i find that present buying has come to be such a chore for me... especially for my peer friends. kids are easy to buy presents for... toys, candies, chocolates... etc. older people you just get food for them. but people in our age group... what the heck do you buy for them, unless you know exactly what they want.

me and mom were talking about this, and we figured that one of the reasons why buying presents for people is so hard nowadays is that people have too much. people have everything that they need... and so much more, and everything else they want more of are probably not things you would buy for them, and everything else that they don't want... well they don't want it >_> and people are so hard to please these days, so hard to get them something they like; again, because they have so much already.

i don't remember when present buying began to become a chore for me... something i have had such great difficulty with. even for people that are close to me... but maybe that's why it's harder, cause i'd more concerned what they'll think of it.

just yesterday, this 4 year old kid came to my house. my mom gave him 3 oranges to take home, and he got so happy XD and i showed him how he could make a micky mouse head with 3 oranges, and he just had this huge smile on his face. and me and mom were just like "you can please a kid so easily... get them something at a dollar store, they'll be happier than a woman getting a diamond ring from a jewellery store". and it's just so true. since when have we become so materialistic and just want so much, and expect people to get us all this "stuff" for our supposed special days.

and then i looked at myself. i'm so glad that even after all these years of working and making money to pay for my own stuff, and slowly making more and more money and being able to pay for most of my own things and not asking mom for anymore money, mom continuously reminds me not to be materialistic and not to just spend money because i have it, but i should still consider how much i need it and how much i want it even if it's something i can easily afford. my mom never interferes with how i spend the money that i make, she's very clear that it is my money and i should be able to spend it however way i want. but she does give me reminders about how i should save my money for the future, especially now that i do make enough money that i can save most of it... and she points it out to me during times when i become materialistic.

and then i thought of what goes through my head when it is not a typical present that i receive. i remember the conversation i had with my sister once "there are times when i would rather people don't get me anything than to just get me randomly anything because they couldn't think of anything to get me". and you know what... i still stick by that today. like... if you are just going to give me a stupid gift, just don't give me anything at all; while some people say that they dont' mind if you don't get anything for birthday or whatever, i honestly mean it when i say that, i seriously could not care less. you getting me a present or not is not going to make me like you more or less in any way. heck i don't even ever remember who gave me what for which occassion unless it's a really special gift.

i seriously don't like buying presents for people. i think i'm going to begin sending more gift certificates out soon. i just think that's a much better present for people when you don't know what to get for them... it's either that or you are all getting things from sportmart XD before i give my two weeks, that is...

the only presents that i'll actually give some thought into in the near future is probably just... alex's grad present XD and even that is not gonna be that great, especially if i'm not gonna be around for their graduation. he gave me a really sweet present for grad though, so i'm gonna feel bad if i screw his up, hehe so we'll see how it goes. and i'll get flowers for phoebe if i'm actually around for their ceremony. but for birthdays and stuff... i'm seriously starting to get tired for birthday presents. i used to think of birthdays as huge, but now it's just another excuse to gather with friends and have fun. i guess 18 years of it is enough, lol.