This past year has been trying. I lost my job last October but then found 2 short term contract jobs. The short term-ness and uncertainty really wore on me. But I found a full time, permanent job a month ago (so thanks for that early Christmas present. ) I’m hoping that the tide has turned and things will start going “up” for me rather than how they have been.

I thought that I should get you a list of things that I wouldn’t mind getting under the Christmas tree this year. These are just suggestions. I don’t expect to get everything on my list. It would be nice to get one or two things though.

• Wii games & accessories
  • Wii remote
  • Wii steering wheel
  • Endless Ocean
  • Mario Cart
  • NASCAR Kart Racing
  • Wii Fit Plus (with Balance Board)
  • Wii Sports Resort
  • Wii Game Party/Wii Game Party 2 or similar games
• DVDs
  • Cars
  • Gabriel Iglesias: I’m Not Fat I’m Fluffy
  • Moonlight – The Complete Series
• CDs
  • Chris Young – The Man I Want to Be
  • Luke Bryan – Doin’ My Thing
  • Lady Antebellum – Lady Antebellum
  • Love and Theft – World Wide Open
• NASCAR Stuff
  • anything Dale Earnhardt Jr
  • anything Martin Truex Jr (his new team for 2010 [NAPA])
• Misc
  • iTunes gift card (for music and/or iPod Touch apps)
  • gift card for clothes (I need to try ‘em on to know they fit)
  • my “man” candles (The Midsummer’s Night scent by Yankee Candle – they smell like men’s cologne.)
  • dark (dark, dark, dark) chocolate
  • Windows 7 upgrade
  • Flip camcorder
  • anything else that’s techie/geeky
  • a cowboy

You should be able to find something doable on that list. As you can see, I put the cowboy back on the list this year after leaving him off last year. There aren’t any country bars left in Fargo, so if I’m gonna get a cowboy, it’ll have to be from you.

Watch out for birds on your journey around the globe this year. I’d hate to hear that you crashed after hitting a stray snow goose or something. I’m too old to stay up and wait for you … I need my sleep. But I’ll leave out some baked goodies (if I ever get my ass moving and make ‘em). Tell Mrs. Claus I say “hi”.

Becky

P.S. I just thought of a few more items for my list:

• office toys for my new desk at work [or my desk at home]
• programming books [on subjects like: CodeIgniter, php, MySQL, jQuery]
• pictures for my bare walls [both in the living room and the bedroom]
• LCD computer monitor (preferably larger than 19″ and widescreen)

I thought I should get you my Christmas ‘wish list’ since it is getting kinda close to Christmas (just over 2 weeks). I’m not asking for much this year. I know that the economy sucks. And with all of the people in the world, that must be stretching your budget too.

I can always use some techie gadgets. I am a geek. I’d really like an iPod Touch, but I think I might buy that for myself early next year. And you know that I’m a big NASCAR freak. Anything related to Dale Earnhardt Jr, Martin Truex Jr, Paul Menard, or Scott Riggs would be a good bet.

Here are a few other things that are on my list that I think are more manageable in this crappy economy:

• candles
• chocolate … the darker the better
• fleece pjs (probably XL in size)
• gift cards for clothes … I need to try stuff on to know if I like it
• desk lamp … that way I don’t have to turn on all the lights when I’m on the computer at nite

I think that’s about it. Nothing too crazy this year. I did leave a cowboy off of my list this year, but if you can find one, I wouldn’t mind. And if you can find some way to make this contract position permanent or find another permanent position after the contract is up, that would be awesome.

Enjoy the holiday season this year. Don’t work too hard. And be careful on your round the world trek. I’ll be sure to leave out some cookies for you.

Sincerely,
Becky