it's all so clear to me now

christmas shopping is ri-freakin-diculous!

i have the fortune of belonging to a family that has a rotating cast of people who talk-to/ignore/fight-with/make-nice-with everyone else depending on the year. so i really have only had a core of 3 people to shop for over the years: my mom, my dad, and my grandma. easy right? 3 people. no big deal. then why am i having so much trouble this year? geography? maybe. being choked out of every local mall and store by millions of fellow last-minuters? sure. but it was a conversation i overheard today at barnes and noble that changed my luck.

the way-too-talkative guy in front of me in line and the over-chippy cashier gleefully discussed the advantages of the $50 gift card he was buying.

"i figure this way, they can just get what they want." he said. "it's not like when i was a kid and the thought that went into the gift was what mattered."

click

what a great idea. i mean the guy who is in those best buy commercials promises that everyone will be happy with a gift card. so why not?

i happily picked one up myself. headed on the rounds to home depot, target, walmart, and mcdonald's, and all of the sudden, i was done.

i never dreamed christmas shopping could be so simple AND so thoughtful.