Um… yeah. I went out today to try to find a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law. That is stressful enough in and of itself, but I could not believe the crowds I had to fight! It’s a Monday afternoon, so I thought things wouldn’t be that bad. Boy was I wrong. I decided to go to World Market (aka my other crackhouse when Target just won’t do) and the entire area and strip mall were just crawling with shoppers. I passed a mall and the whole parking lot was packed. After World Market, I drove to another strip mall to check out the local bookstore for next month’s book club reading. I got so sick of being bumped into and not being able to find anyone to help me that I walked out empty handed and disgruntled.

But, on the bright side, almost everything at World Market was 50% off. ALL Christmas stuff. Yes, every sparkley inch of it. Gift wrap, decorations, cards, candles… you name it. TONS of their food was on sale too, and if you are like me, you might just peruse the aisles of foreign goodies and try to guess what’s in that bag with Japanese letters and cartoon characters with gigantic eyeballs. You might poke it and squish it and you might even be tempted to rip it open just to satisfy your curiosity… but I digress.


My mother-in-law is impossible to shop for because she has NO hobbies. She does not cook, read, garden, sew, work out, travel, or any other imaginable way to spend free time. They have no pets (unless you count two 21 year old boys living at home), they do not need any knick-knacks (she and her husband are both pack rats to the extreme), and for six years I have given her candles and lotions, so those are out. We even gave her a bird feeder one year so she would have something to sit and stare at. I have wracked my brain trying to think of what she might like. She watches tv. She eats. I don’t know what else there is. And then, walking amongst the food aisles at World Market, it hit me: food! Who doesn’t love getting a basket full of goodies during the holidays! So I packed my shopping basket full of chocolates, cheeses, salamis (blech), coffees, and all sorts of delicious treats. It’s the best I could come up with, and I know it will get eaten.

And of course, when I was looking through all of the possible food choices, I stumbled upon individual packets of Nutella. I have purposely never tried Nutella, since I know it would be the death of me. I have heard about its seductive powers… so creamy and good. Well, I broke down and bought one of those little packets… I didn’t bother spreading it on toast or fruit. I just shoveled it into my mouth and savored it. I want to eat this stuff every day. I want to put it on my broccoli. I want to bathe in it… I, uh… Yum.

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