Wednesday night I called Mom. She's 73 and a bit loopy (not due to age - she's always been that way). She told me she read that a few stores would be having big sales the day after Thanksgiving. Um, Mom, they all do that. Every year. Like, um, everyone knows, it's no secret. Then she said she might pop into Wal-Mart on Friday. Um, Mom, it will be a madhouse. Insane. Don't go. So she says she'll go early. Sigh. Mom, *everyone* goes early. Real early. Like they line up before the joint opens so they can save $50 on something that will be sold at near that price before Christmas somewhere else anyway where you don't have to spend several precious hours of your life at a store to get it. She wasn't even looking for a big-ticket bargain - she was probably going to buy milk or something.

So I called her today, and she said she went to Wal-Mart at 7 a.m. Friday and the place was packed. No, really? She didn't buy anything that was on the special sale, but she did find a few things she wanted (that she could've bought without being a Black Friday doorbuster). So she wasn't dissatisfied with the trip, but she is still loopy. Moms are funny.