[Allegra]

...heck, the Travel Channel has better programming than soap operas....

Maybe that's why I have always gotten along better with males than with females....I've always wondered, but have NEVER been able to figure that one out.

I'm the same way. I don't watch soap operas (including the ones that seem to have invaded prime-time television), I loathe and despise shopping and only do it when necessary, (can't remember the last time I was in a mall) I have NFL season tickets, I dread wedding and baby showers (all that squealing and giggling...aaaauuuggghhhh!) and have many more male friends than female friends.

And I am very feminine and even have that long hair these guys seems to be so insistent upon.

Go figger.

[cake_crumb]

I do the mall thing at Christmas. I already have the basic layout, from previous visits, and therefore simply make the run-through (noting each new shop). New-store run-throughs are invariably considered reconnaisance missions. Bargains spooted quickly and just as swiftly purchased guarantee a return visit for a more detailed understanding of the layout.

In the mall, Hubby and I split up. This makes the trip quicker, easier and more effecient. He goes one way, I go the other. We pick a spot to meet at, at a certain hour. We do not deviate from the (discussed, agreed upon as reasonable for acheiving the endeavor) schedule.

If we discover, upon comparing our purchases and correlating them to the people on our gift list, we can always do a second trip later. Had to break Hubby of the 'ALL CHRISTMAS SHOPPING DONE ON CHRISTMAS EVE' habit for that, but he saw the practicality in the suggestion.

[cake_crumb]

Oh, for wedding and baby showers don't forget the people you absolutely can't stand, but would be forced to be polite to : drop off the gift early, and make sure you have managed to manufacture a good excuse.

[Gabrielle Reilly]

"...heck, the Travel Channel has better programming than soap operas....

Maybe that's why I have always gotten along better with males than with females....I've always wondered, but have NEVER been able to figure that one out.

I'm the same way. I don't watch soap operas (including the ones that seem to have invaded prime-time television), I loathe and despise shopping and only do it when necessary, (can't remember the last time I was in a mall) I have NFL season tickets, I dread wedding and baby showers (all that squealing and giggling...aaaauuuggghhhh!) and have many more male friends than female friends.

And I am very feminine and even have that long hair these guys seems to be so insistent upon.

Go figger.">>>>>>


Amen.
I detest shopping also and would rather play cricket, go horseback riding, kyaking, dog sledding or enjoy a glass of wine watching the sunset over the lake, ocean or Outback.
Diamonds... you can find a field of diamonds at day break as the sun rises over the horizon at dawn and sparkles on the dew drops glistening in the grass. You inhale in the fresh morning air, listen the birds chirp (or the Kookaburra's laugh) and enjoy the diamonds of nature as much in a day, as one enjoys a diamond on their finger once the novelty has worn off. It also happens to be much healthier for you as well as being more fiscally responsible.