Spending money is harder than you'd think.

But also very, very easy.

I was given a total of $600 cash for Christmas. This is a lot of money. On the other hand, clothing is pricey and computers even moreso. Deciding where it should go was tough.

$100 was from my husband. He'd intended to buy me a gift certificate to a spa, so I'd have to spend it on pampering myself, but there wasn't time (story of our lives lately). So he gave me the cash, which worked out nicely since I really wanted some goodies from Origins. I bought face moisturizers and eye make-up and lip gloss. (Origins is expensive - even with 10% off I still went $5 over.)

$500 was from my very generous in-laws (they gave Will the same and I am sure he will blog about what he bought with it). After I saw my chiropractor this morning we drove over to my favorite yarn store where I purchased the Denise needle kit (interchangeable tips and cables for circulars or anything else on earth you could possibly need). Then we went to the Grove, where we spent six hours parking and forty minutes in the mall. Next time we will remember to park on Beverly and walk. I bought two more camisole tops, a t-shirt with lace at the boobs, a warm fuzzy pullover, and three pairs of pants. With $175 leftover I decided to listen to my feet, which have been screaming for a pedicure, and set aside $25. The rest went into an Apple giftcard. If it's Apple money I can't spend it on anything else, you see. We now have almost $500 (including the card that arrived today from Kulia - thank you!) toward the new machine, which is nearly halfway. This is excellent.

It's turning out to be a very Merry Christmas.