Down the Rabbit Hole

I fell into the Rabbit Hole this afternoon. It has been a long time since I became so engaged in what I was doing that I forgot everything except what was directly in front of me. I started my journey at 4:10 pm. I intended to do a little Christmas shopping. As Santa’s helper, I take my job seriously.
I had a list rattling around in my head, so I thought I should attack it. I did so with gusto. I did notice - around 5:15pm - that my husband had come home briefly. I did notice it was so dark in my bedroom that I was using to phone and my keyboard to illuminate my papers. It then dawned on me to turn on a light. I renewed my efforts to take advantage of special offers and sales. I visited websites that specialize in tracking discounts down for consumers. My favorite, and most successful, is retailmenot.com. Go figure. In any event, I started to lose myself when I realized I had ten or eleven windows open as I comparison shopped. I sent orders to my printer and moved on. I started to wonder where my son was, I was stunned, when I eyed the clock, that it was 6:40pm. How did that happen?
I recalled he was meeting a friend after school to study Chinese. I, on the other hand, was studying the economic base of our country as it related to consumer spending. Back to the chore at hand, I rolled up my sleeves and marched onward. First, however, I clicked on a lamp. I neglected such minor inconveniences as the need to visit the bathroom, the dry rasp in my throat when I cleared it, and the loud objections my stomach was making because I had so thoroughly ignored it. I pushed the Google Pay button and placed my next order. At this point, my son called to say he was on his way home, and he had not had dinner. More a request than a statement, I knew he was wondering whether I would make his meal. I looked at my clock and looked again. It was 8:06 p.m.! I was stunned that I lost track of another 90 minutes. I started the unravelling. I backed out of my many open screens. Through Nordstrom and Overstock.com, and Wintersilks, and Madewell and Fossil and Urban Outfitters and ...
Whew, no wonder I am wiped out. All in the name of hope, that the gifts I have chosen will bring the recipient a smile, and perhaps, make their lives a little brighter. I can’t change the world, but I can try to bring joy to my little corner of it.