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was for me, me, ME. A little later in the day, I need to return a few items to Michael's. I got a bit swept up in the Black Friday sales Friday; I went to the store for two things and returned with three bags full of stuff, though all of it was on sale or qualified for a 30% off coupon a very nice fellow shopper gave me in the store. Now that I've come to my senses, there's at least three (small, cheap) things I really don't need. It's only about $7 worth of merchandise but $7 is a couple grocery items or a (small) lunch out somewhere, yes?

Speaking of Christmas shopping...my shopping list is MUCH smaller this year. Back in May, while Sis and BIL were up for a visit, the siblings and niblings* agreed to not exchange gifts this year (and hopefully in future years). That's a HUGE relief for me, not just financially but emotionally. Every year, Sis' family and I exchange "wish lists", which is nice because then I know exactly what to buy, but I'm always sweating out deliveries from Amazon or Etsy or other online stores, as nobody ever requests something generic that I can pick up at Walmart or Target. Worse, I never know what to get anyone in my brother's family. And while they're all very gracious about what they get, there's been a few gifts I could tell were not particularly of interest.

* I JUST learned this word last week in an article about gender neutral language. Instead of brother or sister, you can say "sibling" but we've never had a word for a niece or nephew who might be non-binary or gender fluid, so "nibling" was created. I don't LOVE the word--it reminds me of "nibbling" or "niblets"--but I admit it's useful. Now we need a gender neutral term of respect that can replace "Sir", "Ma'am" and "Miss"...

Anyways, I'm grateful to not be exchanging gifts with the siblings and niblings BUT...I'm a bit sad that Dad is included in this arrangement. He usually writes checks for Sis' and Bro's family and they get whatever they want with the money. I usually get a check plus a "stocking", which includes small useful gifts (he's strangely fond of giving me a bag of cotton rounds, which I use when removing eye makeup or nail polish, and when I worked at the bindery, I got a new--cheap--box cutter every year because I always hated the knives provided at work) and often a couple $20s with a note telling me it was my "eating out" money. Every year, I happily purchased at least one new item of clothing, one beauty product (often a perfume sampler kit--I love experimenting with new scents) and one other thing I'd been eying for a while because it's always more fun to spend someone else's money than your own. With me being unemployed this Christmas, I was *really* looking forward to a check and some eating out money, and with not having to buy the siblings and niblings gifts, I could spend more on Dad. But while he can more than afford to, Dad seems happy to not have to write Christmas checks, and he's never liked getting gifts. I told him though that I would still donate to Toys for Tots, which was usually half of my gift to him every Christmas.

I hope the above doesn't make me sound too materialistic.

Anyways, this year the only people on my Christmas shopping list are my bff, my good church friend and a neighbor who I don't really want to exchange gifts with, but a few years ago, she started getting me something (small) so I feel somewhat obliged to get her something (also small). I've gotten a few small things for both bff and good church friend and have solid ideas for the rest of their gifts, and I've already purchased something small for the neighbor and plan on making her a bracelet and maybe some homemade rosemary mint infused oil. I made that a few years ago--the year I wasn't working thanks to COVID and got creative, literally, with Christmas gifts--and everyone seemed to like it. Bff even requested more the next year. It's good for dry hair and skin, which is a problem for a lot of us in winter.