Christmas Shopping Dilemma

Christmas makes me a nervous wreck. No, I don't mean that I abhor the reason we are celebrating. That God's son was born to save us is a perfectly marvelous reason to celebrate. What I'm talking about is the various traditions we as a society have appended to the rest of the story. Take gift giving for example. Who's idea was this? It must have been one of those that lie on the opposite side of the spectrum from me. Like my sister.

I'm not a good shopper. Some people are. My mother was, and my sister is mom made over. Leslie knows not only the perfect gift for everyone, she knows where to get it.

Now, don't get me wrong. It's not because I'm a cheapskate when it comes to gift giving. Well, that's not the only reason. Whenever I'm shopping for someone else and I find something interesting, my first thought is if she really wanted this she would already have it. Remember, I'm cheap, so it's not like she wouldn't be able to afford it, it must be that she just doesn't want it. I get into that kind of conflicted thought and it makes me want to find the Applebee's outside the mall and get myself a shot of Bushmills. Something no one ever thinks to get me for Christmas, by the way.

The other side of that coin is the receiving of the gift. Some people, again my sister comes to mind, can receive a gift of fossilized dog poo made into a paperweight and seem as though it was the one thing missing from their life, and they would have never thought of getting themselves such an item, but thank you so much for finding the absolute perfect gift for me. I can't do that. My disappointment will always show. Unless it's that perfect gift that Leslie always knows where to find. Or that perfect birthday gift of old VINTAGE magazines I got from someone else on my last birthday. Perhaps the two of them are more alike than I had previously thought.

UPDATE:
See comments for proof that they are exactly alike. And proof that I've described myself perfectly...