No bad gift...

goes unpunished.

Usually, by Thanksgiving, I have completed my Christmas shopping. Not so this year. The pretty little tree in my sidebar tells me I have 16 days left before the big day. That means 15 shopping days. You all realize I work for a church, right? That this is probably my busiest time of the year? And of course, since we are in a new building now, I have been told that we have to empty out our giant, filled to the gills 10’ x 20’ storage unit by the end of the month. In my defense, I wasn’t able to drive at all until around Halloween. And then, my stamina was limited. Now, we’re pretty broke, so I’m thinking just an afternoon or so and I’ll be able to wrap things up in one fell swoop, so to speak. But, in your quiet times, please say a little prayer for me that I can get it all done, as little as there is to do this year. Hopefully we’re getting the tree up tonight. SHEESH! And rumor has it that the in-laws and out-laws may even be coming here for Christmas. I gotta get myself in gear. Can Flylady come visit me?

Speaking of gifts, I freely admit that I am NOT the easiest person in the world to buy gifts for, but over the years I have lightened up to the point of tricky, up several steps from difficult, or fuggedaboudit. However, I have to protest that one of my reasons for being difficult is that I have been badly scarred from past gifts. There was my 16th birthday, when my dad gave me jumper cables. Or the first birthday after my wedding, when my husband got me a set of canisters. Yes—right after my wedding…showers, etc. You see where this is going? (and they were pretty ugly, too). Or we won’t mention that 1st Christmas together when I got (gasp!) a microwave/convection oven. Nevermind the fact that it was 1980, and said oven cost approximately the National Debt at the time. I was hurt. Not only because I felt like these kinds of gifts were impersonal, but because my mom, who died when I was 18, was probably the all-time, most phenomenal gift chooser on the planet. She knew exactly how to read someone's heart's desire and then act on it. No matter the occasion, you felt like you had been thought about and loved on and you were special to her. Now, I am all about the practical gifts. When I have specifically requested them. Like my Sears all-in-one tool box that was just for me that I still treasure. Or the comforter and sham set (Foley’s Catalog, 1989, pg 38) that I still love to this day, and only removed from my bed this past summer because my friend had an intervention for me and told me "it was time." But, really…if it has a 3-pronged plug on it, or if it will reside on a countertop, or just for utility’s sake, please don’t, unless you know for sure that I have dropped numerous hints and direct verbage towards you about it. Like: “Hey, honey…see this cool food processor I picked up today that you bought me for Christmas? Let me just whip up this batch of appetizers and then you can wrap it for under the tree!”
Even gift cards are sketchy now…what with stores like Mervyn’s and Linen's N Things going out of business and Circuit City filing for bankruptcy protection. Cash and checks work well, thank you very much. But, all in all, if you see Ted or my kids shopping around tell them this: Pam doesn’t want anything extravagant, or even impossible to achieve, like Peace on Earth…just peace in the house for one day. And a huge hug from each of you, knowing that you are safe and warm in our little home. And an evening of family games would be nice, too. What I want is costly: I want their time. Probably the only thing that you can’t ever earn back, once it’s spent. Just time with momma and the family…

And, on a lighter note, I got a HUGE laugh out of this video. It’s kind of what inspired this post….