why is Christmas shopping so complicated?

After a steady few hours finishing up on 'Lost' season 2 this morning and then finally getting part 2 of the first season of 'Prison Break' from work (and the end of the season is shocking. How can they do that to me?) I went to do some Christmas shopping.

As per usual I ended up in the situation of not knowing what to get some people and other people being too easy to shop for. So I buy some people several gifts and others none. And then I sit down and try to redistribute all the gifts easily. The hardest is my grandmothers - I can't get one a big present and the other one a small present because my parents will get upset if their parents aren't treated the same.

Tthis year I decided to be smart and buy them matching gifts, so I was all set for some uncomplicated shopping. Very funny. so i got my soon-to-be sister-in-law some earrings and then I found a nice display photo album but it was pretty expensive so I decided to get that for her and my brother and then each of them a small present for themselves. I refuse to buy 'house stuff' for Carla because I don't think it's fair that she only gets that while my brother gets all the random stuff he wants for himself. But then I went to a jewellery store and ended up getting her a bracelet. So now I have a small present for my brother, a big present for his fiance and a gift for them to share. So I considered shifting the photo album to my brother but it's too girly. The alternative is to save it for part of their wedding present and then get my brother something else. Why can't they just be normal and ask for chocolate or something?

Otherwise it was a pretty successful day. I have gifts for my parents, my grandfather and my boss, which leaves me with an aunt, two grandmothers and the other boss. By Monday.

I also went to see Sarah at work. The bookstore is a lot smaller than I expected but I had so much fun arbing around and looking at books. I've reread my books to such an extent I had to resort to Steven King last night. I nearly bought 'Brother Fish' by Bryce Courtenay (he's one of my gfavourite authors and I have almost all of his books) but then I started flipping through it and realised it involved post-traumatic stress and war, just like his last 5 or so books. I'm tired of post-traumatic-stress. He writes so well but he needs some new subject matter! So I decided to leave it until next year when I have more energy.

Then I sat and watched a ridiculous amount of Prison Break. Now I think it's time for me to get started on my application forms for Scotland. To tell the truth I'm not sure I really want to apply, but that's just apathy.

I was going to add a picture but blogger won't let me :(