The Early Bird

I have long heard the phrase "early bird"...mostly when it referred to what my parents would say when they wanted to wake us up at 6am to do yardwork. It's the old:

But...what you may not know is the early bird is busier than we all could ever imagine! Who knew it had so many meanings? Let's see...there's the British comedy film,

the Early Birds of Aviation dedicated to historic pilots,

the EarthWatch, Inc observation satellite - Early Bird 1,

and the other well-known usage called the early bird dinner, maybe at an Early Bird Cafe if you will.

BUT, what peaks my interest in the early bird world is one that will be saving us all kinds of moolah during this economical chaos and piggybacks off the previous early bird definition. This, my friends is what we call the Early Bird Sale aka the Doorbuster! And I don't mean this kind...

I mean this....

I am not usually a Black Friday shopper. There are so many choices in the states and there is no way I could pick just one place to spend my first hour of discount heaven. So I wave my white flag and wait to hear all the stories from other family members of friends that decided to wake up at 3am to be at BestBuy by 4am. And then I hang up and say "Whew, I'm glad I didn't jump on THAT bandwagon". And of course here we are another Christmas approaching FAST and my desperation has changed all that. I am officially taking turns driving that damn wagon. Now, before you think that I caved bigtime...you must know my reasoning, and by reasoning I mean excuse!! Living thousands of miles away from any English speaking Walmarts or Targets, one would think that online ordering is the way to go during the Holidays. They can be. I mean go ahead and risk backordering that brand new Wii game that was the only item on your child's wishlist. Who doesn't like explaining to their doe-eyed precious baby that Santa had to send their gifts through the mail because we live too far away from Gamestop? Not to mention, going to the post office here is an hour long errand during the holidays as you can imagine. I need easy options...

Sooooo All hail the Post Exchange!!




The PX is the military's best effort at keeping us on the shopping curve as most of you know. They offer your standard toy store complete with layaway along with the usual departments found in what we wish were a Walmart or Target. In order to appeal to the people on this island who probably frequent the PX more than twice a week, they host the...dun dun dun...Early Bird Sale!! George and I embarked on our first early bird sale last holiday season. And to be honest, the deals were FABULOUS! Just to name a few...*gazebo reg. price $199, ours $50 *camera printer combo reg. price $170, ours $60 *chaise lounge chair pads reg. price $38 ea, ours $7 ea. The list goes on. Now I know you are saying...gazebo as a Xmas present? Ok no...but the deal was too good to pass up, plus there were others I did not mention since my kids are in the room and lurking behind me as I type. Needless to say George and I are addicted to the Early Bird and his worm. So much so that we are waking up at 6am tomorrow to get a headstart before Black Friday just in case we miss something. The rule here in Oki is if you see it, you better buy it cause somebody's just waiting for you to put it back on the shelf. It's the price we have to pay living in another country, going against our grain. So, when you are thinking about deciding between the 8 different stores you want to hit up for Xmas, just think...you could be stuck with only one, one that everyone else uses, too.


Long Live the Doorbuster...er I mean the Early Bird!!