Thanksgiving is the perfect time to play detective!  You're likely to be visiting family or at least be in touch with them by phone, so after you've given thanks for your wonderful year, use the chance to scope out the missing spots in your holiday gift list and address book. 

 

As you help prepare the Thanksgiving dinner, notice what is missing or broken or in need of repair in your sister-in-law's kitchen.  When you're putting your coat away in the closet, notice your father's jacket size or color so that scarf you want to get him will match.  Over apple pie, ask about your nephew's hobbies or favorite sports teams.  Carry your gift list with you, and fill in your new ideas (surreptitiously, of course).  Spend extra time with those relatives who are hardest to find things for to get inspiration.  Maybe tickets to an upcoming event will work better for them.  Check the calendar in the kitchen to see when they're available.  Or ask their partners to get further ideas.  There are a lot of clues you can gather when you're all together, and it will make shopping the day afterwards a lot easier!

 

If you send holiday greetings by mail, use the Thanksgiving get-togethers or phone calls to check on addresses as well.  Do you have a cousin who moved this year but you don't have the new address?  Maybe your brother does.  Or maybe you have an address update that he needs.  Make it a tradition to compare address lists after the big game when you're planning for the December holidays.

 

And after you've done your detective work, be sure to relax, sit back, and enjoy your friends and family.  Chances are, they're giving thanks for having such a thoughtful person as you in their lives!