Stressin' at the holidays?

Ok, fess up! Who else here has been stressed at least once this holiday season? Whether it's been in the car dealing with idiots running through lights that have just turned red, waiting behind someone in parking lots who think they'll just sit there waiting for the ideal parking space to open up, not getting the price you saw on the display when you get up to the register, finding the store doesn't have what you need in stock (or it's stashed somewhere that doesn't seem to make sense).... The list goes on. I haven't snapped at any strangers, but Brett's been in the car with me while I've hollered and shaken my fist at people I don't know doing stupid stuff, and I know I'm bummed I won't be able to give a certain gift because the store is out of stock (at least it was just intended as a fun minor gift - nothing too important).

Saw this article on MSNBC and it got me wondering how many folks I know are going through all of this, and what you're doing to deal with the stress:

Stress plus deadline equals very angry shoppers
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16301557/

So far I've tried buying most things on line, in advance (weeks ago!), and everything's arrived just fine. It's the few things in stores that cause the most stress! I've been turning on my Christmas music CDs in the car when driving around and finding the tension rising, trying to think "ahhhh - it's Christmas time - we're all just trying to find the perfect gifts for our loved ones and friends, and all have the best intensions. And this is fun!" (Yeah, I know - I'm not kidding myself!)

And it's not just the shopping... I had more than one baking-foul while preparing cookies this year (pictures and accompanying story to come later); Moxie and Simon got fixed last Monday (and Moxie's gotten a large "blister" under her incision from horsing around too much, so she's grounded to the bedroom most of the time to keep her separate from Simon, and we hot compress it daily); tonite we spent two hours dismantling the dishwasher (mostly Brett, but I helped!) and figuring out why it was no longer getting water to the top rack arm - what a mess; a decorative/edible winter squash LOOKED fine but rotted out and got stinky liquid on the carpet; Simon's still got the squirts and the antibiotic treatment from the vet hasn't helped much; work (freelance and regular) is stressful right now, and the list goes on - you get the idea... Just a lot of stress this time of year! I keep looking to Christmas day as a "restart" - once the Christmas presents are deployed and we return from my folks in NY, things should settle back down to a normal pace.

I hope.

:)

PS Don't you just LOVE that picture of the stressing lady? She seriously needs some Calgon! LOL