Ok, so there are times when technology just seems to win out. Too big, too small - actually this is beginning to sound a bit like Goldilocks' experiences.. or was that Alice in Wonderland? Whatever, I'm still working on the picture size - although I like this one, you can see the colors of my kite.
I'm supposed to be writing the first draft of a report, but I'm having trouble and it's too early in the day to resort to Oreos. What I actually want to do is finish off the short story I'm writing because that's where my brain is right now. I had to leave my notebooks at home to stop myself from doing that instead of this. Well, not this per se obviously, the this that is the report. This is just a minor detour in the scheme of things.
I blame the newsagent for my current state of flux. He asked me if I wanted to buy the double issue of the Radio Times. I stared blankly at him as my brain reconfigured the information into something I could understand at 7am in the morning. 'Oh, the Christmas issue' I said, the fact that I was telling him what he already knew, temporarily passed me by. He nodded. 'When's it out?' I asked, thinking he was trying his usual ploy of getting me to order something I really didn't want in advance just so as I would forget and he could charge me for it anyway, even though it would be months out of date by the time I got it. We have an interesting relationship. He pointed past my left ear. I turned and sure enough, there they were, on four of his six shelves. 'You bought a number then' I observed. 'They run out quick' he replied. I swear I bit my tongue to avoid the obvious, corny riposte. 'You should buy it now if you want one'. And there it was, the stand off. The queue was building up behind me, and I had a train to catch. 'Maybe next time' I said, smiling what I though was a reassuring smile. 'They'll be gone then, and you'll only gripe at me'. The woman behind me poked me sharply in the ribs 'buy the damn thing now' she hissed, I know it's hard to hiss words without s's, but she did an amazing job.
So I am now the proud owner of the Christmas, double issue of the Radio Times. The funny thing is though, I don't watch much TV and when I do, it tends to be satellite channels not covered by the Radio Times in any great depth. But hey, it wouldn't be Christmas without the Radio Times.
Which brings me to my original thought. How did Christmas get here so quick? It seems to me that 2008 was an awful lot shorter than its predecessors. I thought I had bags of time, now I discover that if I want to get those parcels off to the nephews in Sweden I should have done it last week. Now I'm going to have to pay a fortune to guarantee arrival by Christmas Eve. I've instructed Amazon to deal with the postage of presents to Ireland, a gal can only take so much. It's also my youngest nephew's birthday next week and my mother's on Christmas Eve. Why me? It's not like Christmas isn't stressed enough but I have to have family birthdays thrown into the mix as well!
So, here's what we're gonna do. I'm going shopping this afternoon. By the time I'm finished we'll have Christmas all sewn up. Trust me. My wife gave me a list of what she wants. I have a list too, of what she's gonna get. Her's is the 'nice' list, mine is the 'naughty' list.
Wish me luck.
