The Christmas decoration is up. I wear one ugly Christmas sweater after another. (Ok, I own three. And an ugly Christmas T-shirt.) Alexa plays my favorite Christmas songs to me daily. I baked a lot of Christmas cookies last weekend. I visited a Christmas market and had mulled wine. Since early this morning it has been finally snowing. Next up on the list are a big Christmas party (that is going to happen tonight) and my actual wish list. The older I become the easier I find it to first name the things I don’t want to receive. This year that comprised socks, CDs, and most sweets. Other wishes again can’t be easily fulfilled, like the disgusting mice moving out of my home. Or just somebody giving me a big check over $ 1,000,000 and telling me to do whatever I want with that money. Oh yes, life is tough. Especially since I live in a country where beautiful words like Christmas bonus don’t exist.
Technical devices
In summer I accidentally broke my DSLR camera and then bought the Canon 80D. That was a huge expense I hadn’t expected, and it meant that I had to refrain from other purchases. Unfortunately, many modern technical devices become outdated around the same time … since I also bought them at about the same time. On Black Friday I got myself a new Amazon tablet because my old Samsung Galaxy tablet had been slowly dying. Thanks to giftcards and credit card points I only paid 1.04 $ for it. But I could really do with a new smartphone … and yes, I am aware just how expensive they are. My last three phones were from Samsung, so I’d like to stick with the company and update to a Galaxy S8*. I am afraid that my S5 is dying slowly, too … When we are at it, I really need a new external hard drive* because my laptop’s memory space is almost totally used up.
Beauty(ful) things
The one thing I really need here is a night guard. But I want a proper one from a dentist, not a do-it-yourself one from the drugstore. Since neither my U.S. health insurance nor my U.S. supplementary dental one pay for one, I have obtained offers from dentists in Istanbul. During my stay there at the end of the year I am going to get a proper night guard from a dentist for € 110 (instead of $ 500 in the U.S.). So I guess that is my present to myself.
But it wouldn’t be Christmas without something nice and pretty like a new perfume* or a new lipstick. Or both. What I actually really need though is a pair of really warm gloves. I’d love a leather pair that is fur-lined, like one from Ugg. Again, unfortunately pricy. But winters in North America are cold, and I have newly learned to appreciate my awesome hands this year. After I had cut of that part of my index finger [here]. Coming to think of it this year wasn’t my most successful one. I mean: broke my camera, cut my finger, my car had to be repaired twice, it got towed once, …
Other things
Yesterday evening I watched the new Jumanji movie in the cinema. It made me remember how much I liked the first movie as a kid. The DVD* therefore would definitely be a great gift. And at least in my family it wouldn’t be Christmas if you didn’t give and receive at least one book. It is not one of my usual interests, but I would love to learn more about quantum physics. My colleague, the physics teacher, recommended Feynman’s lectures* to me. Apparently, one can understand them without studying physics. In the case of this subject I think reading the book in its German translation might be easier for me.
Last but never least I wish for a new edition of Canavar’s favorite toy, the cat wand*. The one he has is already broken once and he successfully chased and tore off several feathers. He certainly would be thrilled to get a new one.
© janavar
* contains affiliate links
