A) Due to the Great Upheaval, we are buying gifts for about 1/3 the number of people as we have in years past and truth-be-known, we don't miss it. I think we have finally reached the age where (for the most part) the gifts are for the children in our lives. The only gift I want from my friends and family is a relaxing afternoon spent together over a hot grill and some cold drinks.
2) What gifts we did buy this year were mostly handled by my dear wife.
So I awoke Saturday morning tasked with gifts for the immediate family: Wife, Kat, Dawg.
I re-hashed the Xmes budget one more time and then commenced the annual emptying of what was left of the bank account.
First stop? Amazon.com, of course. Moderate success - gifts shipped to the office to avoid prying eyes.
Then I loaded up the dawg, kissed the wife, took a deep breath, and plunged into consumerdom.
And I must say - even though it was the shortest day of the year, it certainly was one of the most beautiful. Clear blue skies and a crispness to the air.
We stopped at shopping destination #1 and walked the entire thing - nothing.
Feeling demoralized, I turned the Jeep towards PetsMart knowing I was virtually guaranteed success. Got the Dawg mostly cared for.
After that, some In-N-Out and then off to shopping district #2 - Wife mostly cared for, Dawg finished.
All I needed now was to finish out the wife and take care of the Kat - three more stops and BINGO! Done! We were home by 4:30pm.
(Incidentally, you may be wondering how I navigate a mall with a 90lb Dawg in tow. It's easy, I assume that he is accepted everywhere I go that doesn't serve or sell food. Macy's? Cruise on in. Barnes and Noble? In we go. And so on. I figure he is better behaved that just about all children and some adults. If we get kicked out, I simply shrug, apologize, and head for the nearest exit. If I really need something in the store, I will leash him out front and go back in. If not, we carry on. I can probably count on one hand the number of places we have been thrown out of.)
While the wife made dinner, I cued up some Christmas tunes, grabbed my pipe, a libation, an armful of Christmas wrapping and sequestered myself in the guest room.
Because of some pet concerns with the 1 year-old Dawg and the 16 year-old Kat, we have decided not to leave gifts under the tree this year. Instead, we have piled them on the dining room table along with most of the Christmas cards we have received.
Xmes is here.
Christmas is coming . . .
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