Happy Holidays!

This year has gone by so incredibly quickly!  I can't believe that we're already coming up on Christmas... As a matter of fact, it snuck up on me so badly that I fell victim to price gouging on a gift for our son.  What was it?  A Lego Harry Potter construction set of course!  Seriously, tiny little pieces of plastic are a lot more expensive than I remember them being.
Luckily I had enough gift cards from SwagBucks and iRazoo to make the purchase of a $40 set at 100% mark up without any actual out of pocket expenses.  The price has actually gone down since we got it, probably because there's less chance of it arriving before the holidays.  I also grabbed the Big Blue Book of Beginner Books and some Melissa and Douglas sticker books to add to the pile of presents that are waiting to be wrapped.  On the plus side, after this year I can guarantee that I won't ever put off buying something for Christmas because I think it's overpriced again!
Most of the other things we got were a bargain though, so I guess that helps to make up for it as well.  How about you guys?  Did you get any super deals or duds this year?
On a work related note, I've been applying like crazy for all sorts of positions.  It's always hard to get back into the game after you've faded out.  I did take on a mystery shopping position for one client, but the time to pay ratio was a bit sub par.  I'm determined to find something that pays well on an hourly basis - I just keep carrying on chanting like the Little Engine that Could!