It's Gift Time

Here it is again... That time of year, when I stress to figure out what to buy people. I usually just focus on gifts for the people I care about, so that's not so bad. It's more of the "other" activities and the extra people you don't necessary plan on buying for, but tell you they want to meet up and give you your Christmas gift... Or the monetary expectations placed on us by our society, that agitates me. I felt the pressure last week, when I was politely pushed into a gift exchange for someone at one of my jobs.

However, this year I did something different. I told myself, "No! I do not have to do this," and I decided to be "that lady" who opted out. Yep, I faced the confrontation and will be the one person not in the circle of fake smiles and excitement over unwanted cup warmers.

I will say, I have found one way around the costliness of gifts during the holiday season: Use your resources. If you don't know what I mean, let me enlighten you.

I think it started back in forth grade. This wasn't for the holidays, rather that I had to do a presentation for my class. There was a quiz at the end, where I asked questions that my fellow students would try to answer. To make this snorish activity fun, I needed prizes. At age ten, pencils seemed like a good prize. I always had extra pencils, so it was perfect; I didn't have to spend any of my hard earned allowance. This would likely have been a forgettable moment in my life, if it weren't for one student's comment. When one of the winners walked up to me saying, "Excuse me... My eraser has been used..." it became memorable. He seemed slightly offended, but I was thinking - Hey, kid... You're lucky I hadn't sharpened that one yet. That's when I learned the talent of pretending not to hear, followed by the rapid engrossment in conversation elsewhere.

Or maybe it started before that...

Have you ever gotten a candle, soap, or lotion that you thought smelled nice at first, but found that you actually could not stand it for any length of time? No, it's not what you're thinking... I didn't regift any soap. It was perfume spray.

I just cannot stand to waste, if I can find another use for something. I was like this as a kid too. It's not like I gave 4/5 of a bottle of spray away as a gift. That would be tacky. No no, I couldn't do that. To mask the fact that I had... well, "sampled" the perfume, I filled up the rest of the bottle with water. Fool proof?

This method of gifting seemed to be working fine in my life, until one Christmas (not all that long ago), it caught up with me. I had received a lotion that was a well-known brand and actually quite expensive. The problem was, I have a sensitive nose and unfortunately, it gave me a headache. It was a flowery smell most women probably like, so I gave it to my friend as a small present. My younger sister was near when my friend graciously opened it. My sister has an honesty that is refreshing, to say the least. This honesty didn't fail, when she chose to share with my friend that I, "Got it as a Christmas gift, but didn't want it."

I'm going to blame this on unnecessary holiday gift exchanges. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. People stress about gifts. So... people buy other people shit they don't want. Those people re-gift, when they have too many people they feel obligated to buy for and don't know what to get. Let's stop the cycle!

Remember the reason for the season. Give a hug this year ;)

More to Come

Funny Stories are something I seem to have often. These are often related to guys, personal "mishaps" or clumsy circumstances I find myself in. These are part of what makes life good. I love to make people laugh and my mom (who is my biggest fan and greatest support) has told me many times she wishes I would write them down. So here it goes... I will write them here. Hopefully, they will be something others can relate to and if nothing else, they will bring a little giggle to your day. After all, life with laughter... It's just better :)