Christmas shopping nightmares

I like my guys to have presents to open on Christmas, but as they've gotten older, that has become more and more of a challenge, because their needs and wants have grown and changed just as they have.
I had planned Wednesday off to finish my shopping. Tuesday night, Man-child #2 called with the usual pleasantries like "Hi Mom, this is Paul."
"Yes, Paul, I recognize your voice."
"Well, the car died."
There's no way for that sentence to end well. The only thing I've bought more of than cell phones for boy-children, is cars. (If you have a man in the making at your house, all I can say is, good luck.)
"How dead is it?" I asked.
"Completely. Not worth fixing."
So that really should be his problem, shouldn't it? As it turned out we had three vehicles: Two cars and the truck the Hubster recently inherited.
I would transfer one of the cars to the son. I picked him up on Wednesday morning from his apartment. We filled out paperwork - the title and some other form the lawyer to whom I'm married gave me. We called the insurance company to get the insurance transferred. I paid them money via the telephone. The insurance would take effect at midnight.
We went to the auditor's office and got another form that we took to the tax office and I paid them money.
We went to the DMV And I paid them more money.
By 4 p.m. we were done and I returned Man-child to his apartment in North Chuck because he couldn't have the car until Thursday. I still had an hour or so to get some shopping done.
That's when I noticed the small crack running horizontally along the bottom of the windshield. So much for that errant hour for shopping. The car is now at the glass shop having a new windshield installed.
And so much for Manchild having a present under the tree. It will be in the driveway instead. And he's happy about that.
But I still had surfer dude, our eldest, to buy for.
"What can I get for you," I asked, ready to get whatever he wanted.
"Well, some friends asked me to go to Vegas with them in the spring. Will you get me the ticket to Vegas for Christmas?"
"I can do that," I told him, trying to hide the disappointment that I wouldn't have anything to wrap other than the underwear and socks I got him last week.
"No tools?" I asked, since he builds cabinets and furniture for living.
"Nope. Just the ticket will be enough."
I agreed and wished him a good flight home.
There was only one guy left to buy for, the Hubster.
He doesn't really need a lot. But there's one thing he loves and that's his tunes. Blue grass, Irish folk, classical. (It's real easy for him to get bargains at the music store with that kind of taste in music.)
So, I found myself standing in front of the iPod display. I couldn't help myself. This would be great. He'd love this, I decided. I'm writing this a few days before Christmas. By the time you read this, the gifts will be open, the skirt under the tree will be bare.
Will he like his gadget? I hope so, but someone will be opening a surprise present on Christmas day.
And that will make Christmas a lot more fun for me.

Contact Judy Watts at journalscene.com or 873-9424 ext. 220.