I keep thinking I must have forgotten something.  This is despite taking an extra day to get ready.  I had planned to leave on Monday.  That left Saturday to work (more about that some other time), Sunday to finish off the shopping, and pack and the Monday was free for travel.  It didn’t quite work out like that.

I did work on Saturday and I did try to shop on Sunday – in fact I made a special trip across to the Westfield Shopping Centre in London (the new big one which opened just in time for the Christmas rush) – but it was slightly less successful than I had anticipated.  I only had one really important present to buy, something for my Grandma, but despite my best efforts I failed to get her anything.  Admittedly the Westfield was/is not the most appropriate place to look for Grandma type things, but I had hoped it would have something. It didn’t.  So I tried Oxford Street.

The problem with Oxford Street is that if you don’t know what you’re looking for you’re unlikely to find anything you want.  I never know what I’m looking for so I rarely find anything at all.  This time was a very slight exception.  I set out knowing I needed to find something for my Grandma.  This was the important one.  Not the only one, but the most important one.  I’m going to see her on Christmas day – that’s the day after tomorrow – so I needed to find something that day.  But, ah ha!  “Actually, if I don’t find something today I can always find something on Tuesday”.  Great idea, assuming I manage to get home on the day I plan to get home.  Getting home on Monday gives me Tuesday and even, if it’s an absolute emergency, Wednesday to find something.  As you know, I’m only just on the way home now.  Tuesday.  Afternoon.

So, a bit of a success?  Yes.  I managed to buy a present which I didn’t need to buy until after Christmas.  As well as my family I had both Miss T and Miss D on my present list.  Miss T’s reasonably easy – gift vouchers for Dress Circle or something to do with theatre, I also spotted a large Kandinsky calendar – Miss D’s a little harder.  However the mild success came in the form of a desk calendar.  I was in Borders looking around and books and things which Grandma might like when I spotted a table with lots of desk calendars on it.  I didn’t think much to begin with, but then saw a collection of calendars which related to certain countries.  They had little phrases and bits of trivia about the country in question.  I looked and found exactly what I was looking for: one about Spain.  Miss D’s starting a Spanish course with the Open University in February, so this is perfect – it’s only small so she can’t complain I’ve spent too much on her, it fits in with something she’s doing and interested in, and it shows I’m willing to help with her learning.  Great.

Unfortunately that’s all I managed to buy, which still leaves the problem of what to buy my Grandma.  I now have tomorrow.  Just tomorrow.

So here it is, this year’s Christmas shopping list:

• Mum and dad: Garmin nuvi 205w (Halfords, £119.99)
• Brother and sister-in-law: Sony DPF-D70 7″ digital photo frame (PC World, £73.39)
• Grandma: As yet, I’m not sure.  This is usually the way with my Grandma’s present.
• Miss T: Again, I’m not sure yet.  I have either until Tuesday or after Christmas to find something.  I suspect she’ll have to wait.
• Miss D: Just something reasonably small.  Still not sure what yet.

So, as you see, I’m kind of half way there.  I also bought slippers for my mum and will order an enlargement of one of my photos from the Farnborough Air Show which I can frame for my dad’s birthday present.

One thing I did like about today’s shopping trip was the mis-pricing of various things.  Both the slippers and the sat nav were labelled as per the old VAT prices.  Once I got to the checkout they were cheaper.  In the case of the slippers it was only a few pence saving, but the sat nav was a reasonable amount.  All in all, a reasonably successful trip for just a few hours.

I also checked on the bikes Halfords have this season — my parents said they would put some money towards it as my birthday and Christmas present.  There are a few which caught my eye so I think I’ll have to check in again after Christmas and see what’s going on with their sales.

Personally I doubt that even those which remain open will have anything worth buying after this weekend.  It didn’t look to me like they were re-stocking in my local store last weekend and I have no doubt this weekend will be even worse.

While Deloitte are promising that the stores will all remain open until after Christmas, I’m not sure there will be much left to sell following the weekend.  Given that Woolworths’ problems began when they were unable to obtain credit insurance and so their suppliers were unwilling to give them credit, I don’t see how they will be able to re-stock.  Unless the Woolworths’ four distribution centres are very well stocked, or the intention is that this sale will provide a cash injection to allow the chain to get their delivery chain up and running again, I doubt they’ll find any suppliers willing to work with them.

One thing is certain – the sale has made people flood back into their stores.  I can’t help feel that if they had managed to get this many people in each shop before now they wouldn’t be in the mess they are in.

I did my bit for the economy this weekend.  I finally gave in to the fact I needed some new clothes. The last straw was when I realised I had holes in the elbow of my last standing woolen jumper whilst I was getting dressed on Saturday.  I’d been putting off clothes shopping for a long time, despite Miss D’s nagging, because I resent the price of clothes.  My thinking is that something which I have to have (I have no choice but to wear clothes if I ever want to leave the house) shouldn’t cost so much.  How expensive can it be to produce a jumper really?  “But you spend hundreds of pounds on camera equipment” is the usual counter-argument, but that’s different – I don’t need that to function in society (I need it to work, but that’s beside the point), so I’m willing for it to be a little over-priced.  Ultimately I’m willing for someone to make more money from something I want but don’t need than from something I need and have no choice in.

Anyway, I had a wander around Guildford and ended up settling for a couple of things from M&S.  Marks & Spencer seems to suit me.  While it’s maybe perceived as being a bit old and stuffy they have some nice things.  And I am a bit old and stuffy.  I managed to get a couple of jumpers, one fluffy grey one and a slightly lighter stripy one, a couple of casual shirts, one dark red and one which makes me look like a farmer, and a couple of pairs of trousers.  I bought a pair of dark red chinos (they match the shirt) which are great and a pair of black cords.  They are both the same size (32, 33) according to the labels but the cords are about 12 times bigger around the waist so they don’t fit.  Not only is it a bit upsetting when you’ve spent £35 on a pair of trousers, but it’s silly when they trousers claim to be the same from the same shop!  And it’s another reason I don’t like clothes shopping.