Preparing for Christmas

Have you noticed that people have a pocket full of standard greetings for just about any occassion? The Christmas one is something like, "Are you ready for Christmas yet?" which I suppose is intended to inquire whether one has made all of the Christmas present purchases. Depending on my mood I may just reply with a smile and a "You bet!" After all, I'm always ready for the receiving side of Christmas. (Ok, ok! I'm just kidding. I know it's all about the giving that is important.)

This year will be different for us. We are in the process of remodeling a new house before moving into it. In the not-too-distant future, we will be packing up and moving all of 2.15 miles. Getting ready for Christmas has taken a back seat to getting the house remodel finished so that we can relocate. Buying a Christmas tree is something that is on our son's mind but that's about the extent of it. Even if we decide to get a tree, I have no idea which house will be the lucky recipient. From a preservation stand point, we should put it in the new place where we are keeping a fairly low temperature to save money. If we want to enjoy it, we should put it in the old house. If we want a tall tree, it should go in the new house, etc. etc.

One thing is clear. The only person who will score presents under a tree, or in some other TBD location, will be the young man who has just returned home from his first semester at The University. Earlier today while chatting with my wife, she said with a sigh, "We don't have anything for him other than the outfit that we got last week." We all know how our kids just LOVE to open the boxes with clothes in them, right?! Yeah, just as much as we did when we were kids.

"So what is on his list?" I inquired.

While she rattled off a couple of things, I hastily went to Amazon and looked them up. "Buy this item within the next 3 hours and you can have it before Christmas" the banner ad prodded me.

"What was the second item?" I asked her to remind me; the effect of closing in on 50.

With just a couple of clicks, my last minute Christmas shopping was completed. I saved gas so I can claim that I was "green." I saved time and therefore money. I took the "sigh" out of my wife's voice so that made her happy (always a good thing). And, I can truthfully answer, "You bet!" to someone asking if I'm ready for Christmas. All I have to do is decide whether I feel ready without doing the last minute shopping thing. Nope, I don't think so. You'll probably find me out doing some last minute stocking-stuffer shopping in a day or two.

To all of you, I send my most sincere Christmas greetings!

No calories in that, right?!

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is just killer, isn't it? Not only is everyone in the full-court press to get all imaginable projects finished but friends, neighbors and work associates are dealing with stress by non-stop baking or buying of colorful treats to share. If you have a secret formula for coping with the endless culinary temptations without offending your friends, please share it!