The Christmas Shopping Deadbeat
I have friends who had their Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. These people sort of set the benchmark.
Then since Thanksgiving, I have had random conversations with other friends that include the phrase "I finally finished my Christmas shopping" and with each of these conversations a certain fact about myself beats loud and true.
I am a Christmas Shopping deadbeat.
I always MEAN to start my shopping early. I make lists of what my gift recipients might want. I hunt and peck online for gift inspiration. I decide on a gift wrapping theme (last year was blue and silver, this year WAS going to be lime green and gold but I couldn't find the perfect lime green paper so instead it's cream, orange, blue and pink) buy wrapping paper. But the actual gift BUYING always alludes me. I might drive by the mall after work but I take one look at the parking lot and speed away. I try to shop online but I can't get past the need to hold something in my hand to know that it's a good gift. And so I wait. I wait until that most maddening shopping time of year, the week before Christmas.
Part of me actually believes that even if I don't do my own Christmas shopping, it will get done anyway. This sadly proves, time and time again, not to be the case. Hmph.
So here we are one week and one day before the holiday and nary a gift in sight. I am pinning all my gift buying hopes on my only free night this week, this Thursday. Which sounds bad? But not as bad as Christmas of 2002 in which I did all my Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve between 11AM and 1PM and only had to hit stores within a two block radius of the Copley Mall.
That's some skill right there. And some deadbeattery, I admit.
So what about you? Are you a deadbeat like me waiting until the last minute? Were you done months ago? Make me jealous! Or commiserate with me and offer to take me out for a drink Thursday night after (hopefully) I have braved the masses and am done.
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18 comments:
I just started my Christmas shopping online last night. I was going to go tonight but I decided to organize my closet instead....
Clearly I'm a deadbeat too!
I have barely done anything yet, but I have no problem with the online shopping, so I do a lot of it that way.
I bought my last Christmas present yesterday online. So now I am officially done.
I did 99% of mine online and just finished. I still have stocking stuffers to do but with this weather-ACK! I cannot believe I didn't go to the mall at all this year!
I love my friends who are 'early starters' but, frankly, I have a secret urge to punch them when they announce, on Thanksgiving, "Oh, I'm already done shopping."
UGH.
I'll be out shopping on Thursday as well! I say we meet up at Fat Cat afterwards either to celebrate or to whine that we're still not done. ;-)
~Jeannie
Yeah, I'm somewhat of one, but I really like shopping amongst the decorations and Christmas music. Not too big on the crowds, but that's just what I have to deal with then.
I am kind of finished- well all gifts have been ordered at least. (ordered is considered 'done' to me!) (I say kind of because there's always something/someone I forget until the veeeeeeeery last minute, every year, without fail, despite all the lists and all that jazz, I forget something/someone. Oy!)
I kind of want to punch people in the mouth that are done their holiday shopping so early. But to be honest, I kind of dig the crowds, the malls, it actually doesn't feel like 'christmas' to me without a run through the crowded mall (even if I don't need anything there) to see the decorations and all that hoopla. (maybe it's from all the years working retail? especially the crazy holidays. LOVED it). Good luck with your shopping this year!
Jeanne you have yourself a date!
I sat down on Black Friday with the full intention of doing homework. But the procrastinator in me screamed, "Let's go online shopping instead!!!" And *poof* I suddenly had finished all of my Christmas shopping for my immediate family and PJ. Finals be damned...who can resist sale prices and free shipping?
Having a)no family and b)no real extended family....my co-workers are each getting a DVD this year, which I ordered all in one fell swoop from Amazon at the beginning of the month. Neat-o.
I am about 1/3 of the way done...the rest of the presents will likely be purchased on Dec 23rd. Deadbeat, right here.
RED - I always forget someone too. Two years ago we realized we forgot Adam's sister in law on our WAY to their house on Christmas day. She got about $100 worth of "guilt" scratch tickets from us that year.
I have but one gift left to buy and if my dang coworkers would ever come back to the freaking office so *I* could leave then I'd be done by the end of today. On the other hand, if I don't get out today to do it, it'll get finished tomorrow night, about 12 hours before I get on a plane to MiddleOfNowhwere, Indiana where my shopping options are Wal-Mart and the farm supply store (am not exaggerating). So yeah, I'm cutting it pretty close this year.
I did some online last week to maximize the cash back factor; some will be done when I'm in Philly over the weekend and the rest - Christmas Eve definitely WITH a cocktail afterwards. I've had to scale back the gift giving this year - which is fine with me :)
well i'm in the process of compiling the gifts for my mom, my brother and his wife and my nana. I'm doing pictures and digital frames because they were on sale and i have tonnes of pictures and i forsee my future of sending a yearly 'year in pictures' on usb or sd card full of my little world for future gifts. It's the thought right?
As for friends....they all get hugz and/or alcohol to drown the sorrows and live in false happiness whichever comes first.
Plus I don't do the colour coordinated wrapping, I unfortunately do not have a martha stewart inclination.
Usually I'm sort of in the middle, but we were expecting to take Christmas presents with us at Thanksgiving because we won't be visiting family at Christmas. The weight restrictions prohibited us taking them, but since I didn't know we couldn't take them until about, oh 11 pm the night before we were leaving, the presents were already bought. I've since procrastinated though on getting some small photo gifts done (started planning that last week). Before I was married, my brothers and I would go to the mall together on Christmas Eve, oh so subtley point out something we liked and then walk away so the other two could fight over who was going to buy it. That was the best way to do present shopping! Not a huge surprise, but you always got stuff you wanted!
Holly thats what my brother and I would do too, basically. I think its worth giving up a surprise to guarantee you get something you would actually use!
i am not done yet either. Holiday shopping is so overwhelming.
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