A Petty Annoyance

Today I was thinking about the insignificant things that annoy me. And then I went grocery shopping. And while I was grocery shopping and feeling good about life and using my coupons (saved $24 today, which is a big improvement for me), I went into the next aisle without thinking about it. You all know the next aisle. The aisle where they put the stuff that is "seasonal". And my local Giant is loaded to the rafters with fruitcake and gingerbread houses and Christmas lights and Christmas cards and tinsel and stocking stuffers.

You have GOT to be kidding me. It's November 2. And while I get as excited for Christmas as the next Christian--if not more--we have a perfectly respectable holiday still to come. I've never loved Thanksgiving--all that fuss for what basically amounts to a big meal, and frankly I'm having a lot of trouble finding things to be thankful for (a healthy family and a good job just ain't cuttin' it this year, sorry), so I'll probably enjoy Thanksgiving a whole lot less than normal this year.

But I'm not willing to skip it altogether. And every year I rant about this and every year those bastards in every store put up the Christmas stuff.

And even worse, Overstock.com is already playing Christmas ads on TV! Pre-Halloween--on Wednesday I saw their ad. I know it was Wednesday because Wednesday is the only night of the week I watch television. (Anyone else take as much great delight in Jimmy Olson getting the boot off Top Design Wednesday as I did?)

So attention, attention Overstock.com: I WILL NOT BE BUYING FROM YOU FOR MY HOLIDAY SHOPPING THIS YEAR. I REFUSE.

Thank you.

Oh, and I also hate it when someone tells you that you're going to love something and you just HAVE to watch/read/taste/listen to something and then they tell you the entire plot/flavor/life story/melody of the thing and wonder why you have no interest in watching/reading/tasting/listening to whatever it was they're talking about. Um, why bother? I've been given a full run down. I don't need to.

Thank you.

I also hate having to be firm with people who jerk me around for setting up appointments and crap, and I finally get a little firm with them and they set up something and I go to their house and they turn out to be the nicest little old lady or little old man you ever wanted to meet and you feel like a load of crap.

Thank you.

Finally, I hate that I have such a limited attention span with NaNoWriMo that I have to sit here with a timer on my desk and force myself to write in 10 minute spurts. Because if I don't put that timer on, I sit here playing solitaire for 2 hours and my word count goes nowhere. How I ever got 8000 words done yesterday, I do not know.

Thank you.