My Very Own Version of Hell: The Mall at Christmas

How did this weekend and come and go already? How is it that Christmas is a mere 2 weeks away?

Last night was low-key, with a trip to El Dorado with neighbors Zac and Jamie. Lots of queso was ordered, lots of laughter was had. Later, Matt and I watched Cold Mountain - a movie I never would have selected from the video rental, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the story. I love reading historical fiction (The Other Boleyn Girl, The Year of Wonder, etc) and I often forget that genre exists in movies as well.

Today I braved the mall post office line, which I survived in thanks to the foresight to plan ahead with an ipod book on tape. Deep yoga breaths and lots of calf raises. Lines. :::Shudder:::: Ipod in ears, I stepped foot into the belly of the mall - something I have not done at Christmas since I stopped working at Gap Kids in '99. Crowds. :::Shudder:::: I spent a surprisingly pleasant hour perusing the racks at Forever 21, all the while with Michael Gerber chattering in my ears on an audiobook. I was delighted to piece together an outfit for my brother's girlfriend that I think is actually quite cute. I have not met her and all I am going on is her age and the style of outfits I have seen her wear in f-book pics. Here's hoping. If she hates it, Forever 21's return policy is super easy....sooo... oh yea, no, it sucks. She better like it. Especially because I texted my brother THREE times in the span of an hour to ask him if he was around so I could photo-text him. My brother = the least communicative person EVER. My plan when I am home this Christmas is to see how often he screens calls and/or checks text without responding. I have a sneaking suspicion he is not just "missing" my calls or "charging his phone." What? It's not like I call THAT much... I just like to communicate with my siblings. Is that too much to ask? Anyways... I digress. Weekends, Christmas shopping, crowds, et cetera... back on track.

So, all I have left on my Christmas list is to hunt down the almost-discontinued Polaroid film my Grandpa uses and the 2009 tear off Dilbert calendar I've gotten my dad for the last eleven years. In high school, he used to tear off pages he thought were funny and leave them either on our bathroom counter or taped to my bedroom door. Throughout college he would mail them to me, so much so that my roommates recognized his swirly black inky handwriting on the envelopes and would know some Dilbert goodness awaited them. Every year I wonder if he is sick of the calendar, but approximately 2 weeks later when I've received my first Dilbert offering in the mail, I know I would have disappointed had I forgone the tradition. My family looooves traditions and nostalgia, nearly to a fault. Ask my mom about a recent conversation in regards to a fridge we've had in our family for 29 years.... "It held my baby bottles!" I pleaded. Nostaglia: To. A. Fault.