Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Christmas spirit...who wants some?

I do. In September, I'm usually stoked about Christmas and have a plethera of good ideas. How and what to put out in the yard that will be festive without looking too much like a white trash extraveganza. What I think will be great gifts to give, because there is a never ending string of hints coming my way, which I of course can't recall for the life of me by Halloween. Now there's a holiday I get in too! I have more Halloween stuff it seems than most folks have stray pens without ink in a junk drawer. I started having Halloween parties in the 90's. Back before it became a gazillion dollar industry. The good news is, now that it is a big time deal, you can find some decent decor that isn't all kittens with pumpkins or smiling ghost's. I like the creepy stuff. But Christmas? I can't get into it this year. It seems like I've lost my touch for the holidays.

Now that one kid is gone and in the military, and the other is too busy being a senior in high school...there just isn't the drive to decorate and get pumped like there used to be. I guess this year it will be pretty minimal, unless something or someone inspires me to start popping the lids on those big totes full of stuff in the basement. I did decide that this year it's about others. There will be a gift or two for the kid...and I'll send something to the other one, but my major cash was spent at a cool place called Heifer International. I really like the concept of 'teach a man to fish' instead of throwing cash at a 'group' who's overhead will eat most of my donation up on someone paid to paint their nails while they answer the phone. Anyway, check it out. It's a wonderful group and they have been doing great things for people in need for years. Kind of the Pay It Forward of the livestock crowd. I can't wait to see the expression on the faces of certain family members when they open a card telling them I spent their portion of my budget on the needy. I HOPE it will inspire them to become a bit more altruistic..but they are young males and I have a hunch they will be a bit 'shocked'. Hehehehe.

I will be gifting myself with a CD burner. The one the kid in the house had has official bitten the dust and I have a couple of new CD's I really want to 'rip' to my iPod. The dog of the house has managed to throw away another Kong toy (tm) so I guess I'll be shelling out for another one of those too. He has a habit of wandering around with that in his mouth, then going to see what's in the trash can. He inevitably drops it in while rooting, and if I didn't witness the act, then it gets tossed out on trash day. Damn dog.

Be careful..it seems the rumor about gift card rip off is true. Certain cretins will go through a store and write down the number on those cards hanging on the rack. They then check the number via a web site each day to see if that cards number has been sold, and if so...how much is on the card. They then quickly spend it on line and twahlah! Your gift card is worth nada! Great little scam if that is your cup of tea. I'm all for giving them the green...as long as it doesn't turn out to be counterfeit that is!

Carry on. Let me know if you have an abundance of Christmas spirit you can divy up.