Christmas Eve shoppers UNITE!!!!

Most people would be in a panic by now....six days till Christmas. But this is the time frame that gets my adrenaline flowing.

I am a regular Christmas Eve shopper, you see. I have a few things purchased...a few things for the DILS (daughter-in-laws), know what we are giving all our boys and have my present purchased to me..actually it's my present from my hubby but Doug told me to get my own present since I told him I wanted some Hillcrest gear. He said, "Buy it from me and wrap it for Christmas."

It works. At least I can get it in the size I know will fit and not some imaginary size Doug either wishes I'd be or some oversized thing he thinks will fit me but I will swim in...so I'm not complaining.

And about my Christmas Eve shopping, well, it's in my blood.

You see, growing up, my sisters and I would plan our Christmas Eve trips to either Alexandria or Fergus Falls. We had a list of who we had to buy for and some ideas. You see when you shop like this you have to have ideas. You can't have one thought in mind like those little hamster things that EVERYONE seems to be buying, except me, obviously.  And you go for things people can use rather than the popular faddish things.

I remember going into the department stores and we'd try several types of perfume for a gift for mom or check out the different tester bottles for cologne for our brother or dad or uncles. One year we all got sick to our stomachs on the way home, no urping, but it still made our stomachs churn as we smelt like a combination of Stetson cologne and Chanel perfume. YUCKO!

It was the only time in the winter that we drove with the windows down!

Once we got home to the farm, we each went into a different bedroom to wrap, wrap wrap, finish chores, take a bath (we had no shower. Oh, the humanity!) and get ready to go to Grandma's house. Amazingly, all the hub-bub seemed like a well-planned event. We enjoyed the evening, the surprises of the gifts and all the food. There was always more than enough to eat.

Ahhh. Busy shopping, preparations and a late night. We slept really good once we got home.

So maybe my Christmas Eve shopping events aren't really something I HAVE to do but it's like baking sugar cookies and listening to Christmas songs...it's tradition! And you don't want to mess with mother tradition now, do you?!