It's Beginning...

That fast spiral into the holiday season is beginning. Walmart already has their Christmas items on display, as well as that big sign as you enter the building that boldly proclaims, "Only ___ shopping days till Christmas!" Last week, I was coming home from somewhere in the evening and flipped on the radio to listen to my favorite evening program Delilah. I've been listening to her call-in show for years and she's never let me down. On this night, however, I quickly flipped the station when I heard her announce that, in response to continuous email and phone calls from her listeners, she would be playing holiday music for the next two days, and then immediately, seamlessly, moved into a version of "It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas." Aargh! As mentioned before, I am a holiday fanatic, guilty of being swept up in all the glitz and fun and magic of the season. But this is just a little early. When I was growing up, the Christmas movies, books, and coloring books were allowed to come out the day after Thanksgiving. Upon commenting on this to a co-worker last week, she responded by saying that while that is true, Thanksgiving was two weeks away. Where did this year go?

With this in mind, I met my parents in Williamsburg this weekend to visit and get a start on holiday shopping. We started in the historic district, though I didn't buy anything there. They did take me to a bistrio they discovered the last time they were in Williamsburg, The Blue Talon. Still feeling energized we headed to the Williamsburg Prime Outlets around 1:00. Almost immediately we realized this was a mistake. Not only was there not enough parking on the grounds, but people had filled the parking lots of the surrounding businesses. After driving around for about 20 minutes trying to look/fight for a parking space, we gave up and went instead to a nearby shopping mall. I got an outfit for the aforementioned rapidly approaching holiday season, as well as a few work pieces, all on sale, of course. It was about 5:30 when we headed home, thinking only of finding something for dinner and then collapsing for the night. As with the outlets, this proved to be more difficult than anticipated, as we thought we would walk to the Texas Roadhouse next to the hotel. However, we were informed that we would have a 45 minute wait and after being out all day and seeing no place to sit while we waited, we decided to try our luck elsewhere. Turns out that the Unos across the street could seat us right away. Hmmmmm....45 minute wait or immediate service.... There are some decisions even I can make!

Tomorrow starts another busy week, so for this afternoon the plan is to do nothing but relax and give some attention to my much neglected pet who insists on following me around the house, in the fears that if I leave her sight, she may end up alone again for a few days. Poor baby.

That and count down the days till Kevin's current 2-week business trip is over and I have someone here to tell my all-imortant stories to!