Christmas - Just not meant to be

Chocolate, whipped marshmallowy bliss.
Coming to a couch near you!

This morning I woke up and decided to end my self-imposed exile from the world and go out into town to do some "shopping". Note the quotation marks. This is not shopping as I am used to. This is student shopping - bargain shopping, window shopping, lust shopping. So anyway, I pull on my trusty winter gear, loaded up my MP3 player with Christmas songs to keep me smiling and to hopefully get me into some kinda spirit, and stepped out into the Tundra that is London and hopped on a red bus to the mall.

It was not as nauseating as I thought it would be. Trinis really do it much worse, but then it is still a few days away, right? Right? It's Saturday, right?

I did the essentials first - needed some tights to finish off the Christmas Day outfit, needed some batteries, some juice. One thing I really needed and try as I might I could not locate them - chocolate covered marshmallows. It is not Christmas without marshmallows and I went into Thornton's, Sainsbury's, TK Maxx, BHS - to no avail.

Heaven!!!

It looked bleak and the depression deepened. Then I went into good ole Poundland and there, on the bargain shelves of my bargain store, were boxes and boxes of Cadbury Chocolate Mallows. I pounced on a carton and shoved it into my basket with the gleam of victory in my eye. The world was right again. I also got some mini marshmallows for Christmas Eve hot chocolate, when I will hopefully be watching Love Actually while sitting in fluffy socks on the couch.

But the day went downhill after the small marshmallow triumph. I am not sure whether it was the anxiety from not being able to buy this awesome red, white and black sweater dress (just made for a Trini!!!), the lack of the financial catalyst to walk around in the mall, the throng of people or the obvious, a missed meal - but I started to feel rather ill, the familiar faint feeling I get ever so often when I do not eat breakfast and then prolong lunch, and compound both by shopping. lol. But with my body giving me the tell-tale signs that trouble was around the corner, I decided after cashing out at Sainsbury's that I would have to get the cousin's present another day, and I headed to McDonald's to get a soda and fries to hold me over til I got home.

Needless to say, there are more strollers per square kilometre in London than there are pubs and as I walked in Mickey D's, I was assaulted by dozens of bawling babies and strollers in front of the counter. I was feeling okay so the kids were not annoying me yet but in no time at all, my blood sugar went from A to Z and everyone was annoying me and my hands were clammy, I was getting the shakes, and my head was spinning. The girl who FINALLY got to me (the world's slowest cashier ever) took zonks to fill my order. I watched, as though in slow motion, as she filled my cup with the Sprite I desperately needed to prevent an embarassing fainting episode in the middle of frickin' London. I almost did not believe it was me when I heard the voice say "Excuse me, princess. Would you speed it up, please...seriously!" I was feeling the life draining out of me and I just needed sugar. This girl was taking her frickin time to scoop some ice, to bag some fries. By the time she put the Sprite down before me, I did not even want the straw. I just grabbed it, threw off the lid and devoured the sugary mess because I was literally 10 seconds away from fainting.

And that was the end of all shopping today. I sat eating greasy fries and drinking nasty soda trying to undo the damage done by poor eating over the past few days, and the subsequent low blood sugar. But I am still glad I got out the house for a few hours. Going to have some lunch, though it is probably closer to dinner and then a choccie marshmallow and maybe a glass of something squeezed out from a grape. Then a nap, and hopefully, some studying. Santa has done me no favours as usual, so a night with the books is in order.