Yesterday, December 1st, was the official start of the annual Christmas-season self-buying moratorium. This means that neither I nor my friends are allowed to buy any non-essential items for personal use until after Christmas presents have been exchanged. For those of my more recent friend acquisitions, oh yeah, I’m serious. Sure, go ahead and buy yourself that pretty little whatever you’ve been eyeing… but know that someone may have picked that same item out for you for Christmas, and you have now SUCKED ALL JOY out of the “giving” part of a gift exchange.
This means that I am, sadly, forgoing a DSW boot-shopping excursion during a DOUBLE POINTS promotion. Hey, rules are rules.
But I had to make one small (1:24) exception. I was at the local hobby/craft store, spending too much money on party décor and crafty stuff, when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature ‘rod that could smoke eight tiny reindeer. I honestly planned to leave it on the shelf until after Christmas, but then I noticed the price tag. All of the other models in this line were priced between $20 and $23, but this one, just this one box, was marked $13. That sure sounds like a “sign” to me. Now that I have gotten it home and seen the bag of parts in the box, it would appear that my idea and their idea of “minimal” gluing seem to differ. 46 assembly steps. Which doesn’t count me altering the girl on the door decals to be more “classic pinup” and less “cheap whore.” But I look forward to putting it together… eventually. Maybe after the holidays. Because I got very little accomplished this weekend (um, by the way, my local municipal recycling center CLOSED for long-term construction so I’m driving around with tubs of single-stream commingled in the trunk of the car until the rattling reminds me to go to one of the OTHER recycling centers). I’ll need to play Advanced Organizational Skills this week because I am theoretically leaving on Sunday or Monday to head to Milwaukee for work (missing Amy’s birthday AGAIN), and that is going to seriously eat away at my holiday-prep time. Erin’s cocktail party is the very night that I’m scheduled to return, so all shopping/wrapping for that social circle needs to be done before I leave. I will be in no condition to operate anything as sharp as a Scotch tape dispenser when I return.
The World of Wink 