Has the dust settled?
Have enough of the dedicated December shoppers tired to free up a space for me in the parking lot?
Off I go with a list in my purse and ideas in my head on an annual search for gifts that suit the receipent and my budget. So many things to consider:
Size matters if you’re going to ship it across country. Weight also, but not so much since the debut of flat-rate shipping boxes.
Color and taste – will it be a duplicate? Does she already have a red scarf? What if they went on a serious diet?
Don’t forget the accessories – paper, bows, tape, gift tags (I’ve lost more of these than I’ve used in my lifetime – where do they skip off to at the end of December?)
With my hands on the cart, my purse on my shoulder and eyes alert for traffic I move through the store. One by one items go from shelf and rack into my mobil platform. Wait at check-out. Complete transaction. Load into car. Drive to next store and repeat until finished.
Then I’m off to home, wrapping and a quick – or at least focused – trip to the post office before sitting back to relax and imagine the gifts under other trees while looking at the collection under my own.