Christmastime is HERE!

Woot!

I'm so stoked for Christmas, I can't even fully describe it! I had been feeling so-so about the holiday season thus far, and had not really been gung ho about any of the upcoming festivities, so I was very pleased to find myself immersed in the Christmas spirit this weekend. :)

I did all of my Christmas shopping on Saturday. All of it. Every single last piece. I had a very concise list and I had planned out all my stops, and it was a piece of cake... well, sort of cake.

The first few stops were great. I swung by the Deep Discount to check for any cheaper DVDs or books, found a few things, and purchased them! The man behind the counter was very nice, and we chatted amiably about science fiction and the BBC show Coupling until it was time for me to skeedaddle.

And skeedaddle I did! Right across the street to the Target. Yikes.

Now, typically, I LOVE Target. I mean, L-O-V-E. But Saturday was... different. It was just so loud and crazy and most annoyingly: people seriously forgot how to walk down aisles or get out of other people's way - it was ridiculous! But, in spite of being stopped every five seconds behind someone with a heaping cart who really needed to turn it sideways in the aisle and block everyone else from passing by, I braved the crowds and came away from Target with all my goal items checked off my list. Score!

Next up was Best Buy: Of course, it was another madhouse, but for the sake of finding the few things I did not find at Deep Discount and for the two pieces of electronics that I needed there, it had to be done! Surprisingly, even though the parking lot was crazy and the store was full of people, the service was very good. Really, the lines moved quickly, there were a lot of salespeople on the floor to answer questions, it was great! :) So, another successful stop was checked off of my list, and I decided to quickly grab some lunch before I headed off to my next challenge: Toys R Us.

Yeah, it's true. I was stupid enough to try going to Toys R Us ten days before Christmas.... I'm not sure I will ever live down the shame of that kind of error in judgment. But, I had to! I hadn't found the toys I wanted for my nieces and I figured that they MUST be there!

Yeah, I'm naive.

Anyway, Toys R Us is the seventh circle of hell. Not joking. The parking lot was horrific, and it was only after some clever jockeying and some not nice language on my behalf, that I found a spot somewhere nearby. I then walked across the parking lot o' death towards the sliding glass doors of the entrance, mentally noting the large crowd of angry looking smokers standing outside and puffing away (obviously they weren't having the times of their lives either). But, how bad could it really be?

Once I stepped in, I wanted to immediately run back out. Honestly. The noise of arguing parents and screeching infants coupled with the nauseating stench of diaper and puke and plastic automatically set off every alarm in my head that told me to "Get out while you still can!"

But, I pushed through the knee-jerk reaction and started to make my way around the store. I did a total of two laps before I found where the toys in question were kept.... yes, they were all gone. Long gone. I was definitely WAY TOO LATE. Boo!

So, I rushed out of that hell hole in a truly foul temper, stalked to my car like a pouty five year old and slammed the door shut with great dramatic flair. I huffed and puffed for a few minutes about not getting what I wanted and about having to visit such a rotten place when it happened: this very clear, quiet sense of calm poured over me. It was cooling, and everything around me slowed down for a second. I realized I was smiling.

It may sound naive, but I believe that this sense of peace I felt was the Lord. I think he saw me there, and I think he personally touched my heart. All I can really know for sure is that I felt exponentially better - I'd even say I felt great! - and I also felt instantly sorry for how foolish I had acted at Toys R Us... what a silly thing to get upset about.

So, the rest of my wonderful holiday shopping was a breeze because I grinned through all the crowds and even through all the dollars spent because I could remember that quiet calm in my heart, and I could feel joy knowing that peace exists with us and within us, and Christmas is a time to share that with everyone around you.

May peace be with you all as you travel down the busy Holiday road - don't forget to sit quietly every once in a while and think on the true meaning of Christmas and what it really means for you and your family.

Merry Christmas!