Gifts For Myself

First stop, I had the lenses to my eyeglasses replaced with the same photochromic lenses I was using. The gift certificates given by one of the senior partners in the firm meant that I saved almost five grand on the lenses alone. (Thank God for generous bosses!) I just hope our Christmas bonuses didn't figure into the GCs we received. 

Second stop, the only shop I care to spend hours on, Book Sale (hehe). These are my finds for today:

Third, I got SB's 2011 Planner. I've been collecting SB planners since 2006. Oh well, I am a sucker for notebooks, writing pads, other paper stuffs and office supplies and of course, the coffee too (especially at Starbucks where Espresso shots can be added to suit one's caffeine fixes).

Fourth, I might receive an ebook reader (fingers, even toes, crossed) from my sister. But if  I won't, then I'd definitely be saving up on that. The iPad seems like a contender but I love how Kindle or Nook's format is in e-ink which is so close to the original physical paperbacks and are way lighter.

Fifth, for our gift giving in the office, we were made to list down our wishes. I wrote down a gun as one of my "impossible" wishes for this Christmas. My name got picked by the partner who hired me and is known to give his "baby" everything he/she lists. He phoned me yesterday, gave me a client's name and contact details whose business was selling guns, so that I could pick out the gun I wanted. I declined, but if my boss insists, I'd accept the gun (I think, LOL).

Lastly, I was told that there is something in a little velvet box for me with an amethyst stone on it. (*.*)

On the books I've finished in November, these are:

1. Julie Hecht's The Unprofessionals about the friendship between a teenage junkie and a middle-aged woman who is perpetually on anti-depressants, which friendship did nothing to prevent the teenage junkie from committing suicide.

2. Roland Merullo's Fidel's Last Days which depicted a botched assassination of Fidel Castro leading to a premature take over by his assassinators.

3. Erma Bombeck's Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession illustrating the different kinds of mothers and their responses to child bearing, rearing and weaning. (Note: Erma's works are categorized under Humor and so, topics as serious as motherhood is given a light treatment without necessarily veering away from the reality of it)

4. Graham Greene's The Ministry of Fear set my heart racing for a former soldier who was caught in a web of conspiracy among spies in London circa second world war.

Currently, the following titles are on my bedside:

1. Philip Roth's Operation Shylock: A Confession

2. Ward Just's Forgetfulness

3. Kim Ponders' The Art of Uncontrollable Flight

4. Charlaine Harris' Definitely Dead and All Together Dead