Gonna' be a long arse weekend for moi'....

Gift cards..!

There's a whole rack of em at the checkout in Walmart for all kinds of places...

Thank God for my little wifey. She is the best!

I got into town this morning and couldn't believe the crowds.

amazon dot kommmmmm

Amen.

I haven't fought for a parking spot in years.

BIG TIME! I was just saying today that it seems like I just took down the lights.....that the freaking squirrels ate last year...and that we just did the shopping thing.

Thank goodness I can walk to Publix and buy gift cards tomorrow. Might even throw in some dead squirrels. Arghhhhhh!

Time has flown by this year!

The big azz wreath that I was made to hang today fell on my head. I heard the squirrels laughing.

+1,000

My wife emailed me her gift list from Amazon. I spent a little time last Saturday morning at the 'puter and 'voila, shopping complete. I did make the journey to P-town afterward to shop for odds-n-ends and stocking stuffers (and to visit a new local brewery )

Now I'm just waiting on the brown truck to deliver Mama's Christmas surprises.

Isn't it another month away?

We have both been sick since Thanksgiving with the "cold" from hell, dealing with my failing parents, and trying to keep up with work commitmants (SP?)...no tree, no outside lights, and my oldest with his family fresh from the Army back...kinda' lost track of important schidt...gift cards ain't gonna cut it nor should they, wife and I will marathon it, with a couple of nice meals to break it up and think about our two grandsons. Parking's gonna suck though
To all a merry and loving Christmas,
Charlie

Yeah but I was gonna wrap the gift cards. :-)

Good man. Hope y'all feel better. Merry Christmas to you and Godspeed good health as well.

David

Except for church, its just another day for me, altho I will admit that the time goes by quicker now.

My sister went full retard earlier in the year so this year it's just me and my parents. Buying 2 gifts wasn't that hard, even for me

Well...we made it, sorta', gotta' shop for the wife again as I got a little too christmassy and gave her gifts today for being such a good trooper...
Merry Christmas to all...and to all...g'nite

Chas

After being in the hospital for a month fighting her 5th cancer in 38 years, we buried my Mother yesterday. As bad as it sounds, Christmas hasn't gotten a lot of attention this year. Anxious to have the Grandkids gathered around when I can give them the attention they deserve.

Mmmm, not so much sneaking as grinding me down. I think I've heard every arrangement of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" over the last two weeks, several times over. It was a favorite but by now it's setting my teeth on edge. I envy those who can revel in it, enjoy!

I tried. I really did. But the mega car trains into the malls were simply too much for me.

So I went to the Army Navy store downtown and bought everyone bug out bags. And yes a Publix grocery card for my sis and her 4 growing big boys.

I did good!

Ole 270- GOD SPEED Brother! Sorry to hear but you got it right.

David

Nope I was done shopping over two weeks ago.

I procrastinated a little this year I'm usually done by Thanksgiving.

I procrastinated a little bit too, but I did get finished today. I also put the tree up, although I did improvise a little.



Now if I could just get the drawer fronts on the entertainment center.

Sorry to hear that. It's never a good time, but this has to be the worst time of year.

My Dad died last January. This is my Mother's first Anniversary (Dec.22) without him, her first Christmas without him, her first New Years without him, and her first Birthday (Jan 3) without him. So She's going through it. 57 years and they never spent more than a couple nights away from each other.

I share your pain. It never really gets better, you just get kinda used to it for lack of a better term. And I hope it means something when I say Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Yeah, my mom died on Christmas Eve after a long debilitating illness though long ago. We're religious so she was ready and we were ready but it does change things. Does get better over time, you learn to take joy in loved ones around you and the reflections of those with you in spirit rather than dwelling on past holidays. The more effort you can put into this and the more you can support people so situated the better. Thinking of her, and now Dad, this Christmas makes me smile and ever more appreciative of our time together, much more than the empty feeling that lingers.

Thanks guys, it does mean a lot. Dad is 87 and has had a lot of health problems himself, luckily he lives just 3/4 mile away and my brother is closer, so we're able to keep watch over him. We live in a small farming community and there's been no lack of Church support, from the Mennonites to Baptists and we're Methodists.
The family will gather at Dad's tonight for our traditional family Christmas, the Great-Grandkids are all too young to understand and I'm sure the energy and noise will fray some nerves, but it will be good to have the bunch together again.

To the OP, sorry for the hijack of your thread.

The way it oughta be. And a Christmas story in itself.

As for Christmas, it used to sneak up on me. Nowadays we have all the shopping done by Oct. usually. It helps that we don't buy presents for each other or our siblings. And we're down to just 2 kids.