Last weekend I started my Christmas shopping list. Sorry Cathy, you're out. The rest of you won't be getting those panties from the Snazzy Drawer Outlet, either. The economy and an absence of credit card debt have caused me to curtail my usual largess.
Although tough choices had to be made, deciding who to put on the list was relatively easy. Deciding what to buy was a bit more of a challenge. It always is. To some extent, isn't rising to the challenge what Christmas is about?
My ability to catch the Christmas spirit varies from one year to the next. Last year it eluded me completely. I blame gift cards. Yeah, getting them is great but buying them takes all the fun out of giving.
In recent years Internet purchases have accounted for more than half my holiday purchases. Not this year. I only ordered one hard-to-find item and a couple of gifts for out-of-towners on my list.
I reluctantly accepted that gift cards were the best choice for practically everyone else on my list. While this is likely good news for the recipients, buying gift cards makes me crotchety. My Christmas spirit meter was stuck at zero.
In a last ditch effort to get some ideas and to catch some holiday spirit I ran out to browse our one and only shopping mall. A random stop on my way inspired a great gift idea. Putting it together has been a blast. My Christmas spirit soared.
I didn't buy a thing at the mall, unless you count the long-sleeved Polo shirts in colors I've wanted that were nearly half off at Macy's. Nobody would know. Merry Christmas to me! My Christmas spirit meter hit "joyful".
As I was paying the busybody salesclerk asked if the shirts were for me. "Mind your own business, bitch" immediately sprung to mind. Instead I handed her my money, smiled and replied with a polite "yes ma'am."
Even I was surprised. Were it not for the Christmas spirit I caught on that random stop, the outcome might have been dramatically different. After all, I am...
The Crotchety Old Man
Posts
Thanksgiving Letter to the Family
4 months ago
4 comments:
Too funny. Most of my Christmas purchases so far have been for the same person. Moi. Only a severe case of buyer's remorse saved me from a dreadful two-year contract with AT&T that I seriously couldn't afford. But I really did want that little netbook with the full version of Windows 7. Don't bother me with the *free* little netbooks stripped of any meaningful software, or the *starter* version of W7. I wanted the whole thing. Fortunately, the remorse hit hard before sending in my 100.00 rebate paperwork, and a quick trip to the AT&T store got me a full refund and an easy escape from the service contract. Whew. That was a close one. I am the proud owner of a few new articles of clothing, though, most of which I intend to keep. I've picked up a few things for my daughter and grandkids. That's about it. I seem more interested in snuggling with my sweetie than anything else these days. Oh, and what in the world to get for a new sweetie??? We have a private blog where I have chronicled our re-connection, our very own personal "Love Story", if you will. I am going to get a blog book like you did for T&T. I think he will like that very much. Other than that, and a special photo frame (that just happens to have a saying on it that is similar to the name of our blog) with our picture in it, I'm pretty much at a loss. He'd be perfectly happy if I tied a red bow around my neck and showed up at his doorstep with my crap to move in, but I'm not QUITE ready for that just yet.
Gift cards rock, and that's probably what I'll be passing out to the other few folks who make it to my list. I have no time to shop. I have snuggling to do. :-)
Glad you found your Christmas JOY this year!!! You gotta take it wherever you find it! (and a Polo shirt on sale constitutes JOY any day of the week!!!) :-)
cathyb
Sorry. It told me my comment wasn't posting. But it did. Three times. Hmph.
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