Monthly Mash-up for November, 2014: Waiting and Holiday Shopping

Me -My topic for this month is how much I hate to wait for things. Right now, I am waiting for June 8 because the final book in my favorite series is coming out. It is called Forever. It is by Chanda Hahn. It is part of the An Unfortunate Fairytale series. I am waiting for the holidays because I want presents, and I want to be off from school. I am waiting for my birthday because I am getting an iPhone, and I am also looking forward to having red velvet cake. We really don't eat red velvet cake that much except on my birthday because my father hasn't gotten over when I was 2, and I got my red velvet cake all over him.  However, it is one of my favorites. I always can't wait for Wednesdays because I love to watch Nashville. It is is so dramatic! I can't wait for all the couples I love on the show - Rayna and Deacon, Skyler and Gunnar, and Juliet and Avery to get back together. The only thing I can wait for and don't look forward to is getting up for school every weekday morning.

Mom- My topic for this month is holiday shopping. I have a love/hate relationship with holiday shopping. I love buying things for my kids for the holidays. I like to surprise them with a mix of things they asked for and things they may not have specifically asked for but I know they'll love. My younger daughter is still at the age when she usually loves everything I get for her. With my older daughter, I never know. Sometimes, I think she will love something, and she doesn't even like it. I hate buying things for other people not because I don't like to get things for other people because I never know what to get them. Now, in our extended family we mostly shop for the kids anyway. Years ago, everybody bought presents for everybody. Then, we started doing a grab bag where each person got a present for one other person. Now, we haven't even bothered with that in years. I love that it makes things easier having less people to figure out what to buy for.  I hate that it makes the holidays just another time that was a lot more special when you were a kid like birthdays. We don't exchange birthday gifts in our family either. In fact, we barely exchange birthday cards (as in we sometimes send cards to each other we sometimes don't) although we do call each other on our birthdays. I hate shopping in the stores for the holidays. I can't stand the crowds, and I think that holiday shopping really brings out the worst in people rather than bringing out the holiday spirit in people. I don't even like to set foot in the stores from Thanksgiving until New Year's unless I have to. I love shopping on-line. It's quicker. It's easier. It's less stressful. I only don't like it if I have to pay shipping fees, but since I do most of my shopping through Amazon, and I have Amazon Prime that is not that much of a problem. In any case, love it or hate it, I am always glad when my holiday shopping is done.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Tips for Tuesday.