this is mostly because i got a part-time job in retail for the holiday season to keep me out of trouble and put some extra $$$ in my piggy bank. the joy of this was fully realized when i jumped out of bed at 4 AM to get ready for black friday ... called black friday not because it's an abysmal day to be outside (although it WAS an abysmal cold, rainy day to be outside in flag) but because it's the first time all year that retailers make a profit. that's 11+ months of red fridays and basically 4 weeks of holiday shopping. 4 weeks of insanity, culminating in today -- the LAST day of christmas shopping. i expect i will run into more men today that have no idea what to get their wife/mom/sister so what is my favorite? and can i just please throw one of those into a bag for each woman in their life? NO, they don't need to sample it first and NO, it doesn't matter that my wife and my mother are getting the same gift (trust me dude, it matters to your wife) but YES, since i suggested it they will take a couple of those also. silly fools.
it is a job that i find ironic -- because let's be honest, "customer service" does not come before or after "kelley" in any word association games -- yet strangely enjoy. it's as close to being a personal shopper as i will ever get and it's comforting to be surrounded by bright, shiny things all lined up neatly in rows with labels facing outward, even though i must suffer through a hillary duff song in the christmas mix we've been playing over and over since november 2. plus, neither time nor weather exists inside the fortress of the mall. i get to spend a few hours a day back in the womb.
speaking of weather, there is about 2 feet of snow on the ground right now. more accurately, there's a foot of snow, then a nice thick layer of ice, topped off by another foot of snow. with an additional foot of snow expected in the next 48 hours. the first white christmas i can remember! OK, i'm over it. snow was pretty for the first 4 hours. then it becomes 8-foot high brown mounds lining the road and dotting parking lots. plus, it's so cold that my chocolate-covered marshmallow santas are hard and unappetizing. i am significantly less miserable since i got a pair of hideous cranberry-colored fur-lined boots, no doubt the best $25 i've spent in 2008. still, in the tally of ass-busting, i'm up 2-1 to aaron. boo.
my family did make sure that aaron and i were outfitted with a christmas tree + decorations for our first christmas, including, count them, FIVE happy-first-christmas-together ornaments. our little tree is fairly non-traditional with its cupcake, snowflakes, six-pack of beer and pickle on top... all of which i will re-box after the holidays and treasure for eternity. i am obviously destined to have a tree covered in wedding cakes.this is not however a first christmas for the jancaitis girls taking family photos with santa & mrs. clause. although we celebrated early in december, it is comforting to know that there is some peace in the world. even if only in the form of comfortable insanity -- the kind i grew up with and have become strangely fond of...
4 comments:
Those three women look so similar that before you said something, I thought you had photoshopped three pictures of you into the one.
No Kelley does not equal customer service, but best personal shopper ever does fit the bill - and as someone who enjoys what you buy her more than shopping for herself - I should know.
Also - I am over the snow also. And it hasnt even happened. :) Still on a quest for boots that I like, that fit over my monstrous calves, and that dont have heels or fur trim, I am finding it a difficult search.
And those photos of us are hilarious.
At least when you get a big tree, you can hide all those hideous "first Christmas" ornaments near the tree's trunks.
i KNOW you will never hide those ornaments!
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