Christmas Shopping

I did a big chunk of my remaining Christmas shopping yesterday. It was NOT crowded and a couple of the merchants I spoke to were quite downbeat about the whole season. I wandered around downtown for a couple of hours. Quite a few stores are open for the season although all of the Outside tourist-oriented chains - like the dozen or so jewelry stores that grace South Franklin in the summer - are closed-up tight with the operators no doubt enjoying the sunny Caribbean this holiday season. I still have several gifts to find; but made generally good progress. And I got a number of packages wrapped last evening.

I always enjoy getting my landlords' kids gifts. It's interesting to me to discover what's hot with the pre-school and elementary school crowd. This year young Samantha's wish list is apparently heavy with Hannah Montana paraphernalia courtesy of our friends at Disney. Fred Meyer's has a bunch of the stuff. I came within a cat's whisker of acquiring the Hannah Montana Pop Star electric guitar which struck me as the near perfect gift and clearly capable of raising quite a clamor.

In the end, however, I chickened-out and went for the far more sedate Hannah Montana Pop Star/Teen Hooker doll. After all, I do share a common wall with the family and, besides, I really don't want to be evicted in the middle of winter.

In other news, I note that winter continues in the Great Northwest with both Seattle and Portland under winter storm siege. Schools are closed, bus routes cancelled, and general confusion appear to be the order of the day. Here in Juneau the temperature got down to near zero and the forecast is for continued clear to partly cloudy weather for another week.

Today I am going up to Alison's mom's to help Thelma make plum pudding for her holiday party this weekend. This has potential for great humor. I will be playing the role of scullery maid. My first task is to find three-cups of suet - something Alison was unable to obtain at Fred Meyers yesterday. I have never cooked with suet which, according to dictionary.com, is "the hard fatty tissue about the loins and kidneys of beef, sheep, etc., used in cooking or processed to yield tallow." Yum.


Dad's friend Dave Reischl with his daughter, Peggy, dad, and yours truly at Christmas 1957.