As I was writing a post for Props & Pans on the Black Friday sales today, I remembered an after Thanksgiving shopping experience I had about 7 years ago.

My cousin, Stephanie, and I would spend time at our Thanksgiving family lunch going through the sale ad’s and mapping out a plan of attack. The next morning we’d meet up insanely early and get in line, ready to shop.

Our most memorable trip was to ShopKo. I can’t remember what the big sale was we were after, but it was a department store similar to Target. We arrived 30 minutes before it opened and stood out in a dark, cold parking lot about 100 people back from the door at 4:30 a.m. shivering.

Once the store opened and we reached the inside there were no shopping carts left. We went started shopping and within minutes had an arm full. The more we looked around, the more we found. I had her stay put and hold our stuff while I went in search of something to carry our items in.

At first I looked for a laundry basket, but then realized how awkward it would be to carry. My next thought was a miniature toy shopping cart, but I had no luck in finding one. Finally, a light bulb went off!

I came running down the aisle yelling for Stephanie, “I’ve got it!” I will never forget how hard she laughed as I came towards her with a trash can on wheels. (Hell, it even had a lid!)

It was the perfect solution. I brought two, one for each of us. As we wheeled our items through the store, other customers stared and I’m sure they wondered if we were actually out at 5 a.m. to purchase trash cans.

One of the many things I miss about Stephanie is the great memories we would create in any situation. There wasn’t much I could do to embarrass her free spirit.

This morning I’m headed out to fight the crowds alone in search of some half-price Transformers at Toys-R-Us. As far as I know they don’t sell trash cans, but they do sell wagons. I may need to cause a scene just for her.

Edited: I left the house at 4:30 a.m. this morning thinking I’d at least get a decent parking spot at Toys-R-Us when they opened at 5 a.m. I was SOOO wrong! I parked behind the store in a mall parking lot across the street. There was a line from the front of the store around the back of the building and into the mall parking lot. Stunned, I opened my car door, stood up, felt the chilly 30 degree air and decided no Transformer was worth this madness. Even at half-price. So I headed back home to my warm bed.