All I Want For Christmas

Is it normal to feel this unprepared for Christmas?

I mean, our Christmas tree has a single string of lights that ends partway up. That’s it. No other ornaments.

Presents? I usually find most of them by browsing and exploring, but not this year! Now, I wish I’d spent the pre-baby part of the year wrapping all that up. (wrapping! Get it?) I ordered some things online . . . which will arrive sometime next week.

Why didn’t anyone warn me? Except they probably did. I could not have understood this fractured inability to focus on anything not-baby without experiencing it.

But between my husband and me, we have at least a little something for all the usual suspects, even if we can’t gift everything right at Christmas. And tomorrow, the baby will spend some quality time in the swing chair or carseat while I do something with the tree.

Yeah, that’s a new development: she’ll let me set her down and get things done for up to half an hour, as long as she’s comfortably upright and can see me. Progress!

You know what else I should have been working on? My wish list. Granted, I’m terrible about coming up with one at any time. When anyone this year has asked me, I’ve had two items: a pack-and-play and an activity seat. Which are really for the baby.

I firmly believe a little dose of selfishness is a good thing, and it’s healthy to remember that I am not just a milk machine. Also, having a baby and working only part time means our finances are stretched thinner than my preference. So in light of self-interest, I want to share some items that should have been on my wish list:

• • A Locus subscription so I know more about what’s going on in the SF/F writing world
  • A Duotrope subscription to help me find markets to submit stories to
  • Gift certificates to local bookstores
  • DVDs of shows like Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries or Slings and Arrows
  • A Hulu subscription so I can finally watch their version of Handmaid’s Tale
  • Donations toward my classes/workshops/cons fund (classes and workshops include theatre!)
  • A donation made in my name to a group or organization that does some good in the world, like Sustainable Harvest International

. . . And that’s a start. At least now I have a list to point people at the next time someone asks what I want. No brain required!