture. It is very hard to start a task and finish it. Usually I'm in the middle of one task like loading the dishwasher and Andrew needs a diaper change, Matthew and Carolyn are fighting over a toy, and the phone rings all at the same time. Other times I start a task like folding laundry or sweeping the floor and one, two, or three "helpers" appear out of nowhere. Ever see a 2 year old sweep the floor with a full sized broom? It's quite funny but very messy. Sometimes the highlight of my day is writing my blog and actually posting it. I actually enjoy running errands and going grocery shopping because I get to start something and finish it without 23 interruptions.

4. A Good Book I love to read. I have always loved reading and consider it one of the things that relaxes me. Usually it's a challenge to get the daily paper read but I do take time out now and then to read something that does not have rhyming sequences in it or how to cook it instructions. I like a variety of topics depending on my mood. Sometimes it is "Chicken Soup for the Soul" that I want and other times I need a good smut book (Historical Romance) I also love spy thrillers and crime novels. Sorry to say most Science Fiction is beyond my capabilities. I just can't do alternate worlds and fantasy creatures.

5. Learning Something New It's aways fun to learn a new something. Whether it is an obscure fact such as the reason for the start of WWI (assassination of the archduke of Austria) or how to put a diaper on a squirming child without getting peed on (lots of trial and error) there is a feeling of "wow I did it" Hubby and I take Tae Kwan Do classes and we are constantly learning new moves and techniques. It is fun to challenge yourself to do something that you did not think was possible or impress someone with your knowledge of a subject.

6. Coca Cola How could I do a list and not put Coke down?? I am a true Coke drinker. I do not do Pepsi, RC Cola, or any other cola on the market. If I am at a restaurant and they do not have Coke on the menu then it is water or Mt.Dew. Please notice that I do not use the word "diet" when I describe Coke. There is no such word in my vocabulary. Some people drink coffee, others like tea and yet another group is passionate about their wines and beers but for me nothing is better than a cold Coca Cola.

OK, that is my list of 6. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a comment or message. I like to read those too.

Busy Week

Wow, where has the week gone? I had intentions of actually posting three different times this past week but never made it to the computer to do so. This past week was pretty eventful and hopefully life-changing too. Thursday was ear tube day for Andrew. The loving husband had to be there by 6:40 that morning so we were up and moving around pretty early that day. Andrew was not too happy about being awakened from his nice warm bed and plopped in a cold car with only a blanket to comfort him (no food or drink allowed 6 hours before the procedure). I had dressed him in a comfy outfit the night before so we did not have to a clothes change right away. They also wanted him dressed in a 2-piece outfit to make things easier for them when prepping him for the surgery. After those two left I had about 40 minutes before Matthew needed to be up for school so I decided to bake brownies. Our MOPS table was supposed to provide the food for Friday's meeting so I had decided to do chocolate chip cookie brownies and coffee cake as my offering. I figured that it wasn't worth it to go back to bed and it's a lot easier to bake without "helpers" underfoot. Matthew actually got up on his own a few minutes before 7 so my job was a lot easier. After getting him dressed and off I started on the coffee cake. I've never made one before so it took a little longer than usual to get everything put together and in the oven. By the time the guys arrived back home around 9:30 the house smelled great. I did feel a little bad telling hubby that no, the still warm just taken out of the oven really tasty looking coffee cake was for my MOPS group not him. I did offer to make another one if he really really wanted to eat this one but thankfully he used willpower and walked away(he got one Sunday morning). Surgery-wise, Andrew did great. He calmed down on the ride over and did pretty good in the waiting area. Everything went well and both tubes were replaced. The was some issues with the left side and he did have excess fluid that needed to be drained but the right side was OK. He was a little groggy and crabby first thing out of anesthesia but unlike many of the little ones who have this done, he did not spend an hour crying uncontrollably. Shortly after arriving home he was bouncing around like nothing happened at all. Later that afternoon I left to take my baked items over to the church and drop them off. Trying to arrive early to the meeting and taking two small children along with two pans of baked goods is a little out of my comfort zone so I usually drop my stuff off the day before with a note attached. I also wasn't sure if Andrew was going to be feeling OK Friday morning and I did not want to make early morning phone calls to find someone to stop by the house and take my stuff with them to the meeting. After I finished that errand I had to go to the school for Carolyn's IEP meeting. For those who don't know an IEP is short for Individual Educational Plan. All special education students are required to have one and they must be updated yearly. The original meeting date was Friday but since Jim was taking Thursday off for Andrew's surgery I changed the meeting date so the poor guy wasn't trying to take time off two days in a row. Funny Matthew story--Matt comes home from his Speech time all excited telling me he played a new game called "test" on the computer. You hit the keys and then it tells you "good job". No, I didn't bust his bubble. I told him that sounded like a fun game. Anyway, back to Carolyn's meeting. She is doing pretty good overall but there are still some weird behaviors and a few other problems that she needs to work on. Right now she likes to imitate a cat and do the things cats do like lick herself and meow and hiss and scratch. When she is upset or angry she most often reverts to the meowing and hissing. She does this at home too so it isn't a big surprise she does it at school. The teacher taped her one day during class time so they could analyze the behaviors and come up with a behavior plan to hopefully get her to express her thoughts and emotions in words instead of sounds and actions. At this point everyone is recommending that Carolyn do Jr. Kindergarten next year instead of Kindergarten so she has another year to work on her ongoing social issues. She turns 5 in June so she would be one of the younger ones in her Kindergarten class so I would have been tempted to do the JR. K thing even if she didn't have the other problems going on. I was hoping that once Andrew got his ears fixed he would give me a complete night's sleep--no such luck. We were up for a while that night but he woke up in a good mood Friday morning so we went to MOPS. I'm glad I dropped my stuff off the day before because I did not even come close to making it early for set up. Hubby took my set of car keys with him to work and I had to search like crazy to find the extra set. Of importance here is the fact the key he took with him that morning was the one I had the day before and used to start the car that night when we went to Tae Kwan Do class so he was the one who misplaced the spare not me. Later that day the kids and I met Daddy for lunch at HuHot Mongolian Grill. Friday was the last day for employees to donate to the charity the company had selected and he forgot to take the checkbook so I used that as an excuse to meet him instead of just dropping it off at the front desk. Every year the company selects an organization and then they match whatever amount the employees donate. After lunch it was back home to get naps done and supper planned because it was going to be a big night for the kids. The first Friday of the month is $5 Friday at the Science Center. Hubby decided to take Matthew and Carolyn and do the movie and exhibits. The movie was about Mummies and the there was a physics theme to the exhibits this month. I had made arrangements with my friends Tobi and Shawna to meet for drinks and dessert at 7:30 so I took Andrew as my "date" and off we went. This was supposed to be a girls only thing but I didn't have the heart to tell hubby he had to take all three kids with him. Andrew is a bit too young to sit though a movie and do the interactive stations so it would have been a bit difficult for everyone to have fun with him tagging along. As it was he enjoyed himself with me. We shared a nice chocolate cake and he got his own balloon. Afterward we stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home and picked up a few necessary supplies. By the way I drank Mountain Dew. Saturday morning found hubby and I working off future food sins in our cardio kickboxing class. It was also open gym and special kids activities in the nursery so the kids had fun. Later that evening Jim and I attended the company Christmas party. It was held at the Minnehaha Country Club. They've had it there before but we still got lost trying to find the place. I guess that is what happens when you only go to the place once a year. It was pretty fun. There are a lot of employees so I don't know too many people. This year we sat at a table with people I knew. One of the ladies at my MOPS table is also the spouse of an employee in a different department so we ended up at the same table. One of hubby's counterparts in his department was at our table too and I know his wife so I was able to have some fun conversations. This is a semi-formal/formal event so I got to dress up and wear make-up. The food was pretty good. Last year they had this baked potato thing that was totally terrible but this year they must have learned form that mistake because we had garlic mashed potatoes instead. The highlight of the meal was definitely dessert. I got what I can only call a chocolate orgasm--yes it was that good. It was a small dense cake made of rich bittersweet chocolate with a molten chocolate center. There was some whipped cream on the side. It was one of those things that can only be savored slowly. Hubby got some cappachino cheesecake creation so I was able to alternate bites of mine with bites of his. There is no ordering of dessert, they just bring it out and set it in front of you so I totally lucked out. After stuffing ourselves and enjoying two very nice glasses of White Zinfandel wine we headed back home. Today hubby tried to re-create our dessert. He didn't do that bad of a job. He found a recipe on the TLC website and modified that. He still has some more tweaking to do but I don't mind eating the mistakes.

Holiday Weekend Part 2

I made it through Black Friday in one piece and came home exhausted. Of course just because I got an early start to my day didn't necessarily mean I got to go back to bed and catch up on my missed sleep. Matthew was quite excited to see me when I got home and wanted to see what I bought. I tired to explain to him that no, he could not see his gifts that he needed to wait until Christmas Morning to see them and of course he started to cry. The next morning he greeted me by saying that there were no presents for him to open so I have a feeling this is going to be a long long wait for him. He doesn't quite understand the difference between Christmastime and Christmas Day so we are working on that concept. I need to find Advent calenders for the kids. Maybe the daily piece of chocolate will help make the time go by faster. Friday afternoon was also Matthew's first eye doctor appointment. He had been referred a few years ago at his three year check but since his eye contact was so poor I did not trust the eye scanner they were using to give an accurate reading. Even at his next check I was still skeptical since the nurse told me that the instrument was very sensitive and gave a lot of false positive readings and although his eye contact was improving it was (and is) still hard for him to look at something or someone. Hubby had to fill out paperwork for next year's benefits and the company offered vision. We weren't sure if the yearly cost was worth it since none of us have sight problems but I decided that we could make an appointment for Matthew and if he did need glasses then we could take the vision coverage. Well when Jim and Matthew came back I was told that yes, Matthew does need glasses. I don't remember why but it has something to do with an astigmatism of some sort. Our next dilemma was when to get the glasses. Our coverage does not start until the new year and prices range from $89 up to $300 depending on what kind of frames and lenses we get. At this point we decided to wait until January to get them. We have Andrew's ear tubes this week so we already have necessary medical expenses to take care of. I know we are probably bad parents but there are only a few more weeks of classes before the holiday break and I'll have more time to shop around and ask for a good place to buy the glasses. Doctor appointment done it was time to put he lights up. Hubby started the task and managed to get the roof done before it got a little too dark to safely continue. We decided to do Pizza Ranch since we hadn't been there in months and it was early enough in the day that we would avoid the supper crowds. Right next door to Pizza Ranch is an arcade called County Fair Fun. Almost all of the games are a quarter and they have a section of ride-on animals for the 4 and under set that are free to use. Everyone had fun and the kids were ready for bed when we got home. Saturday morning found the loving husband and I working off the food sins of the previous two days. There is a cardio kickboxing class Saturday mornings and we were there. I had gone out shopping Wednesday night and purchased a new pair of workout shoes and a new (I totally love it) sports bra so I was ready to go. Footnote on the bra--Class on the previous Monday plus Tae Kwan Do the next night killed my other one and I need to sew the strap back on before I can wear it again but only for walking and light workouts. Class was brutal, lots of bagwork and punching along with a few killer ab and leg exercises. I'm soo feeling it today. Later that afternoon when we returned home and Andrew went down for a nap hubby went back out and finished up the lights and I started on the tree. The kids this year were actually helpful and it did not take me as long to set it up as in years past. It is nice having two children who know colors and can hand me the correct color coded branch when I need it as opposed to picking up said branches and hitting each other with them. Jim also helped me with the lights since he is a little taller than me and more able to reach the top portions. One of these years I'm going to get a pre-lit tree. After supper the kids helped put the ornaments on. Andrew thought they were balls and kept taking them off the tree and throwing them at us. Thankfully they now make plastic shatterproof ones. Carolyn like the tree so much she brought her stuffed animals out and sat them on the couch so they could look at the lights. This morning Andrew was up early early but hubby was nice enough to let me go back to bed around 7. We decided to go swimming after breakfast. The big pool at the wellness center is closed for repairs but they have a smaller warm water therapy pool that they are letting members use instead. Normally it is only open a few hours each month for open swim and usually during times when we can't be there. After an early morning wake up and a big swim in the pool we figured Andrew would take a huge nap. He didn't. After trying to get him to go back to sleep we opted for fun outing number two, get rid of the hamburger buns. I had bought them a few weeks ago for the birthday party but they weren't used. I hate throwing bread away so instead we went to Arrowhead Park. It is an old quarry that now houses a flock of really fat geese and ducks. The sky was grey and overcast and the wind was brisk but the kids had a blast. Andrew showed no fear as he walked around. Some of the birds were bigger than he was. I took the camera with and got some nice shots of the kids and Daddy feeding the geese. A couple who also happened to be photographers stopped by to take pictures and she offered to take a picture of the family. The photos look OK but of course there isn't one with all of us looking and smiling at the camera so I'm not sure if that will be on this year's Christmas cards or not. All in all we had a great Thanksgiving weekend-- topped off by the Minnesota Vikings beating the Chicago Bears. Yeah!!!!!

Holy Holiday Shoppers Batman!!!

Weeks ago I was predicting that this year's Black Friday was going to be a little more crowded than usual due to the really crappy economy. I was not wrong. Four o'clock this morning found me showered and dressed ready to walk out the door. Last night I got out my stack of ads and gift lists and spent the better part of an hour mapping out what it was I needed to get ( specific gift requests) and what I wanted to get ( might be something they would like) along with the opening times of various stores and the most efficient way of shopping both for walking and driving. In previous years I have enjoyed light crowds and speedy wait times for check-out but of course I was under no illusion that this would happen again. My plan was simple, arrive a little past 4 at JC Penny's and do the bulk of my clothing shopping there and then move on to Sears, Toys R Us, Gordmans, Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and end at Menards. I do Penny's first for a lot of reasons. The big ones are that my family wears a lot of their clothing and I save a truckload when I do the early morning doorbuster sale. I also know that the other store that opened at 4 was Kohls and that is usually one of the stores that ends up with terribly long slow-moving lines and fights breaking out among shoppers. Last year I made the mistake of doing Toys R Us first and wasted over an hour standing in line for items that were not on the "gotta have or else" list. When I got to the mall around 4:20 the Penny's parking lot was pretty full. Think Saturday on a non-holiday season. There were people everywhere but everyone was in a good mood and the sales staff was walking around passing out candy. Finding what I wanted and in the correct size was no problem so after 20 or so minutes I was ready to check out. Lines at this point were pretty long and not moving too fast. Mostly because everyone wanted gift receipts and there were multiple groups checking out at the same register. Well-known fact, lots of die-hards go in groups and one stands in line while the others get the items and hand them to her. everyone in that group then pays for her individual purchases. The trick of the check-out is to wander around to the lesser traveled areas of the store and look for the cash registers. I went to the very front of the store and there was no waiting. On my way back to the van I mentioned the light lines to fellow shoppers waiting in the back of some of the longer lines. First stop done and it was back through Penny's and out into the mall. I was not about to give up my relatively good parking spot just to drive to the other side of the mall and take my chances there. On my way out of the store, there was a very nice salesperson passing out donut holes to shoppers. My Sears stop was a totally different story. I had a need to buy gift on my list and I wanted to get a coat for Carolyn and Sears always has the best prices. It took about 10 minutes to get my two things and I went looking for a short line to stand in. Sears opened at 5 and I got there around 5:30 so the lines were pretty crazy. My JC Penny's check-out trick did not even come close to working. I hopped over to the shorter lines in the appliance section--big mistake. Sears was not prepared for this day. The computers were not working right and advertised items on sale were not rung up at correct prices and some of the really good deals like the $14 DVD players sold out and people were trying to have the sales staff order one from the corporate office. One of the ladies waiting in line ahead of me had actually purchased her item but the computer refused to issue the gift card that was supposed to be part of that special so she was told to try and go to another line and see if they could get the sale to ring up correctly . I jumped over to the tool area hoping that those lines would at least move somewhat faster and they too crawled along. At one point the cashier had to leave her post and go find a price for something. A kind soul walked by and said that there was no wait over in the circular saw area. He was right. As I walked past the line after checking out I passed this information along to the other poor souls stuck waiting. All told I wasted an hour. Mall stores now completed I decided to dash across the parking lot and do Gordman's real quick. Hubby saw a wooden toy advertised that he thought Andrew would like. I hit the store at just the right time, it was practically deserted. Ten minutes later I was in the van driving over to Toys R Us. That store is just a little too far to walk to from my parking spot. I get there and it is close to 7 so I'm thinking the mass of early shoppers would be gone but no such luck. I walked in and quickly found the manager who was directing the endless line of carts to the check out line. Upon finding out just where the end of the line was and knowing that I would still be traveling a crazy up and down the aisles through the whole store maze I thanked him and told him I would return later. He said the line was moving pretty fast but I only had one item on my want list and it was not worth the wait. Now of course traffic was increasing both shopping and vehicle so getting from point A to point B was taking a little longer than I would have liked. Target is located across the street from the mall (really busy main road)and a quick glance showed nothing but cars in the lot. It would take more time to get out of the mall lot, cross the street and attempt to find an empty parking spot so I decided to park at the very end of the mall lot and just use the stoplight and cross the street on foot. My first impression of Target was that this would be an easy stop. The store had been open for over an hour so hopefully the masses had left. There were very few people waiting in line at the check-out counters and things were flowing pretty smoothly. As I ventured farther into the store it became quite apparent that there was more people than I had imagined. I needed one item and decided that I would check out toy section real quick to find something on Carolyn's want list. After getting the two items I then realized that about 75% of the shoppers were actually waiting in line to check out. I had in my cart the one "must have or else" item so there was no walking out. After finally finding the end of the line I spent pretty much the next 45 minutes conversing with a very nice lady from Spencer, Iowa and walking through most of the store. I let her share the cart with me so she didn't have her hands full of items. I will give kudos to the Target staff. They had someone stationed at the beginning of the line directing shoppers to various check-out lanes so that was why it did not look too busy when I got there. My next stop was Best Buy for a couple gotta have items and I was hoping that they would still be there. This was really quick stop number two in my shopping day. The large crowds that the store is famous for were gone so I was able to get my items and check out within 10 minutes. I was now done with the South end of Sioux Falls and ready to head towards home. Breakfast was 1 can of Mountain Dew and two donut holes (thanks JCP) so I hit McDonalds on my way to Wal-Mart. A bacon egg and cheese biscuit never tasted so good. I purposefully do Wal-Mart in the later stages of my shopping. Along with Kohls they rank up there with shopping horror stories. The lot was pretty full when I got there but I'm not too choosy in parking spots when I don't have the kids with me so I snabbed the first one I saw. I was pleasantly surprised that they still had a few of their early morning special items. There were a couple of things I wanted but wasn't going to be massively depressed if I could not get them. Sadly, the art set I wanted to get Carolyn was sold out so I'll just get her more crayons and paper after the holidays. Crowd-wise I would say think typical Saturday afternoon. I decided to do the self-check out so my wait was pretty minimal. I also did not have a lot of items. My last stop was Menards. I had heard that it was a zoo in the early hours but there are two Menards in town so it could be that I was getting reports about the one closer to the mall. They were sold out of the kids snow shovels I wanted so I guess I'll wait a few weeks and try again. By the time I finished I was wiped out. I called my friend Jen who was shopping with her family and gave her a few heads up tips about traffic and store sales. I called the loving hubby and told him I was headed home. He was nice enough to take Matthew to his eye doctor appointment later that day so that was one less thing on my to do list. Later on the kids helped him get the lights on the house and afterwards we went to Pizza Ranch. I now think I'll lay down and pass out. Yes, I'll be doing this again next year.