Merry (Fifth Day of) Christmas, and Happy New Year

Since there are 12 days of Christmas (according to the song, at least), I figured I'm not too late with Christmas greetings. I hope everyone had a great time on December 25.

My Christmas season was rather hectic up to Christmas Day, when I actually left some gifts at home and had to run back and get it. Normally, I would have shopped all year round and got all the presents with plenty of time to spare, but this year things were different. Due to a number of circumstances this year--some unforeseen and unfortunate, others inevitable--I didn't have much time for gift shopping. Consequently, I was fitting in shopping here and there after work on some days, resulting in multiple days of driving and frustration. I was literally running around town on Christmas Eve up until the stores closed around dinner time in an effort to get all the presents. I haven't done any online shopping this year because it would require me to know exactly what I want for people, whether it'll fit, whether it'll get here on time etc., but I think I will try to do more online shopping next year. Brick and mortar stores have limited hours, but I can shop online in the wee hours of the night and have more time to find what I'm looking for.

Frustrating logistics aside, it was a fairly good Christmas for me because things went back to basics. The current economic recession affects everyone, and it also had its effects on gift-giving. For the most part, most gifts that I've seen passed around were smaller and on the very practical side (i.e. socks, nail polish, bath products). How much to spend, whether something is nice enough to give as gifts, etc.--none of that mattered this year, and I really like that. The important focus this year was simply to spend time with those we care for, to help each other get through the hard times, and hold out hope that things will get better.

Tough times like these make me see more of a silver lining in the stormy clouds--"problems" are really just minor annoyances compared to the real problems and difficult choices that many people have to make every day. A lot of things happened in the last month or so, and it's been tough to make time to deal with everything, but I am thankful that I get to be busy and gainfully employed. Although I didn't have as much time to scope out super-deals this year when shopping for gifts, I'm glad the end result was splurging a little for loved ones who couldn't afford to get themselves a well-deserved year-end treat. Although I'm grumbling about the troubles of having to save up and replace a big hunk of motorized scrap metal (which is currently sitting idly on a street somewhere), I'm just very lucky it managed to protect me before its demise and I'm around and able to deal with the aftermath, not to mention that it happens to be a time when there are very good deals abound.

How have your holidays been, and what are your wishes for the next decade? I hope that the New Year will bring all of us inspirations, motivations, felicitations, and (at least in my case) perhaps a new set of wheels that will keep on going round and round for years and years to come. The cautious realist that I am, I tend to be weary of prognostications of "everything is going to be OK," but I do believe that things are starting to turn a corner and will get better.

Enjoy the celebrations, and stay safe!