I’m a big fan of wish lists (not to mention lists in general). They’re helpful and useful and revealing and mistake-free. Some people claim not to like providing wish lists because then, they say, they’ll know what they are getting. Or they think that you should know them well enough to know what presents to get them. Screw that, I say. There’s no time for that.
There is nothing wrong with getting a list of gift ideas for people, so that you don’t buy things that the recipient doesn’t want or doesn’t like or already has. I’d rather give nothing than give something that will be thrown away, or packed away, or regifted. Getting something for someone that they really want but either can’t afford or haven’t gotten around to getting themselves makes me feel like I’m doing something good. Especially when it’s something that is an indulgence. We all want stuff that we don’t buy ourselves because they aren’t necessary items…why not have the opportunity to fulfill those desires and make someone happy? And while I really like to give experiential gifts, right now that wasn’t the most practical option, since we can’t go anywhere or do things together.
Getting things I actually want from the people I love makes me feel good, too. It’s a win-win situation. And this year, it was even more important to me to have wish lists from my loved ones simply because we haven’t been able to hang out this year…it’s hard to know what things would be appreciated for someone when you haven’t been able to spend any time with them for months.
My daughter spent time with my husband this year, before Christmas, helping him shop for me, and they both did a great job finding items on my wish list that I really wanted, but for whatever reason, haven’t bought for myself. That time she spent was one of her gifts to me, and one I really appreciated. It wasn’t about the stuff. And for Christmas, I asked my son for a Spotify playlist of new music, and boy, did he ever deliver. He put together about 25 songs that he thought I’d like, and he really hit the nail on the head. I’ve been enjoying it immensely for the last few days.
It’s the “mellandagarna” now: the between days. Those days between Christmas and New Year’s when, if you are not working, are a blurry length of hanging out, watching TV, playing games, eating, and sleeping in. I’m realizing that I don’t like not having plans, or things to do, at least when I’m not on vacation, I have work to do. Work I like doing. We were told that we had to take at least 20 days of vacation and my manager sort of forced me to take this time off, but I’m struggling with it. I’ve sneak-worked a few hours yesterday and today, but am trying very hard not to do any more. Maybe I need to start a big jigsaw puzzle.
The first person in Sweden to be vaccinated had her first shot yesterday. The government hopes to have the entire population vaccinated in the first half of the new year. Sign me up! I understand the fear that the vaccines have been developed too quickly or without the proper testing, but to that I say, bullshit. I suspect they were being more careful than ever due to the size of the crisis. You have to be able to trust that they know what they’re doing, or what’s the point of anything? Without a vaccine, we’ll be in this situation forever, and I don’t think we can manage. People are stupid, or rather, thoughtless, or rather, selfish, in general, and we’ve all seen plenty of evidence for that over the past year, despite the many millions who DO follow the guidelines and restrictions and recommendations.
Anders and I need something new to watch. Every time we find something, we blow through it in a couple of days. We just watched all 4 episodes of the 4th season of Vår tid är nu and now we have to hunt again. Maybe he’d be up for that jigsaw puzzle? I should have put that on my wish list.