As appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho section 12/12/09
People are getting in the Christmas spirit around town now that the big day is less than two weeks away. The houses look like gingerbread cottages all decorated with lights, candy canes and mechanical reindeer. We put our tree up last weekend and had to wire it to the wall…again..
With holiday shopping in full swing, I hope you are making progress on your lists and finding great gifts for your loved ones.
Like many of you, I have spent much time contemplating the gifts for my children to ensure lots of happy smiling faces on Christmas morning. There’s nothing quite as deflating as watching your child’s disappointed face as she opens a gift you were sure she would go crazy over. This happened to me last year. The item on my daughter’s wish list was a pair of purple Converse high-tops. But instead of buying these at the store, I went online to the company’s website, where you can design your own shoe, and created a one-of-a-kind pair she would love. I spent over an hour deciding on colors and prints for the outside body, tongue, lining, stitch, heel stripe, laces, rubber sidewall and a racing stripe. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t add her name to the heel stripe. For goodness sake she’s in high school not pre-school. And why the long face on Christmas morning you ask? They were the wrong color purple.
I have shopped local in Rio Rancho, but I don’t have to tell you the selection is limited. I would like to know if that retail survey the city put out last summer gave them any direction as to what the residents wanted to see in Rio Rancho and if we were any closer to getting a Mimi’s Café, Best Buy or local boutique style shop in town.
As far as the hot gifts for this year goes, if you don’t have one yet, get a Wii. If you do have one, get Rock Band 2. This is a game the whole family can play together. Don’t leave anyone out – if you have more kids, buy an extra guitar.
Tween girls love Webkinz. This is a stuffed animal that comes with a secret code which lets your daughter create a Webkinz World online. Depending on whether you get a fish, a bird or a land animal determines what kind of world they can create for their new pet.
Lazer Tag would make a great gift for any boy. Much like the old-fashioned “war” we used to play where your brother would arbitrarily yell “you’re dead.” You could easily dispute it by proclaiming, “You missed me” because there was no proof you’d been hit. Unlike paintball that leaves bruises, Lazer Tag comes with two guns that vibrate to let you know you were hit.
Another hot gift this year for older kids is the Flip UltraHD Camcorder. This pocket-size movie maker captures120 minutes of HD video, which is much longer than what their cell phones can.
And for the kitsch lover in your life, get them a Life Size Garden Gnome with a Solar Lantern. My neighbor has fifteen gnomes in their front yard. I only have three. Not that this is a competition mind you. But you can never have too many gnomes.
Along with your shopping, cookie baking and home decorating don’t miss the Rio Rancho Winterfest parade this afternoon. The parade will start at 5:15pm at the intersection of Golf Course Road and Southern Boulevard, and conclude in the parking lot where the new CVS drugstore is going up on Southern. Come out and enjoy this hometown tradition with marching bands, decorated floats and or course, Santa himself.
Quote of the Week: “He wore a scarlet tunic, a blue green hood, it looked quite good. He had a big adventure amidst the grass, fresh air at last.” – The Gnome by Pink Floyd
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