I got up at 5:30 this morning, for the sole purpose of shopping. At no other time throughout the year would I ever, ever do this, but the day after Christmas is an annual tradition with the women in my family, and this year I had a very good reason to go. We were finally out of Christmas cards.

Years ago I stocked up on cards every after-Christmas sale, to the point where I had accumulated a sizable pile, and for a number of years I had to refrain from buying any cards at all. But this year we actually had to go out and buy more cards *before* Christmas because, miracle of miracles, we finally *ran out*. Hoorah, back to stocking up on cards again.

I headed off to Vacaville while it was still pitch black outside and cold enough that I had to scrape ice off the windows in order to be able to see well enough to drive. I arrived with enough time to zip off to a nearby Starbucks and purchase a cup of life-sustaining coffee in pumpkin spice latte form, then took my place in the line forming outside the door to Target, since there were only a few minutes until the doors opened. My older sister and my mom eventually joined me, and we stood and chatted for a bit, but once the doors were opened, it was every shopper for themselves.

I picked up two more 25 foot lengths of lighted garland for our outdoor decorations for next year, and several boxes of cards (of course). I also found gift bags that are the perfect size for one or two jars of homemade jelly, jam, or preserves, so I’ll be all set for next year. My mom and my older sister and I would pass each other occasionally in the aisles, pointing out cute things, offering to go pick up something for each other, and so on. One of the reasons we usually hit Target first is that the early morning shoppers there always end up being the polite sort. Everyone’s aiming for bargains, of course, but people say ‘excuse me’ when they need to get past instead of ramming their cart into the back of your ankles, and there are smiles and friendly nods, and offers to hand things from lower shelves up to those who might have difficulty in bending from whoever happens to be closest and in reach.

We took a short break for my mom to get some food, since she hadn’t had a chance to get breakfast before heading out, and then set off to our next destination – Joann Fabrics. I wanted to pick up a selection of cotton for upcoming birthday projects, and my mom and older sister like to stock up on various small gift items for coworkers and students for the following year, so between the two stores, I think we all found most of what we were looking for.

After the second store, I was pretty much shopped out. So we took a break at a little bagel place and had a snack and some coffee and chatted for a while, before heading off to our respective homes. However, I wasn’t quite done with shopping overall; it’s just that the next place on my list was in Rocklin, not Vacaville. I swung by home long enough to drop everything off and pick up Richard, and then we were off to Filati’s, which is a yarn store that was having a fabulous sale. I have been very good this past year with not buying yarn because I have really been working on knitting mostly out of my stash, but I fully intend to start on next year’s Christmas presents early, and my existing stash simply does not have what I need. So off we went to the store, where I picked up three skeins of exactly what I was looking for, plus a little extra to make something pink and fluffy for the niece, and after that, and getting lunch, we were done.

I have spent most of the rest of the day either camped out on the sofa, knitting, or occasionally stirring the lemon peels, which had to simmer for three hours in their sugar solution before being laid out carefully, one at a time, on racks to cool and dry overnight. Richard went off to have coffee with a friend, so by the time he came back I was done with all my lemon peels, and most of my knitting. We had another of the little apple pies for dinner, just for fun, and watched “Snakes on a Plane” while eating, which was a whole lot of fun. The movie is quite formulaic, which we expected, but anything involving Samuel L. Jackson and a whole lot of CGI snakes is bound to be fun.

Tis the season for Holidailies