Good Old "RT" (Retail Therapy)

The first signs of Christmas at our house...And it's not even Thanksgiving. Oh my!

I woke up today and decided to head into town for some good old "RT." Most of my Christmas shopping was completed last month, but I usually help my dad out with his. I hit many spots that I normally do not have time for. I began at Target, then headed on to Old Navy and hit a few stores in the mall. Wii games for under $20, an outfit for my niece for $10, $150 worth of FREE stuff from JCPenny("HOW?" you ask...I earn rewards with my credit card and will cash in for a $40 gift card soon. Everything I bought was 50-75% off, one pair of $40 shoes was marked down to $5 and I had a $10 off $50 coupon...So, I walked out with six new bath towels, a pair of shoes, two half zip fleece tops and a dressy shirt for church...for FREE!). I then moved on to a local treasure chest called "Tuesday Morning." I don't frequent the place, as it is overwhelming to go into. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall STUFF. The prices can be a bit high for my liking, but today I spent about 45 minutes perusing the toy aisles. I found a small air hockey table for my nephew, fun musical instruments for several kids, a Cranium game for $3 and many other items. Then, on to Ross. I've been wanting to get a globe for our classroom, and today I found one for just $15. I picked up several other things for C and J's birthday, as it comes a few weeks after Christmas. And new PJs for me...(I am collecting gifts for myself that D can wrap with the boys to give to me for Christmas. Weird? Maybe, but this works for us!). I dropped off a load at Dad's, then headed to Finder's Keepers. I bought D a two piece Champion wind suit for just $9 and a three piece PJ set for me for just $6. Hello...That's cheap! Final stop of the day was Ollies...where I found more unusual games for the boys' Christmas Eve gifts. We allow them to open one gift on Christmas Eve, and I like to give them a game or activity that we can participate in as a family. We try to stick to the "three gift" rule for our boys. Jesus was brought three gifts by the wisemen, so why should we get more than Jesus? I get each one a toy that they want, another gift and then I make up "smart boxes" for the final gift. I've been doing this since they were little, one year I bought them a bunch of Discovery Toys. This year their "smart boxes" will be filled with books I've been collecting from the book fair, Scholastic book orders and a new website I found http://www.libraryanded.com/.


When I arrived home we hit the attic for last year's clearance wrapping paper and D has been playing "Santa's little helper" for about two hours. He also wrapped all the M family gifts so we can send them down to SC tomorrow with N's parents who are passing through...So sad that we can't give them in person, but at least they can get a little cheer this way. I am tired. Oh my. So tired. But I feel good about all that we got done today.