Shopping

I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday.  I started yesterday, too.

When my son was little, I decreed that Christmas shopping would last exactly two hours.  It worked out and I've stuck with that.  I make a solid list that takes me to three or four stores on a specified morning when they are just opening.  (Not Black Friday though. I would rather wait for a natural disaster and go out and loot.)  A book store is one of the stops.

I don't search for the "in" thing.  Often, I buy the same thing for everyone in the extended family.  One year, everyone got a cup with a funny inscription.  Another year, everybody got matching t-shirts.  Everyone's favorite year was the time I found cookie jars at thrift stores and filled them with homemade goodies.

Each year, I talk more people into forgetting the gift thing entirely.

After two hours, my shopping is done with one last stop at a discount giant that has gift cards from various stores and restaurants.  Those last hard-to-shop-for people get the cards.  Then it is time to quit and go to out for lunch at a Chinese restaurant.

Do I save anything by shopping this way?  Absolutely. I save my sanity.