michele's space

Congratulations. If you are reading this, you survived Christmas.

You didn’t get stuck in the chimney playing Santa, you aren’t lying somewhere in a candy-induced coma and you didn’t burst wide open at the dinner table like an overstuffed turkey -- even if you felt like you were going to.

You made it through the hysterical children, the rich eggnog, the pushy relatives and the rigours of wrapping and unwrapping. Maybe you even survived an especially itchy Christmas sweater or the dangers of a traditional family RISK tournament.

And today, having passed through the most stressful and hectic holiday of the year unscathed, you are probably feeling pretty good. If you ate a piece of your grandma’s Christmas cake, you may even be feeling invincible. Like you can get through anything.

But don’t let that feeling go to your head. Friday can be the most dangerous day of all.

As the name implies, Boxing Day is a day of battle. A day of blood and sweat, when regular people turn into gladiators in an arena of consumer combat, all fighting desperately for a cheap plasma TV or a good deal on a bedroom suite.

It can test the limits of your stamina, your sanity, and your credit. It can leave you totally broken -- or at least totally broke.

Frankly, I like to celebrate the end of the annual Christmas shopping season by not shopping. But judging by the crowds that will surely swarm the city’s stores and malls like hungry locusts, many others obviously feel differently.

For some, the call of bargains is impossible to resist. For others, shopping on Boxing Day is just something you have to do because you can, because it’s there, just like climbing Mount Everest.

And, just like climbing Mount Everest, it is not something you should go into unprepared. So, for the safety of my beloved readers, I have prepared the following tips for Boxing Day Survival, which can be clipped and taped onto the back of your credit card for easy reference.

1. Plan for Anything -- Even if you only plan a short trip to one specific store, you can quickly find yourself drowning in a sea of people at Old Navy or trapped in the void of The Gap. Make sure to have comfortable shoes and plenty of credit.

2. Abandon Your Team If Necessary -- Though traditional survivalist wisdom is that you don’t leave a member of the team behind, there are many shopping situations where it is necessary to cut someone loose. If your grandma is spending too long looking at socks, leave her there and don’t look back. If your daughter is taking too long in the changeroom, go on ahead without her. It may sound harsh, but on Boxing Day, it’s every shopper for themselves.

3. Seek Shelter -- Being able to find shelter is crucial to surviving the storm of bargains. If you can’t get into a changeroom, barricade yourself behind a rack of clothes or construct a lean-to using a mannequin, a Boxing Day Sale banner and some hangers.

4. Use Hand Signals -- All shopping teams should prepare and rehearse signals before they embark on their journey, as noise, crowds and distance can sometimes make verbal communication difficult. Some of the basic hand signals should be Good Bargain, Need More Money, Need Another Size, Danger: Another Shopper Interested in Same Item, and Meet Me at the Cash Register.

5. Be Prepared -- Be sure you know how to deal with any of the common medical emergencies that may arise, including turkey withdrawal, a strained credit limit, and shopper’s elbow. A first aid kit containing a piece of turkey, a $100 bill and a sling can be useful in case of these emergencies.

To be perfectly safe, it’s probably best to stay home. But there’s no adventure in that.

When those we love go away, they never really leave us;
they are with us now, wherever we are.
Those whom we have cherished, live on forever,
for love wraps itself around the heart.
Although it's difficult now,
someday beyond our tears and all the world's wrongs;
beyond the clouds and all that we can see and touch,
we shall all understand. 

for jason

Jason if only I could have come up with the right words to describe the depth of this beautiful feeling that I have for you I would have uttered them to you the first time I laid my eyes on you. But, I lacked that knowledge, so the best thing that I can do is to show you how I really mean it now. I love you so dearly, sweetie. Do you know? You are the best thing that ever happened to me. You are like the best poetry ever composed, the best song ever played, the best picture ever painted. I never thought and expected that someone like me could get so lucky by finding you. How could I have known the comfort and the security of knowing that whenever I say I love you you're going to say the same words too. I love you sweetie, more than my life... More than my world. You are my world. Life wouldn't be life if not shared with you. you have my heart and my love. And I know that I have yours, too. It just feels so wonderful knowing and believing that. Aren't we lucky? I love you... More and more each day