Christmas Shopping: Mission Completed

I'm a little amazed with myself -- my Christmas shopping is over! Thanks to some donations from a dear friend, plus some overtime, we were able to get a few nice presents for our family -- something that makes me feel really good inside. And, what made it even better, was that I only had to hit two stores while keeping my sanity (fairly) intact!

I did the bulk of my gift-hunting in Target last week, and while it was a bit frustrating at times (out of the 500 pairs of jeans in the men's department, not a single pair was in Don's size) I nonetheless captured about 80% of what I wanted. Not bad.

Yesterday I zipped out to Walmart in the hopes of finishing up that final 20% ... and I'm happy to say it was a successful trip! Everyone is now finished, stockings and all. And not a dime of it went outside of the overtime offering that we had saved up. Talk about a tight budget, but a good one. That felt like a small victory in and of itself.

I have to say, though, that Walmart greatly displeased me. When we lived in PA, we had a wonderful Walmart right down the road from our house which I visited frequently. I loved that store -- I always found everything I wanted, and the prices were very low. A perfect combination.

I think something must have changed in the Walmart World -- either that, or it's been too, too long since I've been shopping (that, indeed, is true). The prices were anything but low -- $4 for a single pair of socks? A pack of 3, maybe, but not just one. No thanks. Or ... is this just the reality of living in NJ? Could be.

Yet more annoying was the availability of items -- or the lack thereof. A few very specific things were on my list, so I went online to check store availability -- just to make sure the journey wouldn't be a wasted one. Everything I wanted was declared "In Stock." Excellent! However, when I got to the store, nothing was there. Not a thing. The super cool light saber with lights and sound, only $2 more than the cheap-o plastic version, wasn't there, despite its promise. The 12" cast iron skillet for Chef Don wasn't there. And so on, and so on. Thankfully I either found adequate alternatives or else just chalked it up to, "Sorry -- not getting anything this year." But still ... it was quite a nuisance.

But I think the biggest annoyance of all came as I was searching for a much-needed belt. My jaw dropped to the floor as I saw what they were doing: the higher you go in size, the more expensive the item. Can you believe it??!! I was stunned. A belt sized XSS, which would fit around my thigh on a good day, was an affordable price. But start climbing up the size ladder, and you're adding on a dollar per size. I was beyond disgusted -- or is that just how shopping is nowadays? Either that's a great incentive to lose weight and save money in the bargain, or it's just plain wrong. No wonder I love my thrift store.

I'm glad my shopping is finished, annoyances and all. And this morning we woke up to our first "Christmas Snow," as my kids have been calling it. It's all falling into place. Next comes the fun part -- seeing the shining faces gazing on the wrapped gifts. That part is contagious.