Christmas Shopping

[miko2]

Like I need to tell anyone that. Last night I tried to do some Christmas shopping at Walmart. The thought process went something like this: 1) Nephew wants a Trivium cd. "Not the new one!" 2) I have a Trivium cd I could just give him! Oh, but wait -- it's "Parental Advisory Explicit Content". Probably shouldn't give him that. 3) Where can I get a clean version? Oh, I know! Walmart!

Except that Walmart doesn't sell anything that they can't sell tons of quickly, so when it comes to music it's all stuff that is the newest of the new or the most popular of the top 40. They didn't have any Trivium cds, not even the most recent one. I guess my nephew likes bands that aren't 100% top 40 mall metal, maybe. I dunno. My one niece wanted a Weird Al cd. They didn't have any Weird Al. He's so, like, yesterday, I guess. My other niece wanted a Rhianna cd, and because she's a hot young hip hop pop star with a brand new cd, they had dozens of them.

Okay, well, that's 1 out of 3. My other niece likes purple things and wanted a teddy bear. This is the same niece that immediately said, "I don't like it!" after opening my present last year, so I'm bound and determined to make sure whatever I get her she likes, which pretty much means it has to be purple. Anyway, does Walmart have a large selection of stuff animals? No. I guess if they don't come with cartoon tie ins or aren't being pushed by major toy companies, you won't find it at Walmart.

I wanted to get a spatula for my mom, and an ice cream scoop for my dad. Yes, really -- but specific kinds, which Walmart didn't have.

So I got the one cd and left. I thought, where should I go now? Target seemed like a good alternative, but then it occurred to me that the things I was looking for could probably be found at Fred Meyers. I don't even think of Fred Meyers as a Christmas shopping destination, mainly because I got there at least 3 times a week for groceries. It's like, I'm so used to the place that when I'm trying to think of where to go to buy a cd, it doesn't even occur to me that they have them.

So I went there and found both the Weird Al cd and the Trivium cd, which was not the clean version but I don't even know if there is a clean version so my sister will have to deal with it I guess. ^_^ Then I looked for the kitchen utensils, which were too specialized for Fred Meyers to carry, and I forgot to look for a purple teddy bear and headed home.

I can probably find the teddy bear at Top Ten Toys, or maybe I should visit that toy store in the Pioneer Square district. I haven't been there in years.

Anyway... in the mean time I found the kitchen utensils on Amazon.

Here's why they're specialized: while I was at my parent's house I noticed that my mom had a little tiny spatula (turner) that was about half the size of a normal one. It has a wooden handle and is about 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 square. She uses it for everything and was cleaning it off so she could use it again before it could even make it to the dishwasher, so I said that she needed more than one, and she said it would be a good Christmas gift. It didn't take me long searching on Amazon to find this mini turner by Mercer and this small turner by Mercer. I think what my mom has is the mini one, but I might just get one of each for her.

Then for my dad... I had commented on the fact that the ice cream scoop that my parents own is the same one they had when I was a kid. My mom said that once years ago dad had been to someone's house and they had a "really good ice cream scoop that scooped even hard ice cream easily". She said it had a wider blade, and he'd always wanted one but could never find it. With only a vague idea of what she was talking about, I located this KitchenAid Ice Cream Spade which (based on all of the reviews & comments) is exactly what my dad was talking about.

I'm going to order a couple of Gooseberry Patch cookbooks from Amazon too. My mom and my two sisters all love them.

Also, can anyone tell me what it means that the people keep coming but the train has gone, and how that fits into the theme of "Mary Had A Baby"? I don't remember the wise men arriving by train. ^_^