Damnit. I admit it. When I buy a present for someone, I just can't stand waiting to give it to them! Especially if it's someone who THINKS they know what I got them, like my roommate Chris. Every year he has guessed what I got him, and damnit, he's been right every time! Well, this year was different. It was necessary for me to let him know in advance what his big gift was, because I had to know specifics about his truck (I got him those thingies that go on your window to keep the rain out)...but his stocking stuffers..haha..THAT'S where I got him this year!

I had bought him a music CD, but he swore up and down it was a PC game he'd been wanting forever! So tonight, he tells me "why don't you let me open my PC game tonight?" It was TOO tempting to let him know he was WRONG!!! hehehehe So I let him open it...he was SO outdone that he'd been duped this year!! By me, no less! He liked the CD, but I could tell he was a bit disappointed that it wasn't the game he'd been asking for.

So I let him have the game..yes, damnit, I had bought it (and another one) tonight at Walmart. Oh well...so neither of us will have presents from each other to open on Christmas eve or Christmas day. Big deal. Who says that you should reserve gift giving for one or two days out of the year?? Seeing a smile on someone's face when you give them a gift is good any day of the year!

I've put it off long enough. It's time to do the dreaded Christmas shopping. The worst part THIS year is that I have to venture into the toy section to buy gifts for my little nephew Eli, who is almost a year old. That means subjecting myself not only to bratty, screaming children, but their sniveling, whining, politically correct parents as well. What ever happened to the good old days when parents just slapped their unruly children in the toy section?
On a recent (unsuccessful) attempt to locate a present for my nephew, I encountered a child who was DEMANDING that his mother buy him this toy...the mother of course was saying that Santa was coming soon and that he might get the toy from Santa if he was good. The child wouldn't hear of it and began to whine..you know the ear splitting whine I'm talking about. (Rewind to 30 years ago..if that were me doing the whining, a swift slap from mom would have quickly squelched the noise...but that sort of thing just doesn't happen anymore apparently.) So the mom not only doesn't shut the kid up, but she actually tells the little snot nose "oh go ahead and get the toy..but just remember that Santa is not going to be happy if you end up with TWO this year." I could have slapped the mother! I can only imagine what my venture to an ALL TOY store is going to be like!

Of course, the only thing worse than shopping for children is shopping for my sister. For some reason, she always wants something in the clothing department. This of course means going into the women's section of the store. GAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Maybe no one would notice if I just got a bunch of gift cards and doled them out?

It happens this time every year (well at least for the last 7 anyway!)...my roomie Chris buys my Christmas present, takes the time to wrap it up and then stick it under the tree, or in my stocking hanging over the fireplace. Then he tells me about it being there. Of course, given the fact that I can not STAND to know there is a present for me and not know what it is, I immediately start to beg to open the present early. He, of course, says no. Then the game begins. I beg, he refuses. I beg some more, he still refuses. And then he lets me open it.

Yesterday was true to form. Chris told me that I had a present in my stocking...see above...so THIS year's present was something I've been wanting for the last 15 years...a VIDEO CAMERA!!!!

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY I was so excited I couldn't stand it! Of course all of this transpired yesterday five minutes before I had to go to work, so I couldn't play with my new gift until I got home from work last night! It's been worth the wait though! It's an awesome camera...supposedly Chris was going to give it to me on my birthday (Dec 15) so that I could have it for Christmas, but truth be known, as much as I love to RECEIVE my gifts early, he loves to GIVE them early as well! Hey, it's a situation that works well for me! hehe

Well, I cannot believe it. For the first time in God only knows how long, I don't have ANYTHING to bitch about in my blog![EMOTICON:SHOCK2]]

This is a condition I'm going to officially name "Blog Block"..I can't really call it "writer's block", because I never really put anything interesting enough to be considered actual "writing"...now, my good friend Nightbug is a different story altogether. She could write the same word 300 times and still make it interesting! Or funny! I wish that I had an ounce of her ability to tell a story. Alas, I haven't been blessed with such. I've even so much as begged her to write a book..I'm telling you this girl, even at the young age of twenty something (she might kill me if I said her age, so I'll skip it)has experienced more LIFE than I will in the NEXT twenty something years! Nightbug's problem is that she doesn't see herself as all that terribly intersting..she sees herself as just an average Joe..or would that be JoAnn? hmmmm...Anyway, she's a gifted writer, artist, and so freakin' intelligent it blows my mind! Now, I'm no slouch in the IQ department, but I've sometimes found myself struggling to keep up with ol' Nightbug during some of our conversations!

Nightbug is a lot like another good friend of mine named Sara. Sara and I have been close friends since my days at the airline. Super smart, enormously funny, very literate, and just an all around swell gal! Another one that can carry make my brain twitch during a conversation! Sara and I often find ourselves finishing each other's thoughts...which can be a REALLY scary thing sometimes!

You know though, as I'm writing this, I wonder why it is that women like Nightbug and Sara consider themselves just "average"? Now, the first thought that many may have is that it's an appearance thing. The old stereotype of intelligent women is that they wear their hair in a bun and have horn rimmed glasses, but actually just the opposite is true of both of these ladies...they both are exceptionally attractive women. In fact, during my stint at the "office from hell" where she and I met, Nightbug was oft the subject of many a jealous glare from the other women in the office! haha Yeah, ol' Nighty is one of those who can get out of bed in the morning, spend a few fleeting moments, and still look better than those that took an hour to get ready! Sara takes a couple of minutes longer..but only because she has longer hair to brush!

Hmmm...well look at this! It seems that maybe I DID have something to talk about after all this evening: two great friends in my life that I don't get to spend nearly enough time with. Well, I guess every now and then I do have to spend some time talking about the good stuff that's around me and not the negative stuff! So I guess that's about it for tonight. G'nite!

If you turn on any of the news stations this evening, they are all leading off with the weather...namely the huge snowstorm that is sweeping across the midsection of the country! Is it heading THIS WAY to NC?? NO!!! I am SO SICK of getting ripped off where winter weather is concerned! All we ever get in North Carolina is RAIN. RAIN and MORE RAIN. This state already sucks..the least that could happen is a good predictable yearly ice and/or snow storm.

Ok, well enough bitching for now. I'm tired and need to go to bed.