Waiting to exhale... from Black Friday.

Boy, oh boy... my day was great. Everything was so dope and I had tons of fun. Great car rides and great go-'rounds. It was so great.

I'm talking about my day, not an actual day, because, I have not had a night of sleep. My "day" consists of Thursday, Thanksgiving, and today, Friday. Allow me to take you on a journey.

It was Thanksgiving, on a Thursday afternoon. I finished my chores and began to get ready to go to my cousin's for Thanksgiving. So when everyone was ready, we went to pick up my cousin Marvin. I was the one driving and was ready to drive, literally, over a hundred miles. After getting him, my family headed towards Hayward.

The drive there was cool. I was speeding, since its hard not to, and wanted to hit 100 mph. I told Marv to tell me when my parents' eyes were all closed so I could do it. But, I only reached 95 mph, that was the time when my fright kicked in. Marv was my co-pilot, navigating me with play-by-play directions. And then the time came where we reached Hayward and arrived at my cousin's house.

Thanksgiving was good this year. Though the family wasn't complete, we all still had a good time. There was good food and good companionship. And once again, no turkey. Why? Haha, because we're Filipino. I bonded lots with my cousins and we all played games and watched movies, and other things... together. Everything was filled with love.

While there, Marv and I had already established that we'd go around together for Black Friday. We wanted to go to Great Mall at 12 am, but I was unable to. So, we said we'd just go around 4 am. During the drive home, I asked my peeps if I could spend the night at Marv's and that we'd go shopping around 4 am, and the idea was approved.

Marv and I set out on the road, it was about 11ish -I'm not sure. We went to go pick up our two friends that would complete our quartet of Black Friday lunatics. When the posse was complete, it consisted of Marvin, Andre, my new friend Adrian, and myself. We all went to Marv's house.

None of us slept. We played Halo 2 for a while and I kept dying. Really, I'm the worst out of all the peeps I've played with. Those guys are great and they're all funny. Today wouldn't have been so special if they weren't in it. So, when time approached 2 am, they urged me to set out. I, of course, didn't really want to because I told my mother that I wouldn't go until 4 am. Sadly, I gave in and we all hit the freeway, with no one on it, around 2 am.

Great Mall was packed. Seriously. All the stores were occupied and it was difficult to maneuver. It was fun though. My friends go some free goodies, which they also got later in the day. (If you know what I mean.) Just like last year, I didn't really find anything but all it took to satisfy me was the trip. I also saw quite a few of my friends and it was all a good feeling. "Do da dancing, dancing!"

After going around for a couple of times and over the span of two hours, my group decided to return home. We hopped in the Impreza and went off. Before reaching Marv's, we got some late night food. We went to Jack in the Box. Jack in the Box was a hoot all in its own. When ordering the food, all of us kept joking around and couldn't keep it together. Throughout the whole night, each one of us acted a fool. We never quit talking and joking with a gook accent and dancing around like goofs. Man, total amusement. That was my only regulation/policy for bringing them around. I'll be the driver as long as I'm supplied with free food. We ordered a lot of burgers.

So at this time, all of us are back in Marvin's room. I was exhausted. My legs and feet were aching and I know my body needed some rest. Marvin felt the same way, even worse actually. Adrian and Andre, well they didn't. The both of them continued to play more Halo while Marv and I squeezed in a half-hour nap.

5:30 am came and woke us up. I asked if we were totally out and they said yeah. They said that nothing could wake Marv and me up and that we were hella snoring. Well, that was a good power nap though. We needed to get up at that time because we were about to set out on our next journey, to Eastridge Mall. Eastridge opened at 6 am and we wanted to be there at 5:30 am. However, from waking up late (late?) we felt a rush. Upon going there, I phoned Danny and told him to meet us there, and when we reached the Barnes & Noble's parking lot, there were hella cars. The parking spots were filled and that wasn't it all, there was a long ass line just to get in. We were all awed, but we saw that the Red Robin's place did not have a line. I guess, we lucked out because we just walked in. Ran in and slid in. Oh man.

Eastridge was pretty tight, not as packed as Great Mall though. I also ran into Jereme and later other friends. It was cool because my posse of four grew to six and we went around together. We laughed, joked, played, etc. The goody receiving didn't stop either. Going around was difficult but we all managed. Though Eastridge is better, in my opinion, than Great Mall, the time at Great Mall beats the time at Eastridge. Now, the sky was illuminated by the sun and it was no longer dark outside. After hanging out there, we went to Circuit City. I wanted to visit my friend who was working but the line to get in was crazy long. The night before, on my way home from Hayward, I already saw people camping. And to see a long line still, I was awed. So, I aborted that plan and we all went to Target.

At Target, I got my dad a present for his birthday, which is today, and we also hung out there more. When we were in the car already ready to leave, my mom called to check up. I told her that we left around 2 am, because she asked me, and to my anticipation she became disappointed. I apologized to her but it didn't really work then. So she told me to go home. I guess, I was informally grounded. With the open day I couldn't go out anymore and I didn't complain. Danny had also urged me to skate, but I kept telling him I'll see because of how tired I was. Yet, his persistence never gave up and upon the incident, I had a valid excuse not to go. I dropped the guys off, at a few popsicles, said my goodbyes, and left. It was "aw..." leaving them.

In my cozy bed, at home alone, I continued to watch more That '70s Show and eat more pumpkin pie. I needed to wait until 5 pm to get ready for my friend's cotillion. After watching a few episodes, my weariness took control and I fell asleep. I didn't wake until 4:30 pm. Originally, I was going to bring Mel and Ronald along with me, but they ended up going by themselves. When the time needed came, I got ready and began to head out. I called my mom before leaving and we became good again. (Yay...!) I got gas and, once again, hit the highway. It felt nice traveling alone and taking care of myself.

On the highway, I was just chillin', driving at my usual pace. Suddenly, a silver, wingless, aftermarket cat back equipped, 04/05 STi comes by on my left. He was in the carpool lane and speed up then braked. The car in front of him was too slow. I was like, "ooh" and thought of what I should do. I was in the right of the carpool lane and then switched one more to my right. I whizzed up and went back to where I was, passing the car in front of me. I knew the STi noticed me doing that. The STi responded by doing the same thing he did and he passed me. I was at his tail, to his right, when he put his right signal on. I didn't know if it was to say hi to me or if he really wanted to switch lanes. I was close to him so I decided to just slow down a bit because I couldn't pass him up due to the slow car in front of me. But, he didn't go in my lane, so I believed that the signal was to say hi. So, I went up to his side. I looked at him a few times but couldn't clearly see him. His windows were tinted but I could see his silhouette and I knew he saw me. After a few moments, he switched out lanes and exited. I guess, he really did want to exit.

I got lost after exiting the freeway looking for the hotel. I knew which street I had to turn on but never saw the sign. I kept looking for it until I hit Great Mall. It really sucked because I hate it when I get lost, I've been lost too many times, and yet was ironically funny because I was at the same place just hours ago. I find those ironic things funny. So, I finally U turned and went straight, thinking I made a wrong turn, and continued onto El Camino Real. I gave up so I parked and called the hotel for directions. After being given detailed directions, I followed them. It turns out that the street I needed to find was the one right after the exit. I never saw the sign! Oh well, whatever.

The cotillion was fun. I sat next to Ronald and Mel and chatted it up with them ever so much. I saw lots of peeps I knew and it was cool saying hi. Other stuff happened too, but nothing brought it down. After it all, I returned home.

The drive home was quick and smooth. I was going real fast and intelligently maneuvered through the little traffic. I came home exactly at 11 pm and meet my curfew on the dot.

So! That was my great day! ...With little details missing of course. But yeah, it was great. Seriously, great or awesome would be the best adjectives to describe it. I am truly thankful.

Now, you know what I'm going to do. I shall continue with my usual chill routine and furthermore enjoy my vacation.

Total miles covered in my (Thursday-Friday) day: 158. I totally fulfilled my saying already, lol.

Happy 54th birthday Father!!!!

Goodnight.