Christmas Shopping

I’m really struggling with my Christmas shopping this year. I’m uninspired and I don’t seem to have much Christmas spirit. Ba humbug. Not only am I drawing a blank as what to get everyone on my list, but I don’t even know what I want. This weekend we got some fliers in the mail and one was from a local book store. I flipped through and what do my wondering eyes do I see? A book that I didn’t know existed. It was called “Sting Lyrics.” How did this slip by without me knowing about? So I ripped out the page of the flier and strategically placed it where Karlo sits at the table. He completely dismissed it. Sigh.

I had just a couple meager little ideas for what to get Karlo and he managed to ruin everything this weekend when he so nicely suggested that I get the very things that I already had on my list. This is really getting depressing.

I’m sitting here thinking back to one of my all time favorite gifts. One year Penni got me a simple t-shirt. Well, it may have seemed like a simple t-shirt, but I thought it was the greatest shirt in the world. Nothing screamed PAULA more than this shirt . . . (unless somebody made a t-shirt that showed Sting walking a greyhound and Snoopy biking, while eating ice cream.) But back to my gift . . . This shirt was a “Life Is Good” shirt and if any of you attended Karlo and my wedding, you would know that “Life Is Good” is the motto we live by. Not only was it a Life is Good shirt, but it depicted both kayaking AND biking. And did I mention it is the coolest color in the world? The shirt was really special to me because it showed me that it was picked especially for me! When I opened it I proclaimed, “Somebody understands me.” It really was a great feeling to receive that gift.

And now that I’m thinking back to that wonderful shirt, I’m feeling terrible. I want to get gifts like that for everybody. I want them to know that I picked the gifts out especially for them. Only problem is that I can’t think of one single present for one single person. In addition to getting the things on my family’s wish list, I just want to get them one thing that I personally selected. I had fun with this task this weekend shopping for Nicole. She is easy. I know she loves clothes and I wanted to get her a little outfit that hopefully when she wears, she will think of me. But outside of Nicole, I’m severely challenged. I feel like I don’t know my brother at all. And what do I get Penni, aside from cute scrubs? I get poor Penni the same darn gifts year after year. I think I can manage something creative for John, but the bigger John (my Dad) is the biggest shopping challenge of the universe. I need a little shopping fairy to come to me at night and bless me with some insight as to what to get my family.