Black Friday Frenzy has begun all over the nation here in the US – photos of people standing in line hours earlier, camping outside stores, and at this time when stores have been open for over hours in other parts of the US, people heading out of stores with their first purchases and heady with happiness.

For us, Black Friday has been something we read about, watch the long lines on TV, see the crowds and sometimes rampage as well, and hear our more enthusiastic friends talk about their Black Friday purchases the next time we meet them. Black Friday one year was attempting to take the car and drive to the nearest ToysRUs, circle around while in the car to watch where the line outside the store ended at 10 pm, and watching it go all around, take a U-turn and head back home.

We never made lists of the best Black Friday deals scouring through ads and entering the store at midnight to buy them. The most we have done in the past is enter Sears or JC Penney or Target or ToysRUs at 11 am on Friday and buy a few clothes for the kids. This year, we talked about entering stores at midnight just for the experience of it – might be fun, right? But as we thought about the frenzied crowds and thought about fatigued kids tagging along with us, we did not think it will be fun.So here I am, a little after midnight on Friday, writing this post instead and waiting for 11 am again!

For myself, I prefer online shopping and might end up looking for Cyber Monday deals instead – fun, isn’t it? 

So, what about you? Is Black Friday fun for you? Did you stand in line/camp out/plan to enter the store at a leisurely pace later during the day/or Black Friday shopping is not for you?

For Book Beginnings::
From the book ‘Thief of Shadows’ by Elizabeth Hoyt

The body in the road was the absolute cap to the day.

For Friday 56
From the book ‘Thief of Shadows’ by Elizabeth Hoyt

All about you are men who cannot speak
their admiration, who must remain mute from lack of social standing or
fear of offending you. Only their thoughts light the air about you,
following you like a trail of perfume, heady but invisible.


For Five Minute Friday:
GO
Just yesterday, in an attempt to work on a different meme, I was looking for the definition of a perfect sentence and in one search result, I saw the following:
Thank you is the perfect sentence. Verb, subject implied, direct object.
Thank you is definitely a perfect sentence, not just grammatically, but when you say it to someone , it makes everything perfect. Thank you – so simple to say it and so wonderful the feelings these two words evoke. 
Whom do I say thank you to? Today and everyday, I thank my family. My parents for being my wonderful, always-there, always-carrying-a-torch-for-me parents.
My husband for putting up with disorganized, messy me being the clean-freak he is! and for loving me always. 
My children for loving me, for their hugs and kisses, for telling me that they need the cake I bake for their birthdays! (considering I am not a baker and I bake using a baking mix!)
My brother for being who he is and for standing up to his principles always and following his passions. My sister-in-law for loving my brother and for the sister I found in her. My niece for all she is. 
My in-laws for loving me like a daughter and siding with me when I argued with my DH:)
and as I thank all, I remember my father-in-law today and miss him more. We were watching photos from out trip to India this summer earlier today and looking at him in those photos, it is hard to believe he is no longer with us – he passed away less than two months after we returned from our trip. But I thank him for the memories heleft and for the person he was and the better person he made me by just being my father-in-law. 
And one more Thank you to my extended warm, big, family and friends!
STOP

This is my first attempt at Five Minute Friday and I got interrupted at minute two for quite a few minutes so was not sure of how many minutes I actually used for this today! 
Anyways, it was great fun and I plan to join in whenever I can in the future. 

Want to know how Five Minute Friday got started and how to participate? All the details are here.

Do you want to join in too? Then set your timer, clear your head, for five minutes of free writing without worrying about getting it right.
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you
need to visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them
in their comments. Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And
the heart of this community.

And while you are here, do take a look at the giveaway going on right now
– the
book is super!, stupendous!, slurp inducing! -and one lucky reader will
win a hard copy of this book ‘Vegan Eats World’  – you can enter the
giveaway here. .