Shopping, shopping, shopping!

It's that time of year again.

Time to decorate your home inside and out, plan the big holiday meal (wait, didn't we just have one??) and the most dreaded task of all...Christmas shopping! Don't get me wrong, I have just as much holiday spirit as the next person, I am just getting to HATE doing the shopping part of the season.

Retailers love it, but sometimes it's the consumer that gets the short end of the stick - despite some sales items and low pricing on Black Friday.

Face it, anyone with kids knows that the older they get, the more expensive they get. Those $30 sneakers turn into $85-$130 dollar sneakers. That little $15 toy truck isn't acceptable, now we have to have a $100+ raido controlled truck with wireless controller and the rechargeable battery pack. God forbid that kids these days actually push the truck themselves to play wtih it. That is so uncool.


My kids are teenagers and I am at a loss for gifts this year. They have jobs and buy whatever they want. There really isn't anything this side of $300 that they don't already have. And they have so much stuff as it is, I don't relish the thought of adding to it!

Together, Geoff and I have an 18 year old, a 17 year old (who turns 18 a few days after Christmas - hello birthday gift) and two 16 year olds! So far, we have decided that a blue ray disc player can be a gift for one of them, another is getting a new car stereo. The other two are still up in the air, and the only thing I can come up with for one of them is a new car tire. That's going to be really hard to wrap and put under the tree. It will feel like a jip, even though it's a needed item.

Anyone have any ideas? Please, let me know...I am ready to just call off Christmas all together and say, lets go on a vacation instead!


Rock on with your bad self,

H