Posts Tagged "black friday"

Happy Day After Thanksgiving!

Dear Kid,

Happy Day After Thanksgiving!

Thank you Auntie M (and the entire cooking crew) for a wonderful meal and a great evening.

I have a turkey and carbohydrate hangover (like the rest of the world) and I’m realizing that writing through a tryptophan funk is not easy. I wouldn’t have it any other way and I don’t regret eating any of the deliciousness. But trying to put words together in a coherent manner right now is something of a challenge.

This is complicated by not having an actual topic. Or inspiration.

I didn’t watch enough football to have anything interesting to say about any of the games. I didn’t even watch enough football to comment on the beer commercials.

I didn’t watch enough of the parade to say anything interesting about it. (People marched; balloon floated; commentators blathered.)

I don’t plan any Black Friday shopping so I can’t tell you all about my intricate plan for snagging The Best Deals.

I have some very important puppy snuggling on the calendar, but you already knew that.

I thought about including some Thanksgiving jokes, but according to My Friend The Internet there aren’t any funny Thanksgiving jokes. (To be clear, there are lots of jokes listed, but if you’re over 7 years old you’re unlikely to think they’re funny.)

I briefly considered making up my own Thanksgiving jokes, but that kind of joke is not my forte and did I mention the tryptophan?

No matter what day it is, no matter what I’ve eaten that day (or the day before), no matter what I have or haven’t paid attention to on TV, I love you kiddo. And I am very, very thankful to have you in my life.

Have a great Today.

Love, Mom

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Black Friday and Why Spiking the Ball is Legal But Spiking a Drink Isn’t

Dear Kid,

Pi and I have done our part to help  stimulate the economy and support the Black Friday numbers.

And we survived to tell the tale.

In the spirit of complete transparency, we did not hit The Mall. We went to Deerfield, the open plaza type mall, and to several free standing stores (including going to the bank three times).

I wanted to get an iron, but it turns out that iron-technology and functionality have changed since the last time I bought an iron (about 30 years ago) and I was somewhat traumatized by the options I faced. Solution? Punt on purchasing an iron and instead buy interesting coffee.

Spiking a football? Absolutely fine. Spiking a drink? Absolutely not. DearKidLoveMom.comShopping, a trip to the gym, turkey soup and a salad for dinner, and a whole lot of football. Pretty much sounds like a perfect Black Friday to me.

Which of course brings up the question, why isn’t spiking the ball considered intentional grounding (with the attendant penalty)?

Turns out that spiking the ball with the intent to stop the clock (as opposed to spiking the ball in the end zone after scoring a TD) is a Special Rule Case (which means the officiating body of football decided to allow it as it makes the game more interesting and sells more merchandise).

More specifically, there is a section in the rules that says it’s allowed. IF.

If the “player under center” immediately upon receiving the snap, begins a continuous throwing motion and throws the football directly into the ground. (In other words, if the QB spikes the ball, it’s ok.) This is a legal way to stop the clock, use up a down, but not get penalized.

However, if the “passer delays his passing action for strategic purposes” and then throws the ball into the ground, it is not considered a spike and it is considered intentional grounding.

Therefore, spiking the ball can involve no thinking, adjusting, or breathing. You just have to spike the dang ball.

There is also a Special Rule Case for spiking a drink. You’re not old enough to drink, so don’t do it. Especially if the drinker doesn’t expect it to be spiked.

Love, Mom

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Black Friday, DearKidLoveMom Style

When women are depressed, they eat or go shopping.  Men invade another country.  It's a whole different way of thinking.  ~Elayne Boosler DearKidLoveMom.com Black FridayDear Kid,

The parade has been watched (by those of us who were awake), the bird had been eaten (partially), football has been watched (extensively), and tummies are still full from yesterday.

Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.  ~Bo Derek

It’s funny to think that as I sit here in my p.j.s writing this, there are people who have already been out and come home from their Black Friday shopping. I am not one of them, but I hope they found all the deals they were looking for. Which is actually what Black Friday is all about.

Today I learned (TIL) that Black Friday is so named because it is the day that retailers traditionally move into the “black” (become profitable). Apparently, that is a bunch of hokum put out because it sounds better than the real origin of the term.

According to SEC filings, most retailers are profitable every quarter.

In Philadelphia, the day after Thanksgiving was pretty much a nightmare of crowds and traffic problems. The police department dis-affectionately called the day Black Friday because of the chaos.

Another thing I learned is that Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year. No matter what the advertisers would like you to believe, the Saturday before Christmas is traditionally the biggest spending day as all those happy procrastinators stop being happy and stop procrastinating. People are out looking for bargains. According to my friend the internet, Black Friday doesn’t even make the top five shopping days. But who knows? Maybe this year, BF will crack through and win the crown. Probably not.

When women are depressed, they eat or go shopping.  Men invade another country.  It’s a whole different way of thinking.  ~Elayne Boosler

In still more educational news, it seems that Cyber Monday is pretty much not a big deal in the cyber shopping world. Now that someone from Shop.org named it (before it was just called Monday), Cyber Monday is more important to retailers than it used to be. Now there is push for Cyber Black Friday where people are encouraged to sit on their comfy couches in the comfy p.j.s and shop without having to deal with all those people who flock to the stores.

In honor of Black Friday, Booker has decided not to change a thing about his activities. I am planning to go to the gym to burn off some of the 27 pounds I gained yesterday. My guess is you and Pi are planning to sleep a good bit of the day away.

Sounds like a good day to me.

Love, Mom

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