Today, November 14, 2012

Today’s project:  Virtual Christmas Giving

Whoever used to own our house had some serious expendable income.  At least that is the conclusion I drew based on the mail that we still get for them.  This mostly consists of high-end item catalogues.

Now I LOVE a good catalogue.  Frankly, I would much rather flip through the inky pages, folding down edges, circling with a marker, pasting little flags than spend any time clicking around on the net.  I’m an old-fashioned girl at heart.  (As if you haven’t figured that out already, if you are a regular reader).  I think it reminds me of the GLORIOUS day of my youth…the one you waited for all summer with baited, peanut butter smelling, breath…the day when the Sears TOY catalogue came in the mail. 

Oh, I remember with glee and a grin the hopping up and down and the hours, I mean literally hours spent looking at every single page.  Even the pages with ‘baby’ toys.  (oh come on, some of those baby toys are pretty cool)

So now, as an adult, there is no small amount of excitement in me that rises when I see that the mail box has brought me a catalogue.  Even when it is full of stuff that I would never buy.  Even if my pockets were full of indiscriminate dollars.

As I was paging through the latest surprise from the mailperson, I find myself over and over with the following thought: “Man!  I wish I had fat cash.  Because I would so get that for [fill in the blank friend].”

Then the Tabernacle Choir went off in my head with a big “AHHHHAHAHAHHAHHH!”

Why not ‘send’ these gifts to my friends virtually?  I mean, we are told over and over again that it is ‘the thought that counts’, right?  So, my thoughts are actually gonna COUNT this year!  That’s right!  My friends are going to be impressed by what I would have bought them.  Lots of fun and zero dollars spent!

Ok, because this is a virtual thing, what better place to ‘host’ it than Facebook, right? I set up a FB event invited a handful of friends, explaining my idea.  I also set up a couple of ‘rules’…

1.  No ‘shopping’ until Black Friday (Look, I love Christmas just as much as the next 5-year old adult, but seriously, let’s get through Thanksgiving first, k?)

2.  This doesn’t eliminate your opportunity to exchange ‘real’ gifts if you get the urge (see previous comment about my maturity age – I am just as excited to see what Santa brought as the kids are)

3.  IF we decide to give ‘real’ gifts, I asked if we could all agree to ‘create’ what we give. (I did this once with another group of girl friends years ago and I still treasure and use what I received that year – to me, the ultimate success of a gift)

I’m really excited about this idea and am hoping that it provides us at least a giggle throughout a season that tends to be pretty durn stressful when it should be joyful.

So, if you will excuse me, I have some virtual Christmas ornaments to unpack in prep for Thanksgiving weekend…Wanna help?