You know it’s Christmas when you have to push and shove your way through a huge crowd to get in the checkout line at Target. That was my world today as I finished up the bulk of my Christmas shopping. Barnes & Noble and Target have seemed to work the best for us this year as far as finding stuff. We’ve got everyone covered, finally. Now, I have one person left: Lizzie. I’ve been really struggling to figure out what to get her, but I think I’ve got it all figured out finally. Tomorrow I’ll hopefully be able to get it all taken care of in a quick and efficient manner. Oh wait, it’s going to require a trip to the Mall of America, there goes the whole “efficient” idea.

So while surrounded by a few gazillion people in line at Target, I wondered why does it have to be so crazy this time of year? I mean, we know it’s coming. Why do we rush out and buy gifts all at once. And most of us complain we’re broke this time of year, but that might not be the case if we had bought one or two gifts every month of the year. It’s just weird to me, all of the hustle and bustle that makes people grumpy when it’s really supposed to be a beautiful time to reflect on our blessings. I just see all of these people with the look of dread on their face, the doom and gloom. There is so much depression and stress this time of year, and I find myself every year feeling more and more sad for those who are so depressed due to losses and heartache that have occurred in their lives, and this time of year only makes the sting worse.

I hate it that people feel that they have to go into debt to share gifts when it shouldn’t be about that. I fall into the trap of it all too, but this year I’ve tried really hard not to, and we’ve started to get this whole budgeting thing down. The only part of it now that is stressing me out, other than my bill at Target, is getting the gifts and cards in the mail on time. The Christmas cards are the biggest deal, because if you don’t send them early enough you might as well just forget it.

Buying gifts is tough. In many cases, especially with a girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse, you kind of feel hopeless and in a lose-lose situation. If you buy what the person asks for, then you aren’t being creative and thinking of something yourself. If you try to be creative, you might get something that doesn’t make sense or they just don’t want it. Those lines I dealt with at Target today, well they’ll be just as busy after the holidays with people returning gifts. Kinda sad, isn’t it?

But, when it’s all over and the 25th finally comes, you can just sit back and enjoy the result of everything you went through. Fortunately my family is made up of very descent human beings, and they’ll most likely love the gifts no matter what. That makes it not as stressful as it would be in one of those greedy families that we hear about so much. I’m fortunate that my family is one of those families where you don’t even really need to worry about getting gift receipts, unless it’s clothes or something (which may need to be returned because it’s the wrong size).

Well, one week to go. I’ll be staying here in Minneapolis for the holiday, and my brother will be coming down from Fargo to spend Christmas with us. For Christmas Eve we’ll be going to Lizzie’s grandparents and then we’ll spend Christmas with Lizzie’s mom. Should be a nice weekend, the best part is there will be no driving out of state! Yay! I’m so sick of driving…

Well, that’s all for now. Wish me luck on my shopping for Lizzie tomorrow. And in case I don’t have time to write before next weekend, Merry Christmas everyone!

(PS- I posted a photo of our Christmas tree on the Photo Blog tonight.)