On Being Dated

Today, I looked up from my crafting for dogs, training dogs, and all about dogs books to find that a lot of people didn't even read books anymore. That one wasn't all that new to me. I know about all those 'e-readers'. They aren't for me, though. I need the smell, feel and sight of the printed word on real paper. My grandfather may have lost his home in the great depression of the late 30s to mid 40s, but he did not lose his printing business. I guess the real paper thing is something in my genes. 

I did learn a lot by straying from my normal obsession with dogs into the advertisements and articles of this 2012 Christmas season. There was and is still happening a winter storm this week in the midwest, wreaking havoc with Christmas shopping both in brick and mortar stores and online. Winter storms aren't that unusual at this time of year. Once upon a time, brick and mortar stores would report record sales because they got people in the Christmas giving spirit. What I learned this year, though, was that this storm may delay gifts ordered online or being mailed from homes. Really? I thought the busiest shipping day of the year was December 10th, give or take a day accounting for weekends. Apparently when I wasn't looking, the busiest shipping day has moved from December 10th to December 20th. Who knew?

Scanning the electronics sale items in my hardcopy newspaper...there are a few of them left...I saw laptop computers had plummeted from the $3,000.00 to starting at $299.00. Not only that, but we are supposed to buy gifts for our electronics. What once was a tool for communication and research now has a gift deserving essence of its own. They want wall mounts, flash drives, memory kits and mini adapters. And then there were helmet cameras. Talk about looking geeky! And on the front page of the newspaper was a picture of a six year old showing her red lipsticked face to Santa. Lipstick on a six year old? I thought it was scandalous when my 12 year old granddaughter wore eye shadow (and if you are reading this, granddaughter, you know which one you are!).

Being an eternal optimist, I am looking forward to the new year. I ordered a book this past week called Welcoming Kitchen by Kim Lutz. It is for those needing delicious allergen and gluten free vegan recipes. I am in need of none of those except maybe the vegan part. Going totally vegan is on my list of must do accomplishments for this lifetime. To go along with the book, I bought myself a vegetable slicer/dicer/shredder. If you are imagining one of those big and noisy food processors, nope, that's not it. If you are reading this, have looked at the picture of my new cherished gadget and are thinking 'that's about her speed', I'll take that as a compliment.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!