Wrap it UP!

Did anyone brave the Black Friday crowds? Honestly, after all the Thanksgiving stuff that was the LAST thing I wanted to do but, damn it, they had such great prices on coats at one of our local department stores. So my daughter and I loaded up and headed to the mall. Actually, it wasn't too bad. Found a parking spot pretty easily and once in the store, found the crowds weren't quite as horrendous as I'd thought. Hm. Maybe everyone else was thinking OH HELL NO and stayed away in droves, as horrified as I at the possibility of all those people! Ya, think?

Anyway, we found a great deal on a very pretty coat, bought a hat and gloves and naturally, she tried on a few things to 'get ideas'. Afterwards, we checked out New Moon. Yes, definitely Team Jacob here! LOL. All in all, the afternoon wasn't traumatic in any way but I didn't do any actual holiday shopping. Just a lot of looking.

It's funny. I remember how easy Christmas shopping was when my kids were little. Of course, there was always that ONE toy that was virtually impossible to find. I tend to think it's some kind of conspiracy because it has been this way for as long as I can remember. Back in the 80's you couldn't find a Cabbage Patch Doll to save your soul. I was living in Houston at the time (newly married, no kids) and there was such a run on these things that a local radio station filled up a football stadium and flew a plane overhead to "drop" Cabbage Patch dolls to the crowd. Crazy!

Aside from that, I recall that every year we had mountains of gifts under the tree. Little kids gifts are easy and usually cheap so we tended to buy a LOT of stuff. Ever wrapped a gazillion five and ten dollar toys???? The gift wrap and bows was almost as expensive as the darn toys.


These days the pile of gifts isn't so huge and there's an explanation for that. My kids are now grown and the request is usually for 'big ticket' items like electronics, gaming systems, etc. I've been noting all the commercials and print ads for e-book readers and all indicators are that these will be big sellers this year. YAY for us ebook readers and authors!!!! Barnes and Noble has announced they have already sold out of the Nook but are offering certificates for gift giving and promising they will be available after the first of the year. The e-bookwise reader that I have is now marked down to $90. So if you want to 'get your feet wet' with an ebook reader, this is a good opportunity.

Do you start early with the shopping stuff? Or are you a last minute shopper? A good friend of mine does all her shopping on Christmas Eve. It's a tradition at her house doing the mad scramble thing. Yes, I quickly told her that I loved her but she was NUTS!