These cookies are my holiday thing, treat-wise. (Along with mom's fudge, which she keeps threatening not to make, and the See's Milk Chocolate Molasses Chips that Mrs. Santa has been bringing for my sister and me since time began. Yes, Mrs. Santa still visits my house, but that's a blog for another time.)

These special Oreos are only available during the holidays, and I had been on the lookout since Thanksgiving. Let's face it, decorations and other holiday treats have been on the shelves since before Halloween.

While I didn't make any special trips on my great cookie search, I did look for them every time I was at any store that might conceivably carry them.

Two Fry's, two Safeways, three Walgreens, two CVS stores and one Target.

Nada.

Then the day before the day before Christmas Eve -- OK, I could have said Saturday, but where's the fun in that? -- my mom struck White Fudge Covered Oreo pay dirt -- at Wal-Mart.

I thought I was going to have to resort to eBay. Yes, I actually looked, and yes, I could have gotten my hands on a box that way. But that seemed kind of extreme for a cookie.

Thanks to Wal-Mart, I got my White Fudge Covered Oreos without bidding for them or paying shipping. Yay Wal-Mart!