If you—like me—did a free trial of Amazon Prime which ends this week, you may be mourning the loss you’re about to experience. (I know I am. Not enough to pay for Prime, but still. It sure was nice while it lasted.) And I don’t mean to interrupt your preemptive grief, or anything, but you should know that today is the last day to order with Prime and still get your purchases in time for Christmas. (Tomorrow you can order and pay the $3.99 overnight shipping upgrade, but that would be quite a feat of procrastination, there. Just sayin’.)

Today’s Gold Box deal is Photoshop Elements—not exactly the gift that says romance, granted—but the Lightning Deals for today will not only be great deals, but come with free overnight shipping. So it may be worth checking back throughout the day to see if there’s a deal there you need.

Today’s Monday Morning Toy Markdowns have some great deals, too… many of the big markdowns from earlier in the month where the prices later went back up are down again… like the Leapster for $35.99, the Melissa and Doug easel for $22.99 or Flipping Frogs for $8.99.

I’ll confess—though I’ve been done shopping for a while, I cannot resist stocking my gift closet a bit before my Prime expires. Soon the madness shall end. Heh.

Stockings looking a little empty? Restaurant.com is offering last minute savings—use coupon code HOLIDAY to take 80% off your purchase of certificates for those meals out, getting you $25 savings certificates for just $2!

If you’ve never used Restaurant.com before, now would be a great time to check them out; the certificates can be printed right from your computer, and who doesn’t want a net savings of $23 off a meal someone else cooked? People who get coal in their stockings, that’s who.

Still need a gift in a hurry, and the thought of heading to the mall is making you feel Grinchy?

Overstock has hundreds of great gifts for under $50, many with free 2nd-day shipping. Just look for the icon, and then rest assured that if you order through tomorrow, it’ll get there in time.

(On a side note, driving through hours and hours of snow have convinced me never to leave the house again.)

Good morning! I am about to get into the car for an inordinately long time, plus we’re apparently going to drive right into a blizzard. Please pray for me.

While I do that, you might want to finish up your shopping. And give thanks that you’re not stuck in a car with two small children today.

Today’s Amazon Gold Box deal is a Plantronics bluetooth headset that looks like it’s trying very hard to be a Jawbone. Great reviews, though. And if you’re looking for more toy deals, here’s my secret: I scan the recent bestsellers to see what looks cheap.

Today (December 20th, 2008) only, save 40% on second-day shipping at Toys R Us when you spend $49.99 or more.

Over at A&E, they’ve just started their 90% off Winter Sale. I do love me some A&E. Meanwhile, get free overnight shipping on orders of $60+ at the PBS Store through December 22nd, 2008.

This weekend only, enjoy $1.99 shipping on all orders at Hanes.com through that there link. Because nothing says Christmas like new underwear.

Today only, get a free 8″ x 10″ photo print from Walgreens; you do have to pick it up in-store, but still. Free! (Thanks, Corey!)

Kohls is having a big power sale this weekend (try to contain your shock); free shipping on orders of $75+, and everyone can use coupon code HOLIDAY8714 for an additional 10% off. Kohls card holders can use MVC6176 for free shipping and EXTRA15OFF for an additional 15% off.

When I next see you, I’ll be… a lot colder. Stay out of trouble until then.

Handy tip from me to you: Don’t put an orange crayon in your dryer. Particularly when you’re in the pre-holiday-trip preparation madness phase and doing laundry late at night. You’re welcome!

I don’t think that the Amazon Friday Sale can give me back the two hours I spent crawling inside the dryer drum and spot-cleaning all my children’s clothes, but at this point, I’ll take what I can get. (Friday Sale, take me away!)

I’m a little bit in love with this Bounty Hunter Educational Archeology Pro Kit. For about the cost of a decent metal detector, you get that and all the accessories your budding archeologist needs to feel like the real thing. Awesome.

Need some last-minute gifts? You can’t go wrong with a plush throw, particularly when it has over a hundred positive reviews and is just $8.99.

These towel sets make me want new towels. (Okay; it doesn’t take much to make me want new towels.) I really doubt the original price was really $130, but $19.99 is a steal for those. (Psssst—got a wedding coming up? Great gift for that!)

Cheap! Flannel! Sheets! (The polar bear/snowmen ones are killing me with the cuteness.)

I continue to be fascinated by this knife set. Because it’s always a good idea to have knives that look like toys in a house with small children.

Three little words that could be nirvana or disaster: Chocolate fudge cheeseball. (Also: White chocolate cherry cheeseball!)

Have a Ben 10 fan in the house? You can get this Omnitrix digital watch for just $9.50, and get free one-day shipping! (My son would kill for this. Alas, I’m a big meanie and also done shopping.)

Don’t forget to check out the Friday Five, five MP3 albums for just $5 each. I see some Sinatra in there….

Also remember to check the Gold Box and Lightning Deals today (I do love that freaky-looking AeroGarden).

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with some GooGone and a toothbrush….

Have a SciFi geek close to your heart? One who recently made the upgrade to Blu-ray?

Check out Amazon’s current lightning deal—it’s the Ray Harryhausen collection, four classic SciFi greats on Blu-ray, for $42.95 (60% off).

If only it was in 3-D, it’d be perfect.