Wish List Fever

It is disgusting but it is true.  Thanksgiving is still a week off but I have been sucked into Christmas Wish List mode.

In truth, I have been shopping in advance for several years now but this time I really am offended by the Christmas commercials that began airing October 1st.  Tonight they are lighting the Christmas tree at one of our outdoor shopping areas - one of last to do so.  And I got my first Christmas card on Tuesday.

Shameful!

Be that as it may, I must wag the finger at my own self because I am chomping at the bit to get started.  Bob just sold a house so I can actually put together a reasonable (and by that I mean modest) shopping budget.  But this year I haven't a clue what to get anyone.  Really.  So instead, I have been dreaming of a wish list of my own - something I haven't done in a very long time.

Now there are a number of things I should put on my wish list - because I am a big girl and I need to think about things that I actually truly need.  Like a new mattress.  Ours is like a zillion years old now.  It was a cloud when we bought it - a fluffy, soft, pillow top California King.  But years of sleeping in the same spot mashed the pillow top on either side of the mattress where each of us sleeps to the point of creating an apex in the middle of the bed.  Every night we ran the risk of sliding off the incline plane that was created  - so we needed to brace ourselves before falling asleep - starting as close to the center as possible and slowing rolling down the hill in hopes that we wouldn't wind up on the floor before the morning alarm went off.  So we turned the mattress over only to see a tag labeled:  "This Side is Not A Sleeping Surface".  But the other side wasn't either, so how bad could it be?  Well if you like springs poking at you with each breath all night, its not so bad.  But it turns out, I don't like that so much.  But I also don't like the $1,000 it will cost me to replace it with a quality product.  Plus it would mean I was the only person that would get a Christmas gift this year.  So no, a mattress is not on the list.

I also need a new dryer.  Forget that.  And a new refrigerator.  Ditto.  My car needs new tires.  Absolutely not!  How about getting the shower re-grouted?  Okay, now I'm really thinking crazy.  All of these things need to be purchased -  on a regular day.

The fact is, no matter how old I get, no matter what the need, on Christmas morning I still want a toy.

And you spell that: i-P-a-d.