It’s a start

My Christmas shopping officially began Dec. 2. I made my first (and so far only) purchase last weekend.

We took a trip to southwest Iowa for a brief visit.

I like to get from Point A to Point B the quickest way possible. There are any number of paths we can travel to our Point B destination. The problem with which ever route we take is the limited radio reception once we get down into the hills of the southern part of the state. I spend a lot of time trying to find a station that makes us happy.

We don’t ‘do’ country and the only time I want to hear norteño or Tex-Mex is when I’m eating a chimichanga and having a margarita. As for the radio ministry stations, I don’t always agree with everything I hear and even a mild case of ‘radio-induced’ road rage isn’t good when following pick-up trucks of farmers on their way to the local coffee shop or the little lady on the way to her weekly hair appointment, through the hills and curves of Clarke and Union counties.

After listening to Mick complain since July, when I let my Sirius radio subscription expire, I decided to call the online radio provider and sign up for another year. Once my purchase was completed and I ended my conversation with the sales representative, we tuned in some holiday music over our freshly acquired radio signals and I told Mick “Merry Christmas.”

Boom. My first gift purchased and I didn’t even have to wrap it.

It’s no secret ... I’m not a shopper. When I go to a store, it is for specific items and if I could get someone else to do it for me, I would. Multiply that times the amount of anxiety I feel in a crowd of frenzied Christmas elves — elbow to elbow, standing in lines, the pushing and shoving — I’m breaking out in a sweat just thinking about it.

I’m certainly not anti-Christmas. I love the season, the lights and the spirit. It’s just the act of shopping. (Now you know why I have expired food in the cupboards ... I don’t even like to get groceries.)

Because of that, I generally tend to think outside the box when it comes to gift giving.

For instance, last year we gave each of our home-owning kids a deep freeze and gift certificate to a market to help with filling it. Not exciting, but practical. I’ve also gifted a redecorated bedroom and a weekend at a bed and breakfast. We’ve done a home-made holiday where all gifts had to be made by hand (and everyone in the family had to abide by the rules). I’ll do basically anything I can to avoid the overly-glamorized holiday shopping experience.

So anyway ...

Those ancestry DNA websites often grab my attention. I’ve always thought it would be fun to know more about my heritage. I’ve considered getting those for my kids. It would be interesting seeing the results of those, even though my kids have the same parents the results could be fascinating. My daughter and I have talked about it before and Avery is convinced someone could potentially steal her DNA for nefarious reasons. She’s read too many crime novels.

I’ve got a few other ideas of the non-conventional sort that I’m kind of excited about.

Two weeks till Christmas? No problem. At least I have a start.

Contact Dana King at dking@shawmedia.com