HURDLES & HOLIDAYS

November is now in our “temporal rear view mirror,” and we look forward to the holiday season really kicking into high gear. Chanukah is already happening, having started several days ago on Thanksgiving, it is now several days into the experience. Christmas, Yule, Kwanzaa, and the “Festivus for the Rest of Us” are all right around the corner. Then, once that dust settles, we can look forward to New Years, where two things will be certain. One, the IRS is licking their chops wanting you to hurry up and pay before April 15th; and two, the football season is winding down towards the final grunt before the “playoffs” leading to the Super Bowl, or depending on your preference, the BCS season to wrap it up. For everyone now faced with the hard choices of who to root for, take heart, you have one other hurdle to cross first. This hurdle comes every year at this time, and as you face this problem, you have my absolute best wishes for success. What is this hurdle? Well, now you are in the process of figuring out what is the right present for each of your loved ones, many of whom are hard to buy for, since they usually already have everything they need. This is a challenge for anyone, and I get that more than most, since my family has a lot of those folks that have what they need or want. My lovely bride is one of those people for whom it is very tough to pick the right gift. Her being tight lipped about things makes it a further challenge. So, believe me, I get it. Now, I could be a real “snake oil” salesman, and hawk my book as the perfect gift, but I won’t. Unless of course you would like a copy, in which case, please feel free to click on that link. There should be enough days left to allow for delivery before your holiday of choice. Instead, I will just say that I’m wishing you all luck. Now what to get my wife? Hmmmm, I know, I’ll get her my book! ~ Michael S. Pauley