Gifts I might actually want (or, a moment of selfish wallowing)

Not a collector. Not a "thing" person. HATE to shop. Despise knicknacks of almost every sort.
But hey, here's a hint for the gift-buying universe that these are things that I would actually be extremely happy to get:

Gift cards to Walmart, Target, KMart, PayLess, Lands' End, Giant, Food Lion, Wawa, Staples or Sheetz. Honest, I swear, a piece of plastic that gives me free toilet paper and socks for the boys when they need them is a fabu gift.

Writer's Market 2006--or whatever year is most current.

Stuff I need for work and school, like lined paper, post-it notes, #2 pencils, steno notebooks and those big pink erasers.

A roll of postage stamps.

Photo splits--those 2-sided tape things for scrapbooking.

Strongly scented candles.

Cut flowers.

And my all-time favorite, having someone pay for the carpet shampooer dudes to come by.

Tai Shaaaaaan!

We had tickets for the first day of the baby panda's debut. The car wouldn't start at first, but we made it. Not only is that panda the most adorable being on the planet, we made the Washington Post's web site--they interviewed us, and put a hidden microphone on Joe.

We also collected our share of panda freebies. If we had access to a Whole Foods Market, those macaroons would be a dietary staple.

Ooh! Shiny nails!

After nearly 30 years of nail envy, this weekend I splurged on gel nails in honor of Hubby's office Christmas party. A very nice Vietnamese guy named Kenny hooked me up. I am tickled pink, can't stop looking at them, and Hubby even kinda likes them. However.

Ya know how women with those long dragon nails seem to go out of their way to protect them? Using the sides of their hands to fumble things to stay prissy, when a simple no-holds-barred, full-frontal use of the hands would get the job done faster and better? I learned, over the past 72 hours, that they are not being insufferable glamour hogs. No, these nails just make it impossible to use your hands the way God intended. The discomfort of the first 24 hours has passed, and I am learning how to function. But I still can't decide if I'm fabulous, or just crippled.

Snow day!

The public schools were closed today, and Hubby declared a snow day. The winter gear is taking over the living room, hot cocoa is flowing, and I even baked a batch of cookies and sent some next door before my neighbor could gift us this year. Son #3 made this charming snowman, too. All is right with the world.

Some people just make you love 'em

And today I drove about three and a half hours to see one of those people, for less time than I spent on the road. Do I regret it? Not for one second. When you find a Nancy, you're a lucky chick. Every time I see her, I feel like I've just been handed a giant gift.