Sample Christmas-Related Conversation from the Tiara/Kissington Household

Me: It’s only 21 days ‘til Christmas, and you haven’t bought a single gift.
Lord Kissington: Yeah.
Me: Aren’t you worried?
Lord Kissington (in a bewildered tone): No.
Me: But how can you sleep at night knowing you haven’t done any shopping yet?
LK: Like a baby.

As much as I don’t really enjoy Christmas shopping, I still feel a huge compulsion to get it done (because once it’s all done, I can do the present-related activity I most enjoy—wrapping). Lord Kissington has no such compulsion. Before he met me, he tended to do all his shopping at the mall at 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve, usually with one of his brothers and there was often beer involved. He has admitted that this method didn’t always result in the best gifts (like that decorative rooster that’s probably gathering dust in his sister’s closet). I could never do this; the anxiety of not having everything in place would make me sleepless and grumpy. Maybe this is why we are a good match: I make sure he’s not roaming around some suburban mall on Christmas Eve and he makes sure that I don’t have a nervous breakdown in the weeks before Christmas. It’s a good combination.