Christmas Shopping

Today I finally got started on my Christmas shopping. Well, I suppose I actually was started, having ordered a few things online, but this was my first trip to the stores. My sister and I went and managed to get quite a bit accomplished.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a strange memory problem--it's not a short-term memory thing, it's long-term memories that give me trouble. However, I have one early memory that is very vivid and involves Christmas shopping. I remember going to a store in the next town and shopping for a gift for my grandmother. I wasn't very old at the time, maybe seven or eight, and I didn't have much money of my own to spend. But I found a beautiful little changepurse, pink and studded with small crystals, that was perfect. I thought it was beautiful, at least; I don't know for certain what my grandmother thought, although I know she would have told me she loved it regardless. It's strange that this memory is so vivid. I can close my eyes and see the changepurse there in my hands.

I can't say I'm feeling any real Christmas spirit yet, however. The Christmas music playing in the mall sounds oddly out of place to my ears. Perhaps it's the mild-ish weather we've been having, or the fact that my mind is still mostly on NaNoWriMo. It certainly isn't that the malls aren't busy!

I've done more and more shopping online the past few years; I know it's not that great for our local economy, but it's such a time-saver for me that it's difficult not to take advantage of it. This year I've done minimal shopping online so far, and it's starting to get a little late for it--I worry about things not arriving on time. I might have to bite the bullet and put a few more miles on my sneakers this year.

One thing I find depressing about mall shopping is the sheer volume of absolute JUNK that's for sale. When I think about it all ending up in landfills it just makes my heart sink.

Oops, what started out as a fairly lighthearted post has degraded rather horribly. Maybe a rousing chorus of "Jingle Bells" to cheer us all up again...

Thanks to gamerzero at morguefile.com for the money photo.