Malleiform Monday

malleiform ~ shaped like a hammer

Whew! I did it. I survived another National Writing month. And for my efforts I have another unfinished novel to add to my collection. LOL

So, since I did not have to spend Saturday chained to my lap top frantically writing those last few thousand words, I did what any normal person would do with Christmas just three weeks away, I went shopping.

First I hit the thrift stores where I picked up a couple of Barbies (to go with the small Barbie house I got for free) as a pre-Christmas present for the grandbaby. I also picked up, uh, three ski jackets for myself.

I have a nice winter coat, but it’s not really suitable for when I play in the snow with the grandbaby. So I found a blue, car-coat length one at the thrift store I usually have good luck with coats in, and then I found two more in a different thrift store. I wasn’t really sure if any of them would fit but I figured at least one of them would and I could just donate the others.

Unfortunately, they all fit and they each have their appeal. I like the blue one because it’s easy to move around in and it’s a little longer. I like the beige one because it doesn’t have a hood and it’s a little shorter. And I like the black faux leather one because it’s dressier and it has a hood. Yes. I’m keeping them all.

Continuing my shopping binge, Saturday afternoon the hubby and I drove an hour east to the mall in Belleville to do a little Christmas shopping. Actually, we did a LOT of Christmas shopping. At a rough guess, I’d say we knocked off about two thirds of our Christmas list.

As the hubby pointed out, it was probably the most painless Christmas shopping experience we’ve had … ever. A few things we considered early on and made note of to come back to if we didn’t find something better, and some things we just bought on sight. Surprisingly, the two stores we’ve usually had such good luck with in the past – Winners and Toys ‘R Us – were duds this year. We bought nothing at Winners, and we only bought a couple of things at Toys ‘R Us, one of which was for me. ;-)

Then Sunday while the hubby was at a bowling tournament, I spent the day wrapping what we bought. It took the entire day (minus the amount of time it took to buy more wrapping paper) but it was worth it. No frantic wrapping marathon on Christmas Eve for me!

So how about you? Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?