hohoho (hum)

The 2010 holiday season is undoubtedly upon us and I, for one, pledge not to be unprepared, unhinged and unwrapped. I shall commit to buying more while spending less, to staying organized and mostly sane, and, hopefully, by the grace of the bearded man himself, finally get those dang lights strung up on the outside of my house. To keep myself on track, I have adapted a good old favorite carol that I will sing joyously (off key and quite loudly) – it shall be my theme, my mantra, my gift to you…

The traffic outside is frightful,
But the mall is so delightful,
Since we’ve got a great parking spot,
Let’s Go Shop! Let’s Go Shop! Let’s Go Shop!

Now that I have a tune in my head and a solid shopping plan, let the preparations commence. I will make lists and more lists and lists for my lists and I will be steadfast and furious and the first in line for the great deals of the day. There will be no repeats from last year’s ZhuZhu pet fiasco (numerous late night store visits, daily calls trying to butter up the “big wholesale store” employees to get the inside scoop on the delivery schedules so that I might hijack the truck en route, and finally spending 4x as much on eBay to score the coveted rodent squeakers). I have my eyes peeled for the next hot ticket item and I will definitely buy it early and minimize my stress while on the hunt for the hard to find items. I consign to staying on budget (hello Microsoft Excel, my dear, old systematic friend) and to “wow!” my family, friends, coworkers and my children’s teachers with the most thoughtful, fantastic goodies they could have ever even dreamed. Crowds of cranky shoppers will part like the Red Sea when they see me coming as I am the merriest, most mirthful mum filling bags and checking off names. Complete with toddler in tow and before the school bus returns home at 3:30P, I vow to succeed despite the frenzy of colored, blinking lights and tall piles of unsent greeting cards.