'Tis the Season... Already?

I was a bad girl today. I didn't go to my grad class this afternoon. Instead I went shopping.

I made my list of places I needed to stop and what I needed to get at each of them (yes, I am that anal). I had some special deals and extra percent off coupons for several of them, and a few things I just needed. I came home with two pairs of shoes (one running, one everyday) and a shirt, a rechargeable vacuum (for the repeated messes Copper leaves in the back room when she... ahem... snacks from the cat litter box), a new bra and pair of panties from Victoria's Secret (had a coupon, so the panties were free and the bra $10 off), my new Hallmark ornaments for the year, two lotions from Bath and Body Works (one free), miscellaneous grocery type items from Walmart, and John Mayer's new CD. Just for good measure, I ran the Jeep through the car wash and stopped for some dinner at KFC.

But here's the thing... it's two weeks before Thanksgiving and the crowds in the stores already look like two weeks before Christmas. Maybe this is the year that everyone is getting their shopping done early and the stores will be empty by then. Personally, I'm not a big Christmas shopper. My family only exchanges little cutesy gifts due to the fact that we all work for a living and buy stuff ourselves whenever we want it. Also, all the neices and nephews live far away, so they just get gift cards. And since I don't have a boyfriend, it removes the need to purchase anything for him. I still have a Christmas savings account, so I have a few hundred dollars stashed away, but I have a feeling most of that is going to pay for the new tires I just put on the Jeep.

Of course, I really rather put that money toward a new flat-panel TV... or a new kitchen. See? This is why my family doesn't really exchange gifts... we want too big of things!