25 on the 25th in 2005

A brilliant stroke of marketing finally induced me to join the masses in the day-after Thanksgiving madness. In previous years, the sales have never been enticing enough to warrant arising in time to take advantage of the 5 a.m. “early-bird specials.” But beginning the sale at 11:59 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day and running through the night…now, that’s my kind of sale! Dad, Joey and I joined a long line of eager consumers outside the lone CompUSA in Wichita about 20 minutes before the sale began. From that point on, it was absolutely crazy! You would think everyone was trying to buy their final gallon of water before a 3-year drought the way people cleaned off the shelves of techno-gadgets galore! Unfortunately, being quite inexperienced in this process and without a well-planned strategy like CS Hayden and his crew, several of the items on my list were already gone by the time I located where they had been housed. After much searching and persuading of sales associates, a printer from the back storage was retrieved for me. Alas, the trip was not entirely in vain! And then, all I had to do was checkout. Ha. Haha. Hahaha. The hour and a half wait in the checkout lane allowed for some interesting conversations and actually produced another item from my list, when one of the people in line with me decided not to get the wireless mouse and let me have it instead. (It occurred to me that this would be a wonderful opportunity for witnessing…so many people waiting in lines…nothing to do…no doubt open to any diversion that might help the wait pass more tolerably…file that idea for next year.)

We left the store at 3:00, and, feeling rather invigorated from the adventure, Dad suggested we make the most of the occasion and go out to eat. We located the only open eating establishment and Dad treated Joey and I to breakfast. I do believe that's the earliest I've ever been taken out for breakfast!

Once home, I was able to cinch up a couple of other great deals on-line, seeing as how I was just in time for the Staples 6 a.m. (ET) sale to begin. I wrapped things up just as Mom came down to say goodbye before beginning her quest for early-morning bargains. Off to bed for me! Thus ended, or so I thought, my fun birthday adventures…

Little did I know that there was a conspiracy in the making! After sleeping away the remainder of the morning, I went running and enjoyed a relaxed day of working on some projects at home. Chippeaux came over in the evening to help me set up my wireless network. After working for some time on it, Noelle called me upstairs for a minute. As I reached the top of the stairs, I was greeted by a room full of people exclaiming, “SURPRISE!” Was I surprised? A few other words come quickly to mind – Shocked. Ready to crawl under the table. Mortified. :-) Couldn’t my family have at least told me to get cleaned up and put on some makeup?!? How they managed to pull it off, I have no idea. I’m usually not that clueless. Am I? (Okay, don't answer that.)

Nevertheless, a celebration was had and Naomi snapped a number of pictures to document the occasion.

God has graciously blessed me with 25 wonderful years of life thus far! He has done so much for me and in me and I am so thankful for His unfailing faithfulness. May my life, as many more years as the Lord sees fit to give me, be an outpouring of these verses in Psalm 145:

"One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts...They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness."