My Christmas Goal

In the spirit of Christmas and my personal sanity, I have decided to attempt to get through Christmas without going to the mall for shopping. Year after year I go to the mall, get crushed by mobs of people fighting to save a couple bucks on a 24 pack of socks and end up spending far more money than I should. Well, this year, that is going to change. I am going to do 95% of my shopping online.

This is going to be quite a chore for me. Especially in shopping for my wife. See I know what I want to get her, but when I shop online, I can’t really see the fits of the items. I don’t want to buy a shirt that is too big and be accused of thinking my wife is fat, or buying a shirt that is too small and making her think she is fat. The hells of being a female, I will never understand. That aside, it worries me. Beyond that though, I will miss the lights, the smells and the sounds of shopping at the mall. It’s all part of the experience of Christmas shopping.

What I have noticed so far in my online shopping is that it is much much easier to find deals on what you actually want. Got a 20% off my online purchase at JCrew. Found 70+ pages of items 40% off or more at Nordstrom.com. So, while I am missing the shopping experience, I am able to get better deals because I have time to actually browse around at stuff without feeling rushed or squished. Hopefully the tradeoff will be worth it. Saving money while missing part of the Christmas experience.

Today I am going to post one of my favorite Christmas songs. I’m one of those people that starts playing Christmas music after Halloween. Not every day, but I’ll throw in a CD at work once a week or so until December. Then, it’s Christmas music all day.

Woohoo

I am very excited that vacation time is here. I am sitting here watching football and Food Network while playing WWSM 2009. It doesn’t get much better than this.

I love watching Food Network, but Thanksgiving and Christmas are the best times of the year to watch. Yesterday I watched the full 1.5 hour Iron Chef Battle Thanksgiving. It was great. It always amaes me how good that the chefs are. The ideas they come up with are simply amazing and watching them is really a treat. Who would have ever thought that watching people cook could be fun. It is and I watch all the time. On the downside, I get plenty of ideas for food that my wife is not down with at all. That’s ok though, that’s what restaurants are for. It’s the reason I discovered the joy of foie gras. I’d never cook it at home, but if I see it on a menu….

WWSM 2009 is even better than expected. I really enjoy the new match engine. Having actual players running around on the field rather than the old circles is much better. The game itself is much harder. It has taken my team a few months to really learn the tactic I am running and the fact that I have purchased several new players has a definite effect. It is a wonderful game. If you are reading this and you do not like soccer, that’s ok. When I started playing it years ago, I hated soccer, but I found the game to e a lot of fun. Over the years of playing the game, I have learned a lot about the game and now I enjoy it a lot. One of my best friends is a hugie soccer (footall) fan. He’s blown away by the fact that I can carry on a sensible discussion about players, leagues and tactics in soccer having barely seen any real games at all. The game itself is so well done, that it teaches you soccer and through learning about it, you learn to love the game. Give it a shot.

I have to end on a bit of a sad note. MC Breed died yesterday. I’m signing off today with probably his most well known song.. Ain’t No Future in Yo’ Frontin

One More Week

Well, only one more week until I go on vacation. For the first time I can remember, I tool the entire week of Thanksgiving off. My wife has decided to do the same. I don’t have much planned, but I am going to make the most of it. I am donating half a day to my son’s school book drive on that Monday I believe. On Tuesday, i will see Quantum of Solace with my wife. Otherwise, I will be watching TV, playing video games and maybe cooking something up for Thanksgiving. I’m thinking maybe red cabbage. I’ve never made it, but I grew up with my Mother always cooking it. Love the smell, love the color and love the taste.

I am bemoaning my sports teams this year. It has been a rough one. I’m a Seattle transplant living in Portland, so losing the Sonics has been hard, BUT, at least the Blazers are a good team on the rise. The Seahawks are breaking my heart this, as are the Huskies. The M’s were abysmal and I hope they can do something this offseason. I pin all hopes of having a playoff team this year on the Blazers. Brandon Roy is fantastic and seeing as he is a Husky, I can get behind the team.

Still waiting for WWSM 2009 to come. It is being released next week, so I hope to have it by next weekend. Here’s hoping anyway..

I miss House music. Twin Hype was good and I can’t get enough of this song.