Freed from the tyranny of having to go into the office (or sit at the house and participate in phonecons), I was able to spend yesterday afternoon shopping like a maniac, as we flitted hither and thither, looking for the last couple of gaps on the list.
Part of the trip took us to Best Buy, which had a line to the cash registers stretching a good third of the way around the store. I had a sense of what I needed, so Margie volunteered to queue up, and I went a-shopping.
Came back with the first batch in a few minutes, to find the line had moved precipitously forward. Ducked under the tables festooned with DVDs-for-$5.99 which line the last half the queue, and ran back for the last bits I needed.
Drat. Choice A is nowhere to be found, so should it be Choice B or Choice C. Dashed back. Margie was at the cash register, about twenty feet away. I held up B, wiggled it, then C, and wiggled it. She pointed at B, I tossed it to her, she caught it, I deposited C in a convenient spot, and went around to the exit end of the register line.
Now that’s teamwork, folks.
Woke up this morning around 6:30, convinced that I’d made a Horrible Mistake in something technical I’d purchased. I had to get up, look at the box, look at the picture on the box, and by the time I was 90% convinced I’d been correct, I was far too awake to go back to sleep. Sigh.
And, yes, there are plenty of circumlocutions above, since Some Folk What Are Getting Presents Referenced Above Do In Fact Read This Blog. Further deponent sayeth not.
Most of this morning was a flurry of wrapping, punctuated by assisting with prep for Christmas Eve Dinner. I’m not sure how Christmas snuck up this year. It seems only a few days ago that it was days and days and days away, and, all of a sudden, boom, it’s an elaborate dance of getting packages finished, digging out stuff from the luggage, pulling allocated gifts from cold storage in the closet, and wondering What The Hell Happened To That Other Package, not to mention How Could They Cancel That Order Now What Am I Going To Give Her. Kind of a frantic frenzy that I’d hoped to avoid. I’d have appreciated another day of non-working relaxation.
Heavy use this year of gift bags, decorative Disney boxes (with Disney gifts inside), and wine bags for non-wine gifts (you can roll up a t-shirt quite nicely inside of one, and you can save the ones that say “Happy New Year” or “I Confess My Zins” for your four-year-old).
But, it’s more or less all done. A stack of packages to go downstairs for opening here at the Ks in the morning. Another stack of packages to go in the car to go up to my Folks for the afternoon and Christmas dinner. Another stack to go to the Delli’s for Christmas dessert. Another smattering of January birthday gifts and gifts for folk who we hope to see post-holiday.
And now it’s all just eager waiting for the morning. Sort of like Katherine, if a scosh grouchier.