Last Friday night the time came to get really serious about shopping for the holidays. My sons and I headed for the local mall ready to shop. My husband, who has participated in these kinds of adventures in the past, opted to stay home. He is not enamored with the way we race from store to store and make this an adventure.

I do not love to shop, but somehow going to the mall at the holidays takes on a theme of something like a scavenger hunt. If you know what you are looking for, you are out to find it for the best price in the shortest amount of time. If you have no idea what you are looking for, there is nothing like the glee you feel when you find it, especially when you know it's JUST perfect.

But to meet these goals there are obstacles.

The first obstacle: The Out-of-Stock Item That You Counted On

Those reading last week's blog know that the key to artificial tree success is the Illuminations Christmas Tree scented candles in jars. Well, imagine my dismay when they were sold out in the mall, as well as online. The salesperson told me sweetly that they were expecting more in on Tuesday. Of course, now it's Friday and I completely forgot to call!

The second obstacle: Unpreparedness for The Sales

The major department stores all were offering special sales for credit card holders. There were signs in one store touting "Private Sale." We wanted to know HOW to qualify. All were referencing cards that had been sent in the mail. Oh THOSE cards. The ones I left home. I actually went to the Customer Service person at Bloomingdale's to explain I had left them home and ask for new ones. Translation: This is the retail equivalent of "The Dog Ate My Homework." Now note that I had not found anything I wanted to buy. I just wanted to be sure I was able to buy it for the "inside price" given the opportunity.

The third obstacle: We Have It In The Back

I think it's a conspiracy. Whatever size I want, the item is not available on the floor. If I want small, I can find medium, large or X-large in great quantity. If I want medium, they have small, large or X-large. Once I track down a salesperson, this is what happens. They zap it with the good old scanner, and utter the dreaded words, "We have it in the stockroom." This is the equivalent of "Cool your heels for 30 minutes while the inexperienced seasonal help looks for it." Ugh.

The fourth obstacle: The Other Shoppers

I seem to always get in line behind people who a) need to do a return first usually with no receipt, b) have decided that NOW is the moment to open up a credit card to get that additional 15% off or c) need boxes with tissue, each item rung up separately or something else still on the floor that will drag the appointed salesperson away for a minimum of 15 minutes.

The fifth obstacle: The Gift Does Not Exist!

I kid you not here folks. My older son wanted to get a stuffed fox for a girl he knows from school. She did not want a bear, a bunny or a dog. She wanted a fox or another woodlands of the forest stuffed animal. And it needed to be very soft and fluffy. Okay. HOW hard can this be? We live in horse country where on Thanksgiving morning people who clearly are not making the turkey at their house all go out and fox hunt. These are the same people who have an annual party to raise money for charity where everyone decorates their tables with foxes! Of course, they are not soft and fluffy, but hey, how hard can it be.

Well, I now know the definition of IMPOSSIBLE. We went to six stores and called two others. I have seen dogs, bunnies, bears, horses and even pigs, but no foxes. And for the record, it cannot be a simple Beanie Baby fox...we were going for larger and more distinctive here. For a while my younger son was holding up a dark colored dog and saying he really thought Greg could pass this off as a fox. For a while I actually thought this was a good idea! It's amazing what hours of shopping can do to one's sanity.

We came home and googled "stuffed fox" and found a number of them --- red fox, white fox and every other variation. Imagine that. I did not have to leave the house to find the fox.

All this speaks to yet another reason to buy --- books!

1) If it's out of stock in a store, you can get it online.

2) The sales usually are right in the store...with few exceptions.

3) Typically all the stock is on the floor. There are no size issues.

4) If you buy online, you are spared the other shoppers.

5) It exists!

The one thing that did happen along the way on the fox quest --- we found a lot of other presents! That's the one thing about holiday shopping. You always can find something you never knew you HAD to have, but were not looking for.

I have figured out why the holidaze is such a crazy time of year. There are sooo many --- too many --- decisions to make.

For a tree, fresh or artificial? If artificial, which do you want --- blue spruce, douglas fir or another variety? For fresh, WHAT was the tree that had the good scent last year? We got an artificial tree a few years ago when we started traveling over the holiday as I was unable to deal with a) watering the tree while we were away and b) dealing with the fallen needles upon our return. Pulling a tree out of a box each year does make this a lot easier. And for those of you pondering an artificial tree, Illuminations makes candles with a great Christmas tree scent.

Then there's decorating the house. Okay, I overdo it on the decorations. I am sure there are many of you out there like me. The issue here --- remembering where things go since usually by January I have them exactly where I want them. This is a good reason to have children. THEY remember!

Then I paint trees and gifts for friends each year. Each is unique. Last year one turned out really pretty and I decided to do them all in the same technique this year. Can I remember what this was? No. I need to call the recipient and ask her to describe it. But I do remember loving it.

While all the above create decisions, nothing is more time consuming than holiday shopping. Specifically strategizing shopping the holiday sales, when to shop and where to shop. This to me takes the holidaze over the top. It makes trying to figure out what to give seem like the easy part. As if shopping was not enough pressure, now I find myself trying to strategize free shipping, discount offers, one-day sales and every other new clever thing that stores come up with. I am moaning that I missed the Lego two-day sale with savings of up to 20%. I was too busy basting the turkey to open the email.

I have never risen at 5AM to get a DVD player for some bargain rate. I am not a morning person. If this sale were to happen at let's say, 11PM, I may be in the crowd, but stores opening before 9:30 are never going to see me. I watch the footage of bleary-eyed shoppers every Black Friday rushing the doors. I am not competitive enough to go up against them.

But other sale offers still get me going.

Last weekend I wanted to get candles from Illuminations and almost rushed to the mall to get the "buy two jars get one free" offer. In fact, I was kicking myself Sunday night that I missed this. Well this week I got another offer for Illuminations Candle Club members exclusively for $10 off a $50 order. Was this better than last weekend's offer? Do I rush there tonight? Now I am wondering if there is a BETTER offer still out there.

I am trying to figure out if the stores do the same offers each year. Maybe I should chart them so next year I will remember.

Then there is a chance that waiting will not pay off since the product will not be there if I play the wait game. Will they still have the dog pajamas in size 8 at the Gap if I wait for the bonus coupon?

And then there are the book, DVD and music offers. Last weekend Borders offered 50% off on 11 titles. I immediately found myself looking at my list and their list trying to match people and gifts together. I was wowed by my friend, Annie, who managed to match six of the titles to people on her list and the Martha Stewart cookbook for herself too. How clever was she?

At the Borders checkout on Saturday I saw $100 off on the DVDs of all ten seasons of Friends. So what that my son owns years 1-5 already? THIS was a chance to save $100! I had never seen a coupon like this before. Maybe I could buy them all and then sell seasons 1-5 on eBay. Of course, I have never sold anything on eBay in the past, but this sounded great.

Of course I am the same girl who bought a color laser printer with a $100 mail-in rebate that I remembered 31 days after I bought it. Yes, the rebate expired in 30 days. And I did the same thing on not one, but TWO, cellphones. Clearly only INSTANT coupons work for me.

Tonight we are going to the mall. I have to remember to get the coupon book when we get there. Typically this book will have coupons for stores that I never shop in, but I HAVE to have it to see what is being discounted. Maybe I will need it.

While I have written this note three offers to "BUY NOW AND AVOID SHIPPING COSTS have arrived in my mailbox. Now my mailbox is filling up with offers from them same catalogs that are piled up around the house. One offer was for sheets and pillowcases. I do not need those, or do I? They have free shipping til Sunday. Another was for clothing from a mail order catalog that I bought from once. Nothing fit right. But they have FREE shipping. The third was from Victoria Secrets for their "sweater sale." I did not know they carried sweaters.

I got a promotional $10 gift certificate from Victoria Secrets as a birthday gift. This is to lure me into the store to spend money, because seriously what can someone buy for $10 in that store? But I know I will not resist. After all, it's $10 off on whatever I want!

Both of my boys have made Wish Lists on Amazon. I highly recommend these especially to those of you with far flung family. When you see people once or twice a year who knows what their interests really are. Also, there's a great selection. And you don't need to leave the house!

This hits on another fact of life. I am not competitive enough to shop this time of year. It all starts in the parking lot. The circling. The dash to cut someone off. I am just not aggressive enough. And I hate wasting time hunting for a spot. I also hate checkout lines.

I will spend a considerable portion of these next weeks strategizing when to shop to avoid crowds. It used to be people went home to eat and 5-7PM worked, but I think that plan may not be viable. Plus I get hungry too.

I love getting gift cards and from our last poll I see you do too. We asked which of the following would you like to receive this holiday season --- a gift card to your local booksellers, a gift card to an online bookseller, a book or nothing book-related. Of the more than 600 respondents, 64% of you want a gift card for a local bookstore; 20% one for an online bookstore. Only 13% of you want a book. 2.5% want nothing book-related. Should I just get everyone a gift card? A tree of gift cards?

Of course, my favorite things to buy are books. I know books. I may not know the hot Hollister or Abercrombie item for my niece, but I DO know what she will like to read. There are no size, color or fit issues involved.

Reading is not trendy. It is cool. And there's definitely a book out there for everyone. You pretty much know what you are going to pay, and where you can get the discounts. And hey, I can avoid the whole shopping center nightmare by getting them online.

I must go...an offer just came into my mailbox for Personalized Christmas Ornaments. I must investigate!