Day 833 Pressure

 

A gift for no reason, don't mind if I do! My friend showed up at my door last week with this gift for me, packaged in the best gift bag ever. I happen to love calendars so one with glamorous chickens showcased each month merges two of my favorite things. I'm not why I still insist on hard copy calendars since we all use our phones to keep track of dates, but I'm old school that way. I keep one on my refrigerator, marking upcoming events as they arise, crosschecking with my work and phone calendars. Tim has become accustomed to reading what's going on, although rarely adds events himself. With only one month left for 2024, I'm excited to have my new calendar on the ready, just waiting for fun happenings to be marked. Random gifts might possibly be the best gifts ever, expectation diminishes everything, even receiving gifts. When a surprise, unexpected present happens to come our way it arrives with nothing but pure joy and gratitude..as all gifts should.  As much as I look forward to decking my halls for the holidays, the gift buying adds a lot of pressure to the season. Let's face it, adults buy themselves whatever they need and most of what they want, not leaving much for a wish list. Even kids today have more than they could ever ask for, toys, books and clothes in abundance. Shopping for the holidays, list of gift recipients in hand, searching for something that they will like, won't break the bank but will convey how much you care about them....no pressure at all! I better at least start making my list, checking it twice and join the rat race of holiday shopping so I can sit back and enjoy the season. Gift cards are easy, but are so impersonal... then there's the gifts that need to be shipped, those better be purchased first! Dawn always sends me amazing gifts, but shopping for her isn't easy. She has everything she wants, doesn't like "stuff" and will most likely give her cleaning lady whatever I buy her anyway. I joke with her now telling her not to give Maria her gifts for at least a week or so. We all live in abundance, makes gift buying hard but what the heck....'tis the season to try.