I can't believe that December is already here. I'm just not ready for it! But, wonder of wonders, I've already got about half of my Christmas shopping done. I usually don't even think about it until the second week of December (I can only handle one holiday at a time, have a hard time looking at Christmas displays before Halloween and think people who have all of their shopping done months in advance are seriously ill, including my mother). However, the day after Thanksgiving (which was very nice, thank you very much) a friend and I drove to the Camarillo Outlet Mall (oh, I'm sorry, that's Camarillo Premium Outlets) and shopped our little hearts out.

I've never done any kind of gift shopping the day after Thanksgiving for fear of being trampled by unruly mobs. Yet somehow my friend not only managed to talk me into doing so, but convinced me that driving an hour to shop would be exciting.

(OK, so her convincing me was more along the lines of:

Thing is, she was right. It was a lot of fun, like it always is when we hang out. It was very busy, but I didn't feel like the crowds were pressing in on me (I can be a bit claustrophobic at times). And you'd be surprised at how unstressful having your car valet-parked can be (otherwise we would have spent at least two hours just trying to find a parking space *shudder*). Five dollars is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

I managed to find almost all of the presents for my nieces and nephews (just two more to go). And since my family has decided that we're just buying for the kids for Christmas (the adults' gifts can be bought/given in January, if we want), that means that half of my shopping is done! The rest of the gifts will be bought over the next two weekends (kind of has to be, doesn't it?).

It looks like we might do the same thing this Saturday, but if we do, it has to be very early, since I'm going to my friend Dawn's birthday dinner that night at a very nice little dinner/jazz club called Cafe Cordiale. I've been there once before and enjoyed it immensely.

Of course, this means I have to find a birthday present for Dawn, in addition to my niece Jessie's birthday present (she'll be eight) and an anniversary gift for Jenn and Scott, not to mention another anniversary present and a couple of other birthday gifts and Hannukah gifts.

Did I say I was half-way done with my shopping? Silly me!

And I still have to sit down and fill out holiday cards, with which I'm always inconsistent. *sigh*

So, the move to my new (old) work building is complete. It really does feel much better over in the corporate offices, and so many people were happy to see Sandra and I back at the old homestead. Surely warms the cockles of me heart to know that we were missed! We'll be busier than before, since we've gone from 3 1/2 workers to back down to two (which is what it was when Sandra and I were originally in this building), but it's still a good thing.

For now.

I'm planning on throwing a holiday party on the 18th, but, disciple of procrastination that I am, I sent out the e-mail invites a few hours ago. And I'll be taking the 17th off so I can start cleaning, since my place is a mess (though not as bad as it has been in the past).

I'm throwing a party for several reasons:

First and foremost: It's a chance to hang out with my friends, some of which I really don't get to see as often as I'd like,

Second: It'll force me to clean up my apartment (seems like the only time I really clean it is when I'm expecting guests),

And third: I'll actually decorate my place in a festive manner. In 1997 I was going through my first Christmas after the Break-Up and was, understandably, depressed, though I was kinda, sorta dating someone at the time. So I didn't buy a tree and didn't string up lights or any other kind of holiday decoration. The most I did was tape the holiday cards that I received around the TV. Big whoop.

So last year I threw myself a party and did up the place really nice. So what if it ended up being five folks total. It was still a blast and will be just as fun this year.

Funny thing is, all of my parties feel like small, initimate gatherings, even if there are twenty people in a one bedroom apartment. I don't know why, but that's how it works out. And we still have a great time.

There are all sorts of other things going on, some of which I can write about and some of which must remain under wraps, but I'm really tired and I've got to go home. Maybe by the end of the week I'll be more sparkling. (Heck, I didn't even change the CD link!)

I'm sorry!