Done

Hussah, I'm done. Went out last night and the hardest part of the remaining gifts was done. A quick lightning-trip this morning, 15 minutes in and out, and that's it. Three trips, though it's more like 2 1/2.

Now comes the wrapping .....

Here Comes Christmas

I just got back from my first Christmas shopping foray. This, of course, puts me into the "last minute" camp of Christmas shopping. Though with 2 days to go it's not technically "last minute".

While I don't find shopping a drag it's not at the top of my list, either. I tend to put it off. This has advantages. One tends to be far more focused. At least, I am. And I tend to do less second guessing.

The radio said this is typically the busiest shopping day of the year. I didn't find it bad at all. A couple tricks I've learned that makes it a bit easier:

• Whine like hell for a list. If you don't get one and the recipient doesn't get what they want, well, who's fault is that?


• Plan for 2 to 3 shopping forays. If you're done in one, bonus.


• Go first thing when stores open or late evening, definitely quieter.


• Have some kind of idea of what you're looking for, this usually involves a list.


• Never wander around aimlessly looking for inspiration. The chances of randomly spotting the perfect present are little to none. Better to grab a coffee and free associate for ideas than wander aimlessly.


• If you start getting cranky, think forward to Christmas day (or backwards to past Christmases) and remember the goal. This is a labour of love. If it isn't, buy chocolates, booze, or a Hickory Farms gift basket and save yourself the stress


• If all else fails and you haven't found anything: Chocolates, booze, or a Hickory Farms gift basket. Yah, it's the same thing you buy for the people who aren't worth the shopping stress, only you've done it after you've put in the mall stress time so your karma is still ok. And hey, if the recipients don't know where they stand without the gift, you have other problems.

For myself, so far, so good. All done except for 2 gifts. I can't think of a time when it hasn't taken a least 2 forays in the shopping jungle, so right on track. With the stores open late, I might even pop out again this evening.

The two remaining gifts are for my niece and nephew. This could be tough. I'm seriously thinking of giving them an IOU.

I've asked a few women I know about ideas for my niece. When they heard she's 16ish, to a person their eyes rolled and their face got this "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here" look. Then they snap out of it and say, "Abandon Hope, for better shoppers than thou hath failed. Get thee to a gift certificate counter". Ah, gift certificates. That's a whole other blog. I did get a very abbreviated list from my niece, so I'm still trying.

My nephew? I'm free associating over a coffee.

First things first, or something

I was expecting a bit of déjà vu in this, my second layoff. Instead, I'm experiencing the weirdness of my first thing in the morning being 8am instead of 4pm. Nothing is really open and breakfast won't involve a burger, sushi or kabob.

And I'm exhausted. This has been the week of "go-go-go I'll sleep later I want to do it all"! It started with a mini-flip to day hours for Thanksgiving last weekend, continued over the week with 4 hour sleeps and strategic naps so I could work nights and attend daytime events, and culminated with our work farewell party. I slept like the dead last night.

So here I am this morning sitting on the couch waking up instead of falling asleep, nursing a headache, looking out the window to the quiet of morning not the hustle and bustle of the afternoon, and wondering what to do next.

First things first. Tylenol for the headache. Then coffee. We'll see where things go from there.

Counting down

8 working days and counting till I'm officially unemployed. I'm so looking forward to getting off the treadmill for a while. I'm hoping it isn't hubris but the job market seems good enough right now that I'm not freaked out about getting another job. I have some focused self-learning I want to do before starting the job hunt, and the severance package should cover this. In the meantime, Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm looking forward to seeing the family.

On a side note, one can definitely tell that the Canadian Thanksgiving isn't the sacred "home for the holiday" event it is down South. Locally there's both a convention and a conference competing for this long weekend time period. If only I could be in 3 places at once.

Hang on to your hat

Watching August walk up to the front door can only mean that rat bastard July is leaving with at least 10 ten days of my life I didn't get to live. July is just like all the rest of his roommates: A liar and a thief.

August is going to be very busy. I'm scheduled for two workshops and a friend and his wife are coming up for a visit from down south. Then there's projects I'm trying to get done and, not to be forgotten, job hunting.

Perhaps I should be finalizing my resume instead of writing this ......

In the Twisted Parodies Department

Cruising around the blog-o-sphere I encountered a parody of the old Davey and Goliath series. The series briefly came back into the public eye when it was parodied in a Mountain Dew commercial ("We're hosed, Davey"). This version is just wrong, but I'm compelled to post it :-)

http://videosift.com/story.php?id=5039

Blog TLC

Well, this weekend I caught shit for being blogger AWOL.

Yes, my energies have been focused else where. Sadly, I have a small, finite amount of that.

In my defense, you'll find there are two other domains where the content is starting to flow. Here's a hint, I have email addresses at both of them.