It seems to me that the Christmas commercials begin earlier every year.
Bah humbug.
I heard my first Christmas jingle (I think - I try to block them out) last weekend. Or was it the weekend before that?
I've noted in my blog before that Hubby and I don't do much gift-giving anymore. Sometimes we settle on a mutual gift and share in the expense, like the year we bought new leather recliners. Not very romantic, but very practical. A couple of years ago we went to Jamaica the week before Christmas, one of those all-inclusive resort deals, and that was a FABULOUS gift to each other. Except for the tense moments associated with ONE OF US not being able to produce the voucher for the shuttle service back to the airport at the end of the stay, but they still let us out of the country. One year we left right after Christmas dinner, drove for six hours, and were at the poker table in our favorite casino before bedtime.
We don't buy each other gifts mostly because we buy our OWN gifts throughout the year. Hubby needs a new golf club? He gets on eBay. I want some shoes? I buy them...in brown AND black. New gadget for me? I ain't waitin' for no stinkin' holiday to get it.
Sweet Girl is past the age of toys, of course, but there are still things she wants. I have given up on trying to surprise her. I ask her for a list, then I get however many items on her list I can afford. We open our gifts to each other on Christmas morning via computer.
I like making homemade treats to give as gifts. I like to give our mail carrier a little something, along with my hairdresser, and I used to make little things to give to co-workers. Crock Pot Candy is always a favorite of mine, along with banana bread. This year I bought a set of 6 small ceramic (?) loaf pans, so if I make banana bread, the pan becomes part of the gift. I like that idea. I want to take gifts to my former co-workers, but there's the awkwardness of what to do about the two new folks. I've met them, and they are very sweet ladies, but I don't KNOW them. Do I take them a treat also? Or just give gifts to my friends without making a big deal out of it? (This is, of course, assuming I don't run out of steam/energy/time/ingredients before they get out of school for the Christmas holidays.)
I get bombarded with catalogs throughout the year, but especially at Christmas time. I go through them (sometimes) and see things I think would make good gifts. I don't always have a particular person in mind; I just like the gift itself. Is that wrong? Is it less of a gift if I bought the item without having a particular person in mind? Does proper shopping start with the person and end with something that was purchased especially for him or her? Hmmmm... I'll have to think about that one.
'Tis the season... to be wrong about SOMETHING. Maybe multiple somethings.
Bah humbug.
1 comment:
We don't exchange gifts any more, either. It seems a bit weird when we don't need anything at all. We have a nice dinner together and sometimes give each other a little something, just for fun. I also like to give things to people I see all the time, but it's usually something like a favorite candy bar. We are a lot alike. :-)
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