Call me crazy

I am. Seriously. I know I mentioned that I've always wanted a KitchenAid mixer, but could never justify buying one because I just don't bake that much. If you ask anyone who owns one, they swear by them. They're built to last a lifetime. Well, I recently read a review by America's Test Kitchen, and they said that the KitchenAid Classic Plus is the ideal mixer for anyone, and that they can be bought at places like target.com for about $199. That planted the seed that's been growing. Well, guess what I found in Kohl's Black Friday ad? The mixer on sale for $159 with a $30 mail-in rebate. Plus, they were giving $10 coupons for every $50 you spent. Plus, I had a 15% off coupon. Can you see why I couldn't resist? Then there was the GPS system I wanted. I didn't know what kind, but when I came home last night and started looking through all the sale papers and all the GPS's on sale, I got flummoxed. Then I went to cnet.com and started researching. Then I just got confused. I didn't want to buy an expensive one, but I wanted a good one. I decided to just go to Kohl's for the mixer and be done with it. I got into bed at midnight, but couldn't sleep with the anticipation. I imagined myself with my arms wrapped around that mixer box walking through Kohl's. Would people run through the store when it opened. Oh, did I mention it opened at 4 AM? Then there was the GPS issue. Should I go to Best Buy, Wal-Mart, RadioShack? Should I just forget it? I laid in bed for an hour. I got up at 1:15. I looked through all the sale papers again. I researched again. I left the house at 3:15. There were a lot of cars at Kohl's. I decided to wait outside, but when I got to the doors I saw that the outer ones were open and people were waiting in the anteroom. I went in and spent a pleasant half hour with the people standing near me. The doors were finally opened and, to my horror, the people to the side of us rushed the doors, pushing us aside. My pocketbook got caught in the door. I was frightened of a stampede. Luckily, those very greedy cheaters got in, and the rest of us could enter. It seems everyone was after the $49 portable DVD players. I didn't want to take the time for a cart, and hurriedly made my way back to the appliances. There was my prize! Of course, I didn't realize the box would weigh a ton. I think the mixer is made of cast iron with a stainless steel bowl. So that picture I had of me carrying my mixer with my arms wrapped around it? Correct. I was the first person in line, and after putting it in my car, I went back inside to browse. I was up, after all. I bought a silver pre-lit tinsel tree. Don't tell Emily. And some other stuff. Enough to earn another $10 coupon. Done with Kohl's, I decided I might as well go to Sam's Club, right around the corner. Their ad did mention a free continental breakfast, after all. Well guess what? I picked up their sale GPS. Then I saw a lot of people around the cameras. Turns out they had a Sony digital camera for $89, but someone had just taken the last one. Darn. I thought that could be a great gift for someone. I stood around looking at the Samsung camcorder that I didn't need. I talked to someone about the GPS. Then I saw someone walking towards the display with the camera in his hand. Could he be putting it back? You should have seen me pluck that baby off the shelf. Merchandise paid for, I sat down to my breakfast. And convinced myself I didn't need the Sharp 42" LCD TV on for a ridiculously low price.


I came home to my very, very messy family room. A two inch pile of sale circulars strewn across the floor. I turned on my laptop, and gathered the papers. My eye caught the RadioShack ad. Hmmm, were their GPS's better than the one I just bought? Back to cnet.com. Yes, their's was better. It had blue tooth. A bigger screen. Only $20 more. Did I get back in the car? Yes I did. I was up, after all. Luckily there's a RadioShack around the corner. The shelf was empty, but the salesman had one last unit in the back. With my name on it. I guess it was just meant to be.

Check out this cloud I saw on my way home. I've never seen anything like it. It looked like a torpedo, at least to this sleep deprived mind.


And now, guess what? I have a whole 30 minutes before Emily and I leave to drive up to Frederick for our traditional day after Thanksgiving craft fair. It's, oh, at least an hour away. Time for Motrin and coffee.

Have a great day!