Putting on my happy face just In time to open Christmas presents




I like Christmas as much as the next person assuming that the next person is somewhere between Ebenezer Scrooge
And buddy the elf. But the fact that I have been mostly single in the run up to Christmas is not a cause of great concern for me. I would go so far to say that given my track record ( in terms of presents I have received ) I am usually a little relieved to only have friends and family to buy for. 

I would like to make a point of stating that I have not deliberately remained single Just to avoid the fiasco of present swapping, it has just worked out that way. A happy coincidence if you will. 
With the exception of last Christmas when I was casually seeing a guy, or so I thought until he insisted ( despite much resistance on my part ) on paying for my iPhone upgrade so I had to go and panic but him some sort of gift without really knowing what he liked. In my defence it was pretty casual so I was totally unprepared for the whole gift exchange. 
Whether or not he actually liked my panicked Purchases is another matter because the whole thing fizzled out over the Christmas break. And I went onto to lose that iPhone so it was like the whole thing never happened. 

Aside from that my most notable exchange of gifts was With my ex a few years back ( the crazy one) when we had been dating less than a year but long enough to know each others tastes ( or so I thought ) and I was excitedly shopping for him. Buying lots of little things that I hoped he would like and probably putting way too much thought and money into the present ( something I tend to do regardless of who I'm buying 
For) and I don't think disappointed quite sums up how I felt. it was like he had never met me before or had gone into a shop blindfolded and picked up three random items. He hadn't and I had to try my hardest to look delighted because he had genuinely thought he had done well. I have rubbish poker face but I think he saw what he wanted to see so I passed . For the record, my presents that year comprised of a trio of Celine dion perfumes that I never wore ( what the actual fuck, nobody wants those) a cheap locket from Argos and foot cream.  
Eh thanks.

So now It's three Christmas's of singledom later ( if you don't count last years casual fling and I don't) and I'm
Finally in a position to be shopping for someone again. I did jokingly suggest we go on a break until Stephens day/ early January but he was having none of it. I'm
Feeling considerably less nervous this year even though I haven't known him that long. I'm fairly confident he'll like most if not all of the presents I've gone for and I have a funny feeling that this year I might not have to fake my delight when opening presents. Mind you , the bar is set pretty low. A little effort and a small bit of thoughtfulness and I'll be happy out 


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