All I want for Christmas...

[bunchofgrapes]

Does anyone else get a ridiculous amount of catalogs this time of the year? I get them every day but the bulk of them seem to come on Thursdays. I don't know how the postman hasn't developed some sort of ailment trying to stuff them into my very small mailbox (it's one of those cluster boxes). Luckily, I recycle all of them and the proceeds go for the maintenance of the boulevard in a nearby town. At this rate I’ve probably funded an English garden.

The reason I get all these catalogs is because I love to shop online and for the most part, I like getting the catalogs. I just wish they'd scale it back a little. But I love sitting down on the sofa, looking at the catalogs, dog-earing the pages of stuff that I want. Occasionally, I actually order the items but mostly it's just the fun of flipping through catalogs. I'm pretty sure I know where I get this love of catalog shopping. When I was little, my favorite thing was the Sears catalog that came out a couple of months before Christmas. I would spend days going through the toy section, making a list (yes, I was a list maker even as a small child) of everything I wanted for Christmas. I knew I was lucky to get maybe one thing on the list but a kid can wish, right? And that was half the fun of Christmas: dreaming that Santa would bring me the stuff on my list.

Since I'm not married and none of my family has any sort of imagination when it comes to Christmas, I have for many years concocted the pretend husband. The pretend husband buys me awesome gifts. He always knows exactly what I want and I'm never disappointed. He usually buys me big gifts but the last couple of years, I've listed five catalog items and that's what I've gotten. You might think this whole pretend husband thing is strange but my rationale was that if I were married, I would spend this money on my spouse. So I spend it on me and tell everyone my pretend husband bought it for me. Not sure what pretend husband will get for me this year. I have quite a list. But no matter what, I know I won't be disappointed.

Comments

[spottedhorse.livejournal.com]

I remember the Sears catalog excitement! But I would cut out the pictures and paste them to a piece of paper and tape that to the fridge. That way, EVERYONE knew what I wanted for Christmas. We didn't have much money, so Mom would find cheaper, next best items for Santa to bring. What I got depended on what she could find for cheap. I think I enjoyed shopping the catalogs more than anything else. My grandmother worked for a Sears competitor, so often she'd get something from the list using her store discount.

Pretend husband, huh? Why didn't I think of that? I got a real one; the benefits are nice but sometimes they are more trouble than they are worth, lol. Your pretend hubbie wouldn't happened to be named Jim or Paul, would he?

[bunchofgrapes]

First, I must comment on your icon. I want him to have that hair. Or the hair he has in my icon.

Pretend husband has always just been pretend husband. No specific name.

My mom would also find the cheaper, next best items for Santa to bring. When I was little, I didn't know the difference. But when I got older...

[mingsmommy.livejournal.com]

Your pretend husband sounds much better at gift giving that any real husband I know. Good thing you found him.

[bunchofgrapes]

Wanna know the best thing about my pretend husband? He doesn't hog the remote, he doesn't leave the toilet seat up, and he takes up no space in my closet. He's the perfect man ;-)