Speaking of Poor Quality

Right before the holiday shopping season commenced I heard a radio commercial asking all of us Abilenians to " shop locally" and NOT on the Internet. They argued that shopping locally helps not only the local economy but helps the PEOPLE Abilene buy supporting small businesses and jobs in the area. Which is true! And the whole proposal made sense. So I decided to not shop online and to support my neighbors.

And that lasted all of a few weeks. :-( To be fair, I did give it the ol' college try... but Abilene has its limits.

The biggest disappointment came when we went to buy our tree. We thought we found a nice one until we got it home and put it in water. After cutting off the bottom and setting it up it should have drank in a whole lot of water. But it didn't - not even a smidge after 2 days. So we returned the tree and hunted around for a better one. But we couldn't. They were all dried out and old. By the time they get down here they have been cut for at least a month - plus it had been so warm and sunny that some of the branches had been scorched by the sun. I understood quite quickly why fake trees were so popular down here. But I can't stand fake trees.... not only for environmental reasons but because to me it defeats the whole purpose/meaning/symbolism behind the tree. (which I will spare you - FOR NOW!!!) So... I ordered our tree direct from the tree farm and it was shipped to me a few days later. Fresh and green... and all sappy.... PERFECT!

The second issue came when I was looking for an Advent Calendar for Braden. I wanted the kind I had had when I was a kid. Paper, with glitter all over it and an old world picture of a snowy town or forest with open up windows that revealed pictures underneath. I went to Wal-Mart, Target, Michaels, Ross, the Dollar Store AND Family Christian Booksellers.... NOTHING. Besides the box calendar (which you have to put something in) or the tear off chocolate calendars I couldn't find what I was looking for. So it was off to Ebay for that.

Since then I have given up my Abilene only no Internet shopping and it has opened up a whole new world of Toys and Gifts that I can buy/give. For Braden:

From Restoration Hardware: a match box sized music box with a moving train

and Back to Basic Toys: a wind-up Robot

or for my Mother- in-Law From Shore Service Dogs: Note cards with prints of Paintings done by Dogs! (all the proceeds go to the service dog program)

Plus - I didn't have to hassle with ANY people! and really, isn't that what the holiday is all about :-) LOL