Black Friday and Deer Hunting

I generally haven't done much shoping on Black Fridays.  We don't spend a great deal of money for Christmas gifts and often, what we do buy isn't the kind of thing you need to set your alarm for 4 am to get.  I did scan the ads and saw that a couple computer things I had on my wish list were on sale at the local Big Box office supply store.  So I did what any reasonable person would do - slept until I woke up on Friday, ate some breakfast, and ventured out after 7:30 am.  I drove the back way to the store - why drive on Grant Avenue on Black Friday if you don't have to?? I was pleasantly surprised the store was busy but not overly crowded so I easily found the advertised copy of Norton AntiVirus - will need to update mine in January so this is terrific timing and who could pass up such a great deal on something I NEEDED?  ($9.99 after all the various rebates)  I wandered down the aisle and found the deal on Photoshop Elements - something I've WANTED for a while.  I have it on my work computer, but due to my inexperience, took an embrarassingly long time one morning trying to crop a kid's face out of a picture because we don't have a photo release on him and wanted to publish the photograph.  I've wanted a copy of this program for my own use with scrapbooking, and my learning on my own time will be a help next time I have a picture project at work.  The clerk had to ask a runner to get the actual software from some secret storage place as the box on the shelf was a dummy box, but they were well staffed so it took only a couple minutes.  I finished shopping, got back in the car, and since the traffic seemed quite light, returned home by way of Grant Avenue, sitting down to my second cup of coffee within an hour of leaving the house.

This reminds me of the story of my father and deer hunting.  He hunted for years - even went out the day my baby brother came home from the hospital, not earning him any points with Mom - but never got a deer.  When I was a teen we stayed at my aunt and uncle's house in the Catskill Mountains and apparently Dad slept late, had a cup of coffee, took the car out on a back road, got out, shot a deer, and then did whatever you have to do after that, and returned back for a second cup of coffee all within an hour or so. 

Most hunters and Black Friday shoppers would probably disagree with our lackadaisical approach.  But my blessing yesterday was a successful trip, without much stress and without overspending.

Of course I still need to do my Christmas shopping. 
How many days until Christmas??