Unprepared

With two days to go until Thanksgiving, I am feeling woefully unprepared... for Christmas ("thanks" to Todd's parents, who have the turkey day responsibilities).

I am just not ready for Christmas in any way shape or form.   You think I would be more prepared since the stores were already decking their halls with Christmas stuff even prior to Halloween.

I don't have a clue what to get anyone for the holiday.  The parents are notoriously difficult to shop for and that has not improved as time has gone on.  For my nephew, I am not in the loop of what are the hot items for kids.  Last week, I was excited when I got a cool wine basket catalog -- something for my brother & sister-in-law... until I read the fine print and saw they do not live in one of the 17 states that allow wine shipments.  And I am even clueless when it come to Todd.  Heck, I can't even come up with something that I want that I can pass off as a gift for him our "the house."

But I am more stressed about the pre-Christmas stuff.

We were planning on getting a new Christmas tree this year.  The first year we moved into the house we bought a pre-lit tree well ahead of the holiday season.  A month or so later when we put it up, we realized it was missing some piece, so we have had to do this little fix to prevent it from leaning at a fairly noticeable angle.  We looked at some trees this weekend, but they all seem pretty crappy.  Fake trees are looking more fake than ever!

Likewise, I was thinking of changing up our outdoor display.  Again, after 3 years it seems like it was time to mix it up... not that we are trying to compete with the 60,000 light display with huge wood cutout figures house just across the street.  But again, we go into the stores and nothing really is floating my boat.  I saw these lighted Christmas penguins in a Sunday flyer one week. I thought they were at Lowe's, but they were not.  Some eavesdropping fellow shopper told us she thought they were at K-Mart ... but with all the recent K-Mart store closures, the closest one is like 15 miles away... which kind of seems insane (considering we used to have 2 within five miles).  So we might just have to stick to our lighted "flying" reindeer.

Heck... I don't even have one of my easiest pre-Christmas items... my Christmas cards!   Since moving to Arizona, I have sent out Southwestern-themed holiday cards (since 90% of my cards are out of state).  That makes the decision of what card to get pretty easy, since there are not a huge selection... but finding them is the hard part.   I went to my usual card store on Sunday and you guessed it... crappy selection.  I have another store in mind, but if that doesn't work out I will be in full panic mode.

And I don't know where I am going to find the time to rectify all of this since apparently we have to put our house up for sale by the end of the week.  Saturday we headed over to Scott & Buckaroo's for an evening of fun, food and games... and we even got to meet "The Pacer" (again signed confidentiality documents forbid me from revealing any further details)... appropriately enough, the night started off with Wine & Cheese.  I joked that only I put the "H" in W(h)ine. 

Despite my going into a wine-induced giggle fit over a game that required us to "name 5 things to complete the phrase: small _____" (you can probably guess my 'mind in the gutter'  response), Scott was not scared away and tried to convince us that we should move to the recently vacated house across the street from them.   And if Scott is one thing, persistent it is ... so he has taken his campaign public. 

While it would be nice to actually know our neighbors, our current HOA rules and regulations highly discourage any interaction with the folks next door, so I am not sure we could deal with such a dramatic "social" change.  And thinking back to my college days when friends were just down the hall, I don't think I would get any work done!  And to top it off, S&B's street has two MINI Cooper owners already... so my springtime arrival wouldn't be very special or unique parked out on that street!   Hey guys, we have a couple of house for sale on our street, too!

UPDATE:  Just got back from the card store... I have my Christmas cards!  I am quite pleased with it, it is both Southwestern and a little bit funny too!

Comments

[OneLazyLesbian]

I'm telling you, it makes all the difference in the world to live in a gay friendly neighborhood... we have said more than once that we will put a flag on the corner of our block but considering the number of flags on the houses, I guess we dont' need to.. it really is Mr. Rogers Queer Neighborhood.

There is also something to be said for knowing your neighbors... I say go for it!

[Scott-O-Rama]

See? The other mini Coopers here just go to show how fabulous this neighborhood is. I still promise to oooo and aaaah over yours though.

[Amal]

:)) Scott's right. Scott is always right. :)) You guys should move...

[EnviroBoi]

Moving is FUN! You should do it. Everyone wants to be Scott-o-Rama's neighbor!

Happy Thanksgiving :-)

[Barbara]

I wish I'd been there!!!! Next time, I promise. Really I will show up. I do exist.

Go move by Scott so he can stop whining about that house across the street. I've heard about the "green monstrosity" since they bought that house... lol.

Game night again soon???