Christmas Shopping

Ah, it is that time of year of the traditional race to the mall and do Christmas shopping. Oh how I hate shopping at the mall. I would rather squeeze my balls with a pair of vicegrips than go shopping at the mall. Whenever I need to buy something at the mall, I usually just go to the store, buy it, and then leave. I avoid the mall like the plague. If I do end up in a mall with my fiance, I just head over to the book store and hang out there. Thus, I would be extremely miserable if I ended up in a mall with no book store. I'm so glad that my fiance has agreed to help in buying Christmas presents. I will just hand her cash for my share of the presents. She is so understanding about me being so gift challenged and my displeasure for shopping.

It is funny that I have this hatred for malls but I can spend hours at Home Depot or at a music store like Guitar Center. Those kinds of places are like my favorite places to be. I love tools, gadgets and musical instruments. Speaking of musical instruments, I just bought me an electric bass that I've wanted for a long time but could not purchase due to my unemployment at the time. I figured that I deserved an early Christmas gift for myself.

Another place I like to go to is the pet store. I love tropical fish and I absolutely adore dogs. Oh how I miss my dog. I miss him very much and it makes me a bit teary eyed when I think about him sometimes. Actually, not teary eyed...that's just a bit of dust that got into my eyes...it can be irritating. I remember my parents telling me when I left home for college, my dog waited by the driveway gate for me for two weeks. He refused to come into the house and sat by the gate all day long. Whenever I came home on Chrismas and summer breaks, he would be so happy. Whenever I went out to visit old friends, my dog waited by the gate until I came home that night and would refuse to come into the house even if it was raining. He was such a great dog and a great companion. Strangest thing occurred one night. I had dreamt about my dog and in my dream we were playing and then he turned around and walked away. He would not respond to my calls to come back. I suddenly woke up and felt an eerie chill. The next day, I called my parents to see if all was well with them and they said they were fine. I then asked how was my dog doing and they told me that he was fine and was sleeping in his box. Actually what happened was that the day before (same day as my dream) they had to put my dog to sleep because he was loosing his fight with cancer and was getting weaker by the day. They told me that he was okay because they did not want me distracted during my finals which I was going through at the time. They told me the truth about what happened to my dog when I came home after finals on our way home after they picked me up at the airport. Talk about being in a state of shock. I wished that I could have seen him one last time before he was put to sleep. He was laid to rest just a few days before I went home. I remember being stunned in the car. I then could not see clearly, not even realizing that I was crying. Oh, how I miss that dog. Dogs are so loyal and give you so much unconditional love. I love it when I visit someone who has a dog. My buddy Dennis has a dog named Coco that I adore. She is such a friendly and great dog. When I used to house sit for them, Coco would be like my shadow, always following me everywhere and would sleep next to me if I crashed out on the living room floor. Hopefully, I will be a dog owner once again after I purchase a home.

Sorry for straying from my intended subject...Christmas shopping. Well, I was able to get for my fiance her Christmas and birthday present. She already figured out what she's getting for Christmas but she doesn't know what she will get for her birthday. Now all I have to do is wrap her gifts up. I am so inept at gift wrapping. I would use those gift bag things but I'm gonna try and do the traditional wrap thing. Try is the word. I may give up and go get a gift bag. I think it is rather amusing...I can fix multimillion dollar machinery but cannot gift wrap to save my life. Oh well.