Ah, Gift Cards

So my peeps love to give gift cards for the holidays. They're such sweet folk.

Seriously. I'm not being sarcastic. Why must you paint me with that brush? Cynic.

Moving on!

This year I really cleaned up at Christmas. I should really thank OA for turning me into a sweet, dependable employee. :o)

In recent days, I received a gift card to Borders and one to a swanky new-urbanist development called Village Pointe. Yes, with an e. I told you it was swanky. So when I first got these gift cards, my first thought was something like this. "Oh great. Like I'm going to waste $50.00 at Borders! And what the f*ck can I buy at Village Pointe?"

So I decided to offer my Borders card on www.swapagift.com. The Village Pointe one, I realized, may have some real value, as they have a Bed Bath and Beyond there as well as a BEST BUY and a World Market. I got some stuff for the house today at World Market. That was nice.

And now I am wondering what I should buy at Best Buy.

But whilst I was at World Market, I was torn. There are so many cute things there! So many useful things! I almost bought some new clutter. But I was disciplined and only purchased consumables -- sponges, olive oil, and a calendar. And a tea dipper thingy for the Mack, since I'm tired of cleaning up after his d*mn tea thingies. He better be grateful.

I feel like my house has a ton of clutter in it. Everywhere. Books I never read, teapots that I just look at, pictures in frames that I don't hang on the wall because I suck at hanging pictures. I'll actually be a little sad when my Martha Stewart decorating book sells and I no longer have its picture-hanging tips to refer to. Bummer. I was thinking of selling those picture frames, actually. There's also CDs I don't listen to, a CD player that I don't use much because I store my MP3s on my computer. I'm thinking of thinning out that herd too, and selling them on eBay. And then there's all the books that I never even unpacked, and the yarn stash. So much clutter!

And now that the Mack has convinced me to move to a better apartment in a more child-friendly complex, I am REALLY taking a look at this stuff. Because it will all have to go with me if I move. And what's this I see in the NY Times today? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/health/01well.html?no_interstitial An article on how clutter f's up your health! I believe it!

I don't want to waste my gift cards. But I don't want more clutter. So what do I do with these stupid things? I can't buy clothes at Village Pointe; nothing will fit. I don't need to buy more books or music, that's for sure. So what is the right strategy to use with gift cards?