Christmas Shopping

Christmas 2008 is supposed to be the year that people are closing their wallets for this shopping season. People are supposed to be tightening their belt straps and refraining from the normal frenzy of the usual Christmas shopping of years gone by. Somehow I doubt that.

I have been to the mall twice this season, not to buy Christmas presents, although I did buy some, but to go to my favorite store for holiday decorations. Last night I looked at the mantel above my fireplace where I have two gold reindeer perched on its ledge on either side of my lit and decorated Christmas wreath and thought it looked a little bare, perhaps some glittery colorful ornaments would brightening the mantel up, so I set out to find some.

When I arrived at the mall I found the parking lot was a zoo. The parking lot was near full to capacity, and people were stalking shoppers as they left the mall with their packages, so they could claim their parking space. Speaking for myself, I never care where I am parked, so I took one at the very back of the parking lot and walked. Once inside the mall the walkways were packed with shoppers, not just browsing, but actually buying. The sales were excellent! As I shopped I watched shoppers line up at the register to make their purchases. Business was brisk.

It was even that way at Costco when I arrived there to buy a box of fake logs for the fireplace. After all, what are the holidays without a roaring fire in the fireplace? Even there the place was full of shoppers buying and buying a lot. There were huge gaps in their inventory. I noticed it especially around the European chocolate. Of course, I thought that was an excellent choice for a gift, or to have for guests at Christmas gatherings.

Parents had their children with them, their eyes were round as they played with the toys that were out. The younger ones pointed at toys they wanted and emphatically asked if Santa Claus was getting them that.

When I found what I wanted, the fire logs, and some that I did not, the exotic vanilla beans; I found that I could hardly get the near register to pay for my meager purchases. People were buying and buying a lot, carts were lined seven deep.

As I cast my gaze around the mall and at Costco, I had to say to myself, this Christmas season is not going to be a bust season for retailers or most of them anyway. People are buying and they are buying a lot. It was enough to almost make me forget were are in a major recession, and the biggest financial crisis this side of the Great Depression.

Paul Newman, Dead At Age 83

Paul Newman, one of the last of the old-school movie stars, has died of cancer.

The thing that always interested me about Newman was how he essentially had two careers: everything before "Slap Shot," and everything after. The pre-"Slap Shot" Newman was, for the most part, stoic, cool and (as even Newman would later admit) content to get by on his chiseled features and those legendary baby blues. But by the time he starred in "Slap Shot," a shockingly profane, hilarious comedy about a minor league hockey team that succeeds through goonery, he was already into his 50s. And though he always looked good enough to play 10-15 years younger, he didn't want to coast on his looks anymore. If anything, his career of the last 30 years was built on anti-vanity, allowing Newman to look as bad and crass and un-star-like as possible. This was a much more relaxed Newman, and a much more compelling one.

"Slap Shot" is an all-timer, and "The Color of Money" got him an overdue Oscar, but for me the peak of this later period was 1994's "Nobody's Fool," with Newman as an aging construction worker named Sully who had spent his entire life running from responsibility, but being too lazy to run very far. It's a small movie (very little happens in it), but a very funny and, at times, moving one. And by then, Newman's talent and charisma were so powerful that he was able to elevate the work of everyone around him. Bruce Willis (who took an uncredited supporting role just to work with the old man) has rarely been better; Melanie Griffith has certainly never been better. (It's a movie that makes you think she could act.)

So whether you grew up with Newman movies or simply know him as the guy with the popcorn and salad dressing business, you will get an awful lot of entertainment out of seeing either of those films -- or "The Verdict," or "Cool Hand Luke," or "The Hustler," or "Twilight," or "Blaze," or...

My First Post

Hello all.

Thios is my first blog post, so thank you for coming here and having a look.

For those who don't know me, I am a mom to two beautiful children who make me so proud and happy and honoured to be their mother.

I am also on a journey on finding my entrepreneurial flow and have so many things I would like to achieve and that includes being successful unto myself, providing well for my children and feeling fantastic for me. And not to mention a lot of travel and seeing wonderful parts of the world.

There is so much to learn in life, in love and in relationships and I am savouring it all along the way.

I am so grateful for everything and everyone in my life right now. And it just gets better and better.

Until next time