Ho, Ho, Ahem!

I woke up this morning with what I imagine were borderline panic attack symptoms. Oh La Befana, I have so much to do! I felt like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. As I grabbed my morning java (ie. the equivalent of 5 espressos, you know, to help calm the Arrhythmia), I sat down to check out Blogworld where I read no less than 26 "Gift Guide" and/or "Remember the reason for the season" posts. (Unlike what my mother told me, Jesus wasn't mentioned once. Hmph.)

Frustrated and annoyed, I did what any sensible, homeschooling mother w(c)ould do in this predicament... I took the day off. I guess you could call it a "mental health day" which is totally apropo or as my English husband said, I skived off.

Speaking of him, he's been busy working out of town most of the week (err.. year) and off to LA tomorrow, so I needed one day where I could get some things accomplished sans children. I haven't done my Christmas cards yet, I've only bought a few gifts, and basically I have two days to get my act together before my family descends upon my world. EEK!

So, in my 3 hours of freedom, I worked out a plan for my Christmas cards. (Now if only Santa would bring me an early gift in the form of time, that would be great.) But the shopping. I don't mind it when I know what I'm looking for, but for the love of Good King Wenceslas, I have no fracking clue what to get my own family. Ironically, my sister and brother and I worked out a no-gift rule among siblings. Unfortunately, they are the only ones I could easily shop for! And as much as the parentals claim they don't want gifts, you know they do. It sucks to have nothing to open!

I beg of you blogging goddesses... when is someone going to make a gift guide that actually pertains to my life? Don't get me wrong! I would personally love any one of the things I've seen on just about every gift guide out there. But since Christmas isn't all about me or by blogging standards, baby Jesus (thank you again, Mother) I need to know what to get these people:

Left to right/Top to bottom: (We're talking about a man that buys Forklifts for fun and collects hunting cabins in obscure places) Ammo baby, "Stuffed Animals" (hehe), Misc. Aircraft parts, A Flock of Seagulls Hope *I will buy the first person to give me some good gift ideas their own Flock of Hope - HOLLA!, A Camel, Mom Bucks (can you still give Mom Bucks when you are 37 and live in a different city?), If you were a 76/79 yr. old English person what would you like? Yeah, I don't know either. (For the record,  we really like Heifer International. I've already bought my mom an African child that she still takes care of and we bought the in-laws a goat a few years back. Sadly, they didn't find it as humorous as we did.)

I am in so much trouble! Now who wants to remind me what the season is all about? ;^)