I took my Mom Christmas shopping earlier today.   This is our fourth straight year that we took our annual trek to the Leesburg Premium Outlets at around Thanksgiving time.  I was curious as to whether it’d be crowded or not, due in part to the harsh economic times.  But, the place was packed.  Of course, an outlet place might do better business than the glitzy malls since people are being more careful about expenses.

My Mom is not too big … she’s about 5 feet tall and 90 pounds, but she’s full of energy!   She likes the Leesburg place since there are a number of good places for her to find petite size clothers.   Fortunately, today was another successful day as she found plenty of things she liked.   I can tell she was happy since she was chattering all the way back on the 45-minute ride back to Arlington.

I’m planning on doing most of my Christmas shopping online – primarily to avoid the crowds and associated hassles (parking, long lines, short tempers, etc) – at the malls.   I’ve already finished about 50% of my holiday shopping.