happenings around here

A few things I'm sharing with you:

1. Still no calculus grade.
2. I bought 14 lbs of clothing online at Kohl's. Plus my dad's pjs that were delivered separately.
3. I have wrapped all of the gifts I've purchased so far.
4. All of the wrapped gifts have been tied up with that curly ribbon. (Thanks for the help, Jr.)
5. Is it lame or lazy to wrap all clothing gifts to each person in one package instead of wrapping each item of clothing individually? Because that was this year's strategy. One package of clothing per person--not so different if you're one of my kids (because I only bought one item of clothing per kid) but less presents to open if you're one of my grandbabies (but who really likes to open packages of clothes anyway? besides girls? Uh. Maybe I should rethink that decision?)
6. I had to wrap Jack's clothes in more than one package because apparently, I went crazy on the Duluth Trading website when I bought him clothes, and also, obviously, because his shirts are larger than any clothing items I buy for the girlies. So he gets three shirts per package. Makes total sense, right?
7. Yesterday, in what may be described as a desperate attempt to buy my mother's love that may completely slap me in the face if she doesn't love it as much as I do, I spent nearly three hours making a bracelet for her. It is crystal and pearl and beads and I used a little tiny needle and thread to put it together. I should have taken a picture before I wrapped it up with the nightgown I bought for her. I'm very proud of it.
8. Today I will attempt to make another bracelet, which hopefully will not take three hours, for my friend, Eileen, for her birthday, which is this week. I'm going to try to do this at my house instead of under the watchful eye of my friends at the bead store.
9. Today I will also attempt to make a batch of toffee and a batch of caramels, which I will share with Eileen as a Christmas gift because she loves caramels.
10. So I'm doing all of this thinking and planning and shopping and making and wrapping and Jack agreed to make a present for someone we give to. I came home from the bead store yesterday, proudly displaying my craftiness, expecting to find a nearly complete homemade project made by Jack. But, smart guy that he is, Jack has found just such a gift already made, so we got in the car and went to the credit union to make a deposit, stopped at a local store to pick up the gift, made yet another stop and picked up another gift, and returned home in less than an hour. See Jack might have this gift-giving thing figured out. Perfectly acceptable store-bought gift, far lower stress level, helping the economy.