Christmas Shopping

Reading

So I ended up not accomplishing much of anything yesterday. My mind was still on the book I'd finished the night before, which was the second in a trilogy by Mercedes Lackey: Exile's Valor. It's actually only the latest of a rather extensive series based around her world of Valdemar. Good stuff. Amway, my mind was on the second book, which made me think of events in the first book... and so I ended up curled up in the recliner for most of the afternoon, reading half of the first book again. So much for plans, eh? lol

Oh well. I won't force myself on the Chirstmas Letter... don't ever want it to become too onerous a task that I won't want to continue. I DID get a few chores done around the house... ran the dishwasher and a load of laundry. As I'd fully intended, I never even stepped outside the apartment all day. Mom called me up to invite me over to watch the new batch of movies she got in from Netflix, but I didn't really feel like gettin out. She was cool with that, and was even nice enough to wait to watch em with me later. 'Sides, she had other stuff she could watch, anyway.

Prep

I DID manage to review my Christmas card list, though, this morning. And fortunately, part of my checklist was already done. I'd evidently logged all of my received cards before I put them away LAST year. So all I had to do this morning was make a quick scan of the list, decide who I hadn't heard from in a while, and pare it down. All I needed was a rough estimate of stamps I'd need to buy at the post office today, anyway.

Shopping

Then I put together a rough Christmas gift list (I really only buy gifts for those close to me whom I will be seeing personally at Christmas time... generally Mom, Pop, Gram and the IHOP Family) and set off for the mall. I knew I wanted to get calendars and gift certificates for all... with the sole exception of Gram. She never gets out much at all, in order to take advantage of a gift certificate. So I'm buying her a subscription to a large-print Crosswords Club. She really likes crosswords. I'm afraid it's one of the few things that keeps her occupied. And she barely even comprehends the concept of a computer, so I don't have to worry about her reading this and ruining her surprise... lol

Amway, I then poked around for another small gift for each... and one item that will serve as a gift to my family as a group. I won't detail it yet, in case Mom pokes around. Now, she's not one who likes to have her surprises spoiled... she doesn't poke around on purpose. But I'm taking no chances on an accident. *grin* I even ran into my folks at the mall... Mother giving me the stern "I told you you're not supposed to buy anything for yourself until after Christmas" look, but I assured her that none of my purchases today were for myself. Except for one calendar and one book, which she wouldn't know what I needed anyway. I think I'd accumulated at least 3 bags by that point, but nothing could be seen inside of any of em. We agreed to give each other a call when we got done with shopping, and mebbe get together for one of those movies.

I did my usual run to Barnes and Nobles for the book IHOP Buddy had told me about earlier in the week... plus a gift certificate. I also ran by the post office right there in the mall for stamps. I got almost 95% of my Christmas shopping done all in one swell poop. The rest of it was finished at Michael's, when I picked up my pics that were framed and ready. They look very nice, by the way. Even hung one of em up straight away as soon as I got them home. :)

Movies

I took my purchases directly home, unloaded, then went right back out to handle the rest of my errands going in the other direction. Mostly dropping off my recylables and stopping by the grocery store. By time all was said and done, it was about 5:30 and time to call the folks. They were finishing up a Laurel and Hardy movie they'd just bought today, and told me to come on over. Mom and I were all for some Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner, but Pop had a hankerin for Taco Bell... so tacos and burritos it was. Then we watched Shrek 2 and still had plenty of time for another movie.

Thus ensued a 10-minute argument about which of the other two movies to watch. It was between "Kate and Leopold" and "Harry Potter: Prizoner of Azkaban". As soon as Pop heard "Harry Potter" he said "Let's watch Kate and Leopold". And Mom wanted to watch Harry. Now, Pop is one of those guys who actually likes chick flicks, but I hadn't realized he actively didn't like Harry Potter. I mean, in the course of the conversation when we were asking him about it, he was like "well, what's Kate and Leopold about"? He wasn't even voting FOR the movie... he was simply voting AGAINST the other. Kinda took me back to the Presidential election... lol

But as it turned out, he doesn't like the Harry Potter movies cuz they're so loud and hurt his ears. Dood can't even go to movie theaters anymore cuz they positively kill his ears. So then, they both (my folks) turn around and start INSISTING that they watch the one the other wanted. Grrrr. I finally had to be tiebreaker, and went with Harry Potter turned down really low with subtitles. lol We do that with almost any movie we watch over there, anyway, so it was all good.

Tomorrow

Amway, I just got home a little while ago. I felt up to checkin in on my message boards and bloggin a bit, so here I am. Dunno what exactly's on the agenda tomorrow. I'd LIKE to get workin on my Christmas Letter... plus some other paperwork that's been waiting for me to settle down and focus. We'll see how it goes.

Until then... good night!