Making a List and Checking it Twice | Eastern NC Now

    Publisher's note: Please join me in welcoming our newest contributor to BCN, Kathy Manos Penn, a native of the "Big Apple", by way of the "Peach City" - Atlanta. Kathy, a former English teacher, authors The Ink Penn blog and is now happily retired from a corporate career in communications.

    What's on your Christmas list this year? I must say it has become more and more difficult through the years for me to give my husband any clue as to what I might want for Christmas. And similarly, it has grown increasingly difficult to figure out what to get any of the adults on my list.

    In truth, if I want something, I'll buy it myself unless I think it is just too expensive, and in that case, I don't want anyone else to spend that kind of money either. And, my husband is pretty much that way too.

    Add to that the fact that we simply don't need much of anything. Our home is furnished just the way we want it; we have no more wall space for artwork or surfaces for pottery or other knickknacks, and we have every small appliance and serving dish we could ever want. As for clothing or jewelry, I'm very particular and hard to please.

    Naturally, when I read a CNBC article that said, "a recent study ... found that gift card spending will reach an all-time high this holiday," I could understand why. Last year, my husband surprised me with several gift cards under the tree, and I had a ball with them. I find there's just something special about using a gift card, and the experience can last way beyond the holiday. I think I used the last little bit on my Chico's card 'round about June.

    You can purchase gift cards for the usual chain stores: Talbots, Chico's, Barnes and Noble, Macy's, Nordstrom's, DSW Shoes or TJ Maxx. For the craftsmen on your list, you might try Home Depot, Lowes or Ace Hardware. And, I find it pays to check your local small businesses too, as many of them offer gift cards.

    It was a nice surprise one year when my sister gave us a Starbucks gift card. We don't often go to coffee shops, so it was a treat for us to make special visits to use it. This year, I'm hoping my aunt will feel the same way about a gift card I've gotten her for one of her favorite restaurants. Like many retirees, she has to pinch her pennies, so this gift will enable her and her husband to have an enjoyable evening out.

    I think I've already finished my shopping for my husband. One of his Vietnam veteran buddies told me about a book to get him, and while I was searching for that on Amazon, I stumbled across an ancient book that's a memoir written about France during WWII. I'm not sure he'll get much more. I probably won't ever be able to top the biplane ride I gave him one year.

    If there were such a thing, the number one item on my Christmas wish list would be a gift certificate for a service that comes by to take down the tree and all the decorations I've put up and pack them away for next year. I can dream, can't I?

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    Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident now happily retired from a corporate career in communications. Find her book, "The Ink Penn: Celebrating the Magic in the Everyday," on her website at www.theinkpenn.com. Contact her at inkpenn119@gmail.com.