The time has come.....

.....for me to officially start my Christmas shopping and I'm pretty pumped. I have to admit that the gift giving is not my favorite part of Christmas. I like to think that I go by my favorite Christmas saying...."you don't need Christmas in your hands when you have Christmas in your heart" but it is inevitable that we really do need to give some gifts, especially to children. It seems that since the "gift" is the way we show our love at Christmas, it becomes a necessary thing but I also like the secret of Christmas which is "....it's not the things you do at Christmastime, but the Christmas things you do all year through"....but once again, it would be difficult to always be reminding someone of that thing you gave them back in April....let's call that your Christmas present....and I have to admit I've done that before but for today, I will shop and I will find some treasures and I will try to think of something "special" for those on my list and......some of the best presents I've purchased have been on Christmas Eve....remember the Jumpy Castle? Oh, and Kyle's unicycle (admittedly because of the lack of prior planning) but I think it will go down as one of his most "memorable" gifts. So wish me luck and know that I refuse to feel stress, so I'll do the best I can to get you a gift but if it doesn't happen by December 25, it'll come eventually....and hopefully with meaning (but maybe not)....I'll try. It's always exciting though for me to see what I can come up with at this late date. I have these great ideas throughout the year and due to procrastination, they don't get done and I have really good intentions to start on December 26 for the next year..... Oh, well.
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I've been thinking about my childhood lately and remembering some of my favorite gifts....and I know they're my favorites because I still have them and I still cherish them.....especially my dolls. I loved my dolls and I still do. They are a symbol of an awesome childhood where I always got something really good for Christmas and I got really good dolls.....sometimes 2 years in a row. My mom would take the dolls I loved and (Santa would) give them to me again with a whole new wonderful wardrobe. Imagine anyone thinking of doing that these days but I loved it and still have the closet full of clothes that "Santa" brought me and my dolls. Some of my gifts were very practical as well. How about this beauty, a portable typewriter.....the equivalent of a lap top computer back then. It was amazing. I could actually carry it around with me, wherever I decided to go and do some typing. I'm so glad I still have it....who knows....the world may run out of electricity one of these days but I'll still be able to type.... Now that's what I call a "lasting" gift.....still as good as the day I received it. Not sure I can buy the ribbon for it but for now, it's functional....and I'm all about functional these days. Happy gift-giving to all and to all a good night. Wish me luck......