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Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
Ready, set, Christmas
By Jane Howard Lee
Contributor Published November 12, 2009 Have you started your Christmas shopping?
Have you searched for lists of the hot toys of the year in an attempt to figure out what in the world you are going to get for the children in your life?
Are you eyeballing the store catalogs and the TV and newspaper ads trying to get a clue what is hot and what is not when it comes to gift giving this year?
Can it really be time to stress out over all this again?
Apparently so.
It is less than six weeks until Christmas.
The only reason I mention all of this is to remind you that it is time to get busy, while reminding myself as well.
There have been years when I had all of my holiday shopping done before October and my Christmas cards ready to mail before Thanksgiving. Obviously this year is not one of those years.
Since we have kinfolk coming to visit from overseas in the second week of December, we'll have part of our holiday celebration then. I've got less than a month to prepare for that and don't have any of it done.
We're meeting dear friends in the Hill County near the end of this month and so we'll have part of our holiday celebration there as well. We'll be cooking a holiday meal and exchanging gifts and working it in with the men's deer hunting schedule. I've got less than three weeks to get ready for that and haven't even made a list of what I need to do and buy to get ready.
I did pick up a few things while on summer vacation that I thought might work for Christmas presents but when I look at them now I can't figure out who I thought I was buying them for or why.
Bah Humbug.
No, I don't really mean that, but like many of you, I've got a lot to do and a lot of things getting in the way of getting it all done.
Since I've got two young nieces on my holiday shopping list, I searched for lists of top toys on the Internet. I learned all about a few extremely hot items, but then learned that those items are so hot that you cannot find them on the store shelves. You can find a few for sale from individuals who were smart enough to snap them up for resale, but you'll pay way more than the sticker price.
I don't think so.
I enjoy Christmas shopping, but hate Christmas shopping crowds.
I like the idea of the great deals to be found on Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, but can't handle the mass of humanity who hit the stores and occasionally trample each other to get those deals.
A few years back I went to one of the big discount stores (it starts with a W) before dawn on Black Friday, fully expecting to get inside and get some of those great deals.
I made it inside, carried by a near-rioting crowd. Once in, it quickly became apparent that inside that store was not where I wanted to be but then I couldn't fight my way back out again. I was stuck going whichever way the crowd pushed me for well over an hour. I left without making a purchase.
I won't do that again. Not even if they put giant flat screen TVs on sale for a dollar. No way.
I like the idea of shopping on the Internet, but worry that the items purchased that way won't get here in time.
Several weeks ago I ordered something from one of the big shopping channels. They assured me it would arrive within 10 days. Seven days later I got an e-mail notice that said it would take a bit longer than that. A couple days after that I got another notice that said they were happy to say it would only be another two weeks before my order arrived at my home. When the order finally arrived I opened it to find that they had sent the right thing, but in the wrong color. I had to send it back. Maybe they'll send the right color someday. Maybe not.
Jane Howard Lee is a reporter for The Baytown Sun.
Contributor Published November 12, 2009 Have you started your Christmas shopping?
Have you searched for lists of the hot toys of the year in an attempt to figure out what in the world you are going to get for the children in your life?
Are you eyeballing the store catalogs and the TV and newspaper ads trying to get a clue what is hot and what is not when it comes to gift giving this year?
Can it really be time to stress out over all this again?
Apparently so.
It is less than six weeks until Christmas.
The only reason I mention all of this is to remind you that it is time to get busy, while reminding myself as well.
There have been years when I had all of my holiday shopping done before October and my Christmas cards ready to mail before Thanksgiving. Obviously this year is not one of those years.
Since we have kinfolk coming to visit from overseas in the second week of December, we'll have part of our holiday celebration then. I've got less than a month to prepare for that and don't have any of it done.
We're meeting dear friends in the Hill County near the end of this month and so we'll have part of our holiday celebration there as well. We'll be cooking a holiday meal and exchanging gifts and working it in with the men's deer hunting schedule. I've got less than three weeks to get ready for that and haven't even made a list of what I need to do and buy to get ready.
I did pick up a few things while on summer vacation that I thought might work for Christmas presents but when I look at them now I can't figure out who I thought I was buying them for or why.
Bah Humbug.
No, I don't really mean that, but like many of you, I've got a lot to do and a lot of things getting in the way of getting it all done.
Since I've got two young nieces on my holiday shopping list, I searched for lists of top toys on the Internet. I learned all about a few extremely hot items, but then learned that those items are so hot that you cannot find them on the store shelves. You can find a few for sale from individuals who were smart enough to snap them up for resale, but you'll pay way more than the sticker price.
I don't think so.
I enjoy Christmas shopping, but hate Christmas shopping crowds.
I like the idea of the great deals to be found on Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving, but can't handle the mass of humanity who hit the stores and occasionally trample each other to get those deals.
A few years back I went to one of the big discount stores (it starts with a W) before dawn on Black Friday, fully expecting to get inside and get some of those great deals.
I made it inside, carried by a near-rioting crowd. Once in, it quickly became apparent that inside that store was not where I wanted to be but then I couldn't fight my way back out again. I was stuck going whichever way the crowd pushed me for well over an hour. I left without making a purchase.
I won't do that again. Not even if they put giant flat screen TVs on sale for a dollar. No way.
I like the idea of shopping on the Internet, but worry that the items purchased that way won't get here in time.
Several weeks ago I ordered something from one of the big shopping channels. They assured me it would arrive within 10 days. Seven days later I got an e-mail notice that said it would take a bit longer than that. A couple days after that I got another notice that said they were happy to say it would only be another two weeks before my order arrived at my home. When the order finally arrived I opened it to find that they had sent the right thing, but in the wrong color. I had to send it back. Maybe they'll send the right color someday. Maybe not.
Jane Howard Lee is a reporter for The Baytown Sun.