Fun Times at Sears Portrait Studio

I'm giggling, yes giggling while writing this back as I think back over the day :)

So I had a BRILLANT idea (or so I thought) that since David and I would be visiting Joe, Monica, Hazel, and Jade at the same time wouldn't it be great to get a family portrait of the kids and grandkids for grandpa. I know you're thinking that is a brilliant idea, but I wasn't thinking about what being in front of a camera with David and Joe would be like...LOL

When arriving to Sears the lady asked about the poses we would like and I told her one of the six of us, one of Joe, Mon, Hazel & Jade and then one of Dave, Joe, and I.

• The photographer in all her wisdom wanted to take the 6 person photo first b/c thats "the hardest" (her words, not mine)...Success and it only took a couple of tries to get a good pic.

• Next the photographer wanted a pic of girls only (at this point this is when I realize Hazel has peed through her diaper and onto my leg, but hey thats in the job description of an aunt) back to the girls only pic there Monica, Jade and I are cooperating but Hazel keeps running out of the photo right when its about to be taken to go sit in a cute chair (thats how it ended up in the shot); so all 4 of us are ready, but its hard to control my laughter b/c David and Joe are behind the photographer PLAYING WITH ALL THE PROPS, yes props you know the ones they use in kid photos! So I'm trying to not bust a gut from laughing so hard:)


• Okay so that photos taken on to the photo of Joe, Mon, Hazel and Jade: they get their couple of poses taken with only minor incidents.



• Then onto the photo that I thought would be the easiest...why did I think that, b/c I'm stupid Ladies and Gentlemen!!!!! The pose that I thought would be so easy is of me and my brothers: bless the photographer's heart she tried to set us up for a nice pose but Joe and Dave were jacking around and so I was laughing and finally I gave in to the craziness and said maybe we should do silly photos for dad. Well I really enjoyed the first pose, but then the boys wanted to do a Charlie Angels pose and I will admit I blew the shot! I couldn't help it I was laughing so hard and to top it off I had to be front and center and doing a karate pose....are you kidding me???? Of course I can't focus with all that going on....so my brothers kicked off the angel squad and continued to mock me for 10 mins :)
  

I had such a great time taking those photos I could've taken tons more...correction I could've attempted to take tons more. When David and Joe are together its impossible not to laugh your butt off :)

Black Friday....SUCCESS!

A normal person might think that Black Friday is only for crazy people: Why would someone get up at 3am or sooner to go stand in the cold with other crazy people in front of a store for door busters????

Well my name is Mary and I am one of those crazy people :) Thats right people I fervently look over the ads over and over again to make sure I don't miss a "deal" and I create a plan of attack! Plan of attack you may ask...I make sure to know which stores open when and plan accordingly, i.e. if one store opens at 4am and another at 5am then I know that I need to get into 4am store fast, grab my items, make a bee line for the cashier and be on my way to 5am store. I have learned from experience how to make it near the front of the line when I'm towards the end of the line. I have learned to make myself familar with a stores floor plan in order to run to the exact spot I need while other people are in a frenzy and/or heading for electronics.
Do I have a war face??? Yes I do its a mixture of determination and constantly smiling when I make eye contact. Its amazing what being nice can accomplish! I truly believe that watching Super Market Sweep as a child had prepared for the mission that is Black Friday :)

How did I become a Black Friday Warrior? It was not a pleasant road at the age of 15 I learned had a bad experience and swore to never shop on Black Friday again...never say never. About 5 or 6 years ago my Aunt Roselyn and I were looking through the Black Friday ads kinda laughing at the crazy people that go and then she saw it...what did she see, well I'm gonna tell ya she saw the FREE Mickey Mouse snowglobe that JCPenney gives away just for stepping in the door. She mention how much she liked it, but there was no way she was going to be at JCPenney at 5am and then the converstation moved on....so she thought. I decided that I would surprise her with the snowglobe, so that night I set my alarm to 4am woke up drove to the Oak Park Mall, grabbed the snowglobe and went home. My aunt was surprised...Mission Accomplished :) It was the next year when I found out that JCPenney gives out a different Mickey Mouse snowglobe every year. Well that next year I grabbed the snowglobe, but I didn't leave immediately I was enticed by the SALE signs and the people looking for bargains and I'm afraid that I was hooked. With the years following I started to add more stores to my Mission.

Do I have war stories from previous missions? Yes, yes I do, but I will tell you that I will continue to accept my Black Friday mission for as long as I possibly can!

And I will add that I did get the Mickey Mouse snowglobe this year and I was in Philly...VICTORY!