| I hope everybody had a lovely Thanksgiving. A wonderful holiday allowing American families to pause for one day to celebrate the passing year’s blessings. Then consume mass quantities of delicious food. As Thanksgiving fades into memory, Christmas Day is on its way. The massive barrage of advertisements for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday have passed and they have been replaced by a consistent torrent of emails, ads and banners telling me that I can only have XX% off if I buy now! It is all so annoying. Outside of that noise, I do enjoy holiday shopping. I love to discover just the right gift for my family and friends. Each gift I select has deep logic behind it, and I know it is something they never would purchase for themselves and will treasure for years. I hope to watch them peel back the shiny paper and see a bit of delight on their faces when they discover what it is. I love that look! Then sometimes they unwrap the gift and look at me, what the….? Off to the return counter. The important thing is that my time searching, not dealing or discounting, is time that I spend thinking about the wonderful people in my life and in small, very small, way give them a bit of Holiday joy. Happy Holidays! Ohh, P.S. As the 2019 Holidays pass, all will turn to talking about 2020. Before that happens, find a moment and congratulate yourself, yes you, for all the hard work you did in 2019. Every once in a while, it is good to look in the mirror and say, great job, well done! Cheers |
Jeffrey Valles 