How-To-Give-a-Gift-for-the-Winter-Holidays Guide

There's more than one way to give a gift. Yes, really...

Kathleen and I guessed what the other one wanted for our first few years. There was definitely a big surprise factor. But the flops were big too. And we often got what we thought the other one NEEDED to get. That wasn't much fun. So the surprise method with no guidance proved too risky. Next few years we took to making lists, detailed lists with instructions on where to buy and how much to spend. While this guidance method usually got you what you wanted, it often felt like someone else was just doing your shopping for you and then did a nice gift-wrapping job. But then it almost eliminates risk, surprise and over spending.

And then there's the let's-go-shopping-and-get-you-something-you-want method. When we went to malls and department stores, this method was my favorite. Because I really got what I wanted. I picked it out. The only uncomfortable aspect is when your partner ponies up and pays for your gift. I often found myself distracted by some other items for sale until the transaction was completed.

So this year I'm doing a wish list with Internet sites that have photos of the item I want; sort of a modified guidance method. First item on my list is a  laughing Buddha. You've seen him. He's often in the foyers of Chinese restaurants. I just need a smaller rendition and I'll be happy. Just need a big belly to rub.

I guess we all have some time to work up the rest of our lists (with Internet addresses and photos). But start thinking about what you want now, so your partner and/or friends and family have time to make your wish list fly...

Following or Vacuum??

Does this happen to you often?

Kathleen and I are out and about. And we walk into a store or a restaurant, and it's almost completely empty. If it's a restaurant, we sit down at a table and look at the menu. And when we look up to order, the restaurant is now full with people waiting to sit down. I often just write it up to "we beat the lunch/dinner crowd". But we don't always go to restaurants at lunchtime or dinnertime. We've gone between 2 pm to 4 pm and still brought in a crowd behind us. My rational mind says "It was tea time".

Every so often Kathleen and I go to a shopping mall. We like empty stores to shop in. It's more like personal shopping that way. So we're walking around and looking for an interesting store to walk into. We find some place that we like, and we often walk into an empty store, which suits us just fine. In no less than five minutes the store is full of people shopping. If I haven't found something to buy by then, I'm leaving empty-handed now.

Now my logical minds says that nature abhors a vacuum, and an empty restaurant or store is just like a vacuum. Kathleen and I just happen to be the first people inside the vacuum. If I was feeling weird, I'd say we had a following. But I'm not. I took physics in college so I'm going with the vacuum story. What's your explanation?

Too Many Choices!!!

There's just too many choices out there. I guess I'm a basic person; I like maybe 3 to 5 choices. But the marketers have just gone crazy with all of these choices. Case in point: Kathleen and I went pillow shopping the other night. Well, we found an entire section of Bed, Bath & Beyond dedicated to pillows galore.

There must have been at least 30 pillows to choose from. And really how could we tell which ones we preferred? There was no bed to lie down on and rest our heads on the pillows. So we squeezed and guessed and imagined which one would work for us. And then I read the packaging and decided that the one labeled "Eco-friendly" must be the one for me. No feathers. Just husks. And supposedly good for the environment too.

Pillow shopping has become a complicated business nowadays. There's all the pillows to chose from, the protectors to weed through and then your pillowcases'  threadcount and fabric color. Well we've now made enough choices to last the year.

After all that, I wonder if we made the right choices. I hope so cuz I'm not going through that all over again. I say let's keep it basic, ok guys?

I'm So Superficial

I'm indulging in all things superficial. Stuff like bad movies, what celebrities are doing and wearing, what's in fashion and what's out. There are too many serious things to worry about nowadays. I've got to take cover in more superficial things, like where am I going to get my next manicure/pedicure. Maybe I'll even change my hair color or just buy more clothes that are finally on sale.

There are so many superficial things to do. At least I'm not just distracted. I'm focused in a way. The way of the superficial. Hmmm...I don't feel as stupid as I thought I would. Guess I'm in it for the duration (the elections that is). No doubt life will get really serious again next winter. Until then shop and spend money is my motto. (I'd rather eat, drink and be merry, but its heavy on the caloric intake---we're dieting, you know!)

Ah…Let’s Go Shopping, Dear!

You know the saying that when “the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Well, my partner and I have a different take on it: We go shopping. Now we did this a lot more ten years ago before the economy went south and we hit our 50’s with its mounting pressures to save for retirement. But lately, it’s getting so tough that maybe we might put off saving a bit for retirement and indulge in some immediate gratification.

Nowadays shopping is so easy. The stores just about grab you through the Internet and barrage you with mailed catalogues. You know how it goes: hard to make the money and so easy to spend it (and so fast too). But now we’re all seeing the virtues of frugality and demonizing gross consumerism. I’ve tightened my belt too. I just don’t look anymore. It’s like giving up chocolate or wine. After a while you only faintly and intellectually miss it like a fading memory of good times. Oh well.

I just wish that I had appreciated my shopping vice more when I practiced it years ago. At the time, the shopping sprees were all part of the whirlwind as we all floated along on a false sense of prosperity. But the Great Recession has sobered me up; I too have lowered my expectations, or my standards, as we all come to grips with the “new normal” economy.

So now instead of “going shopping”, I attempt to create things that I can sell. Actually, Kathleen and I play around with book ideas, story ideas or just about anything you can do with a computer and two minds. Who knows, maybe an idea will pan out and bring in some extra cash. If not, we’ll have some fun at being creative. Heck, it sure beats TV.