Paul needs new slippers. Oh, I know, this is kind of a boring topic. BUT: it is surprisingly complicated to buy slippers for someone who really WEARS SLIPPERS. My own, which get worn in the hospital when I’m in the maternity ward, needed to meet the following requirements:

1. Cute

Paul is a foot-scuffer (it is one of those small things that within the confines of marriage becomes surprisingly annoying), and he wears his slippers from late fall until mid-spring, and he keeps going OUTSIDE in them. So his need to meet the following requirements:

1. Shoe-like sole
2. Very warm
3. Not too old-mannish
4. Not one million dollars, because they’ll need to be replaced soon
5. Scuffing sound should not be too abrasive

His old slippers have lasted longer than I would have expected. They’re similar to these:

Sierra Designs Down Bootie (photo from Amazon.com). They were more expensive than I’d thought it was possible for slippers to be (OH NAIVETY), about $50. The blue ones are at $40 right now with Prime shipping, so I’m tempted to just buy them—but the reviews are not great, and I’m not sure what size to get him because some of the reviewers complain about them running small.
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After Christmas, when the gifts and ornaments and lights need to be put away but I’m not ready to tackle that sad task, I turn my attention to the fun of choosing the next year’s calendar. I need two of them: one for all the family appointments and so forth, and the other for next to my desk. And there’s such a WIDE RANGE of options! Did you know there’s a Kardashians calendar? an Apoclypse Survival Guide calendar? a Toilets of the World calendar? a THOMAS KINKADE DISNEY CALENDAR??

Here are the ones I’m considering:

Fractal Cosmos: The Art of Alice Kelley (photo from Amazon.com). Colorful, and cool, and the kids would think it was neat, and it looks good for standing in the kitchen staring at it while trying to figure out when I could fit in a dentist appointment and still be here for the bus.
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Every year, EVERY YEAR, I feel like it is wayyyy too early to discuss gift ideas / holiday china / holiday cards and so everyone will be annoyed because OMG SWISTLE IT’S ONLY HALLOWEEN—and then every year I am sitting here with only two Wednesdays left before Christmas, thinking, “There’s no tiiiiiiiiiime! There’s no tiiiiiiiiiiime!!” Still on my post list: gifts that have to work for an unknown recipient, food gifts, holiday cards, holiday china patterns, a holiday craft a child can make as a gift and it’s something a non-related-to-the-child person might even WANT, gift-idea books for children, gift-idea books for adults, good general DVD gift sets, puzzle brand comparison, teacher gift ideas, stocking stuffers, gift ideas for 4/6/10/12-year-olds. We can pick two of those. And by “we” I mean “me,” because by the time you read the first of the two posts (this one), I’ll already be working on the second one. So. Next year don’t be surprised if I start the discussion in October.
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There are times, like when I’m trying to kick a path through the playroom, that I feel like we can’t add even one more toy to this household and in fact would be well-advised to jettison fully half of them. This creates a problem five times a year at birthdays, and a problem-times-five at Christmas. I like to find gifts that are fun enough to be gifts, but that don’t have to live on the toy shelf (or floor, whatever).

1. Character (or otherwise special) bed sheets (both images above from Amazon.com). Bonus: if the child needs sheets anyway, and you spend $20 on Little Mismatched sheets that would have cost $10 if plain/boring, you’re making some of the money work twice: $10 sheets plus $20 gift = $20. (The Wonder Pets set is probably a better example of the kind of sheets a child would actually be happy with, but I got distracted by the ones _I_ would want for ME, and besides the Wonder Pets ones are more expensive so they don’t make my money-working-twice point as impressively.)
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This year my parents are hosting a day-after-Thanksgiving lunch for my brother’s in-laws. My mother is happily fretting about things such as tablecloths and centerpieces, and every week when we go shopping together we consider more possibilities.

Today I thought to look online, and I found a lot of stuff like this:

Harvest Blessings Autumn Centerpiece by FTD (photo from FTD.com). It’s pretty, and I like the way it’s nice and low (a lot of floral centerpieces are tall enough to block people from seeing each other), but it’s FIFTY clams, and that’s not including the shipping or the handling or whatever other fees there might be (the last time I ordered flowers from another flower place, there was a $6.95 “florist fee,” in addition to the delivery fee of $9.95, which brings the price up to $17 before I’ve ordered a single flower). And the storage would be a pain.

And looking at it, it occurs to me that this is a wreath on its side with a jar candle in the middle. And I’m pretty sure my mom has autumnal wreaths and jar candles. If YOU have an autumnal wreath and a jar candle, this is a centerpiece you can make easily (and FREE), and then you can put the pieces back wherever they were afterward.
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Farrell writes:

How DO you do Santa shopping for all of your kids? Online? In store? Coupons? Buy throughout the year? Tips + strategy please; ’tis the season.

Ah! It does vary. When I’m not gift-shopping, just buying normal household stuff (sheets, towels, non-perishable groceries) my general shopping strategy is “Buy it before you need it, when you find it cheap.” I do this for stocking stuffers: little toys or novelty candies (pacifier lollipops and similar) go on clearance all year, and I especially have luck in the party-supplies section where I can sometimes find 4- or 6-packs of party favors on 75% off.

But that’s not going to work as well for presents: a child might like Bakugan in the summer but be totally over it by Christmas.
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Last night I dreamed I got an AWESOME IDEA for a Milk and Cookies post: CANDY BARS. I could talk about CANDY BARS. So this morning when I went to my desk to write, I was remembering that I had a post idea ALL LINED UP. Let’s see, what was it, what was it…? …Oh.

However, I am running with it. I am fond of candy. I won’t write about candy BARS, though (except one special kind); I’ll do the candy I ask for on my wish lists.

Dilettante Bing Cherries. The photo is from Amazon.com but don’t buy them from there—that price is silly with shipping. I find them at Wallllllmart, or sometimes I see them at Home Goods or Marshalls or TJ Maxx.

See’s Candies Butterscotch Squares (photo from Sees.com).
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Do you guys play the “What if you had to spend $100 RIGHT NOW?” game at your house? We play it all the time at ours. It’s almost always Rob, the sixth-grader, who wants to fantasize about shopping, and I’m happy to play that game. Today’s answers (from me, clearly, because what he wants is video games):

John Derian nest coasters (photo from Target.com). I wish these were plates instead of coasters, since I never use coasters.
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I have a child turning three at the end of this month, and all he likes is DINOSAURS.

Little Dinosaur print by Marmar on Etsy (photo from Marmar). Henry is my fifth child, so I’m happy whenever I can come up with a non-toy gift idea. A dinosaur print for his wall is PERF: he’ll love it, but it decreases the toy haul by one. I bought a narrow black frame at a craft store for about $5 and it looks great.

Playskool Stompers Triceratops (photo from Amazon.com). This is what my parents are getting him. Henry has the Playskool Triceratops Hatchling already, and carries it around in a blanket calling it his “baby” and feeding it pretend leaves. I think he’s going to lose his mind over the bigger version.
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I have been MOODY and GRUMPY recently, and so I have been buying a number of little things that seem like they’d increase the cheer levels around here.

Zak Designs Happy Spoon (photo from Amazon.com). These are about $5.00 each online, but I sometimes find them at Home Goods, TJMaxx, and Marshalls for $2.50 each (or, on one happy occasion, on clearance for $1.00 each). There are also cheeky (winking) and surprised designs, but I only like the smilies. I have them in white, green, and orange so far, and I bought one each of red, white, orange, and green for my cousin for a wedding present. (The $5.00ish shipping for a single spoon is daunting, but it’s not per spoon: that is, if you order, say, four spoons, the shipping is $8.00ish. And the set of one cheeky and one smiling is free shipping.)

Cheap fun glasses (photo from ZenniOptical.com). Eight bucks a pair, baby. I ordered a bunch of pairs a couple of months ago and have been very happy with them: they’re just as good as the prescription glasses I got at the optician’s office. So I ordered a few more pairs, including the ones above. You’ll need your prescription to order, but your optician will have that on file and it’s easy to get a copy (call or stop by—the prescription is right in your file and legally belongs to you). A little trickier is getting your PD, which I think stands for pupillary distance: the optician measures it but it’s not part of the prescription so you have to ask for it separately.
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