1-Travel: It’s a pain in the ass to get anywhere. Going to work? Yeah, that sucks. Too many people and most of them can’t drive for shit.
2-Shopping: On a schedule? Forget about it. Don’t bother. You’ll be late to whatever it is you have to get to. I learned this the hard way and won’t attempt to shop before work again. I made it, barely. I had to rush around trying to get ready like a chicken with my head cut off. That was after speed walking through the mall and avoiding all the assholes who didn’t have to punch a clock that day. Sears, as usual, sucked. It takes forever to check out on a good day never mind during the holidays. I stood in line for what felt like forever. The cashier was slow and called for back up. His back up came and did nothing. Instead of helping the long line of customers she decided to start folding the few articles of clothing that were at the register. And of course the people in front of me were all past the age of retirement. They had all day, I didn’t. Then I had to go to Bath and Body Works for my mother. Talk about a terrible idea. I didn’t realize just how far away it was from Sears. And of course whoever designed the mall is a total idiot. You can’t just walk a straight line. No, you have to walk all the way around pointless out coves created by a dumbass. Then once I got there the place was packed. It’s a small store to begin with. Then add like thirty people and you’re screwed. Then you have the cashiers going, “You know if you buy one more then you’ll get a third one for free”. Then the customer has to think about it and go pick out a couple more things. And once again, the store is filled with people who don’t have to punch a clock. It took me way longer than I thought it would to get in and out of there. Then I still had a ten mile walk back to my car which I parked at Sears. I decided to go down the escalator so I could walk a more direct route then get on another one going back up. My legs were so tired from speeding around the mall. The thought of going to work and being on my feet for eight hours almost seemed impossible. Then I had to drive like NASCAR back home to get ready for work in record time. Who would of thought that the stores would be THAT bad on a Tuesday morning/early afternoon.
HOWEVER, shopping on the internet has been wonderful! Amazon gives free shipping on many items. A lot of other sites are giving free shipping and all you have to do is enter a simple offer code. I’m surprised at how quickly I have been receiving my packages as well. ALSO, nighttime seems to be okay for going to the stores. We went to Toys R Us on black Friday. They didn’t have everything, but they still had a lot. And what they didn’t have is easily obtainable elsewhere or online. We got a $50 doll for $20. Not bad.
3-Not Knowing What to Buy: Some people are extremely easy to shop for. Others, not so much. For instance, my mother is pretty easy to shop for. We have a lot of them same interests which helps. The one thing with her though, a lot of times if she wants something she just buys it. My dad was fairly simple as well. I still want to buy a couple things though but maybe Paul can get them. I am sort of at a loss as to what to get Paul though. I’ve picked up a couple things, but that’s it. One problem is money. There are a few things I would like to get but can’t afford at the moment. I’ve been shopping on plastic since I don’t get my first check until Friday. However, his birthday is coming up. And Valentine’s day is right around the corner as well. It’s hard too because I know he has bought me quite a few things. A couple things I wanted to get him he went out and got himself. I’ll figure it out though. I’m going to attempt shopping tomorrow since I have the day off and won’t be on a time limit. It’s crazy that Christmas is next Wednesday. It’s coming so fast!
4-Working for the USPS: I have to work Christmas eve, so I won’t be seeing any of my family. I will probably be stuck working on Christmas day as well. What really sucks about that is the fact that this is the first year that we won’t be going anywhere on Christmas day. Except, now I’m probably going to have to work. However, if I go to bed when I get home Christmas eve then I will have some time Christmas morning to do the whole present thing before I have to go to work. The good thing about going to work is I won’t have to be there til 3:30. But I won’t have much time to actually play with my presents 😦
5-Wrapping Presents: About the first ten presents are fun to wrap. After that, it feels like work. Especially since you spend so much time doing it only so it can be torn off and thrown in the trash. I made my own bow one year. It came out really good but it took a while. I hope I’ll have time to try it again this year.
6-Cookies: Usually we make like 8 different kinds of cookies and give them to everyone in the family. Once again, the first few types are fun. After that it, like wrapping presents, begins to feel like work. However, I don’t think we’re really going to make any this year since my mom and I are both working 😦 Today would have been the day to do it and well, we’re not. It kinda sucks too since she has Saturday and Sunday off and I have Sunday and Monday off. We only have one day together. Usually my schedule works out because I get Sunday with my parents and Monday with Paul. Since he works Saturday and Sunday I have a whole day with him as well.
7-My dad: He pretty much has the whole month of December off from work. It makes it hard to get certain things done when he’s around. I love my dad, but it’s still a pain in the ass sometimes. Plus, when I get ready for work I have a routine that gets thrown out of whack. For instance, I usually get out of the shower, get ready, and not put on pants until right before I leave. It’s easier for me to get ready while in a beater and my underwear. I can’t do that with my dad around. Also, my dad is Mr.Punctuality. He likes to arrive somewhere like an hour early. His philosophy is that he can read the paper whether he’s at home or at work. If he leaves early then he will be on time no matter what could happen on the way there. Things like unexpected traffic and such. Me, not so much. A lot of the time I get to the clock right before it’s time to punch in. Except the other day. I had to stop at the store to get cigarettes on my way to work and I got there like a half hour early. Go me! But he was lecturing me on punctuality while I was getting ready for work the other day. I’m not sure he realized it, but that was actually kind of hindering my process. It will be like that everyday until the beginning of January. I can deal with that though. Just a few minor adjustments and I’ll make it through the next few weeks.
I’m sure there are a few other things that are kind of sucky, but those are the main ones. Now for reasons why the Holidays are fun.
1-Family: You get to spend time with family, some of which you don’t see too often except for the Holidays and a few other times throughout the year when you’re schedules permit it.
2-Presents: It’s always fun to tear open pretty presents. It’s fun to do it and the element of surprise is exciting. Plus, it’s always fun to get things you want! Now, I’m not completely selfish. I like giving as well. I like to watch people opening the gifts I’ve given them and see the smiles on their faces when they see what they got. It makes me happy. I always have fun opening stockings with the cats and the dog. They all have their own with their names on them. It’s funny too because like a month before Christmas they start playing with all their toys. Some of which you haven’t seen in months. It’s like they know Christmas is coming and are hoping you’ll see them so they can get even more toys. Toby, our dog, has this tempurpedic bed that the cats have kind of taken over. I bought the cats their own bed for Christmas and I’ll put a bow on it and stick it under the tree Christmas morning.
3-Breakfast: Every Christmas, after we open all our presents, my mom and I (but mostly her) make a huge breakfast. I help. Eggs Benedict, corned beef hash, bacon, hashbrowns, sausage, the works. It’s great. usually we have cookies too but most likely we won’t this year 
4-Dressing Up: I always do something for holidays. Get in the spirit. Wear some holiday related clothing. Put pretty hair accessories in my hair. Special holiday jewelry. The whole nine.
5-Decorations: The holiday spirit is always festive and you can’t help but smile and be happy about most of it. The tree is a pain in the ass to do and takes forever, but it’s beautiful. We don’t really do Christmas lights anymore but seeing all the houses of people who do is exciting. Especially this one house in my town that is ridiculous. They spend like a month setting up and it is amazing. It’s well planned out and they have some pretty cool things. One of favorites is the gingerbread house with the gingerbread man that walks down the path towards it. I’ve always liked the little duck pond too. Blue lights surrounding light up rubber duckies. The skiing animals on the hill are cute as well. All of it is just mind blowing. I will have to go by at some point and take some pictures. I’ll bring the good camera and post my pics on here!
There are some other reasons to be happy around the Holidays but I’m hungry. And I’m going to look around online for gifts for Paul 🙂
sparklesinwonderland 