My Wish

I'm beginning to wonder if there's some sort of etiquette surrounding gift-giving that I'm unaware of.

I got a couple phone calls from my sisters today, asking about the gifts The Boy and I were planning on getting for our grown-up nieces. Once I foisted the job off on them (they were thrilled to have the extra $100 each with which to sprint to the mall), they subtly turned it around to what I wanted. See, The Boy is easy to buy for: Lee Valley, Canadian Tire or the Home Depot house a range of items that would make his December 25 tres jolly. I, on the other hand, am somewhat of an enigma to the rest of my family. I like computers, electronics, kitchen accessories, dvs sets and very specific items from the shiny happy home decorating magazines to which I subscribe. And they've finally learned that whipping out to the store on the 24th and picking up a fuzzy sweater or knick-knack rack (say that five times fast) isn't in the spirit of the season.

This year, all I want is an iPod. A 20GB iPod. Something to replace the teeny, tiny MP3 player I bought on the advice of the Future Shop guy earlier this year. And oh, MP3s? Try explaining that technology to my 86-year-old Gran. She almost broke her brain trying to reconcile the amount of music that can fit into that slim package. I eventually gave up and made her some tea.

The thing is, for those of you who aren't up on the newest trinkets, they're sort of pricey. So I've been forced to make it clear to everyone since about July that I'd be needing cold, hard cash this year to afford one. But I keep getting these looks that say, "Could you possibly be more crass?".

I know the holidays are more about family and fellowship and don't forget food, but I don't think I can bear to open another fuzzy sweater.

Posted at 6:47 a.m.