Accomplished?

Today among other things I ordered a couple of more gifts working from the few Christmas lists that friends have posted. I also finally returned a movie (Sleepless In Seattle) that I had borrowed from Sandee at work 6-8 months ago (I watched it last night, finally). I also remembered to take Shrek 2 to work to lend to Jim, and a book about Ed Gein to work to lend to Ellie. Ed Gein, if you don't know, was more or less the basis for Norman Bates in Psycho.

And I have to say that Sleepless In Seattle is not a love story, it's an infatuation story. I mean, they don't even meet until the final minute of the movie, and I'm supposed to believe that they are in love? This movie pushes the romantic ideal of love at first sight to pretty ridiculous heights.

But I guess I liked it. Tim at work told me this was the right time of the year to watch that movie, and that I should also watch You've Got Mail.

Also I made a copy of the cd Keepers of the Flame by Phoenyx last night and then contacted Gerald Perkins and mailed it off to him today. That may not sound like much, but it's the fullfillment of a promise I made to him at Conifur. I know he loves celtic music and celtic rock, and when I realized what a big fan of Heather Alexander he was, and that he didn't own the long-out-of-print Phoenyx cd, I asked for his e-mail address (he gave me his business card) and promised to mail him a copy. But I'm so lazy that it took me months to get around to doing it, even though it didn't require that much effort. But now it's done. ^_^ I guess that could count as a Christmas present of sorts.

I made a list of friends who usually attend our writer's nights or game sessions... Kristin, David, Ieva, Charles, Jeff, Jeri-Lynn, Chuck, Gene, Mike 1, Julie, Mike 2, Keith, Juli, C.D., Sky, Jwyl, Jennifer, Jared, Edd & family... and I just realized I don''t have Tom on the list...

Anyway that's over 20 people, you know? And I might still be forgetting someone. The thing is, I've bought six or eight presents, and I feel like I'm doing really well, when in fact I'm not even halfway done and I only have a week to go...

Anyway, I bought presents for Jennifer and Jeri-Lynn from their lists, so fair warning, I can't control if I buy something that someone else also buys. ^_^

But one thing I'll say, I was really sad to realize that Jeff did not own Flood by They Might Be Giants or Shut Up and Sing by the Bobs. And I was really sad to realize that Jeri-Lynn doesn't own A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. How can my friends live happy lives without such ESSENTIAL things?

But I didn't buy any of those things for them, so I can only hope someone else does. ^_^

Oh, and I just realized Matt and Sheryl aren't on my list...

(no subject)

Today is a day for trying to get my Christmas gift act together. And as usual, I find myself wondering, "What would (insert person's name) want? Would they want this? Do they already have this?

Gift buying is best when you come across stuff completely by accident and realize your friend would probably love it. The flip side is trying to buy gifts on purpose on a deadline... if you think about it too much and put too much pressure on yourself, you can really drive yourself crazy, and then it becomes a burden rather than what it should be. Buying a gift for a friend should be fun. Joyous, even, if I can use such a monumentally overused word at this time of the year.

I've ordered several things online, and most of them are the kind of gifts that people don't expect but will hopefully like. That's good. I went out today and bought a few more things, some of which I hadn't really had in mind to begin with, so that's also good. I'm throwing some caution to the wind in that I've bought several things that my friends might potentially already have, but then again, it's mostly me worrying about getting the perfect gift -- something that you like that you hadn't thought of buying for yourself. Like I said, the pressure you might feel while shopping for gifts is only pressure you put on yourself. Your friends are not half as worried that you'll get them the perfect gift -- or any gift at all -- as you are worried about giving them something they'll like.

Well anyway, I still have shopping to do and realistically I will need to finish it up by tomorrow. In theory I can get up early and do shopping before going to work, since I don't work until 4 pm every day. In practice, I rarely get up early enough to accomplish anything before I need to head to work.

For the second week in a row I tried to get my oil changed at Town & Country Chrysler Jeep, where I bought my car. I was told I had four free oil changes as part of my car purchase. Last week I was thwarted by showing up at 4 pm, and learning that they closed at 4 pm Saturday and were closed all Sunday. So today I showed up at 2 pm, and was told that they couldn't fit me in, that they were busy through 4 pm, and I would need to make an appointment for sometime next week.

No thanks. Make an appointment for an oil change? Please. I drove to Jiffy Lube. It wasn't free, but it also took twelve full minutes and I was back on the road. You know, time is money, you get what you pay for, and all of that. I'm not really interested in having to work around someone else's schedule and maybe wait an hour or more just to get my oil changed. That's not free, it costs me in time and convenience.