With all of the horrible economic news that blasts out of my radio and tv, I am already in a pessimistic mood. But yesterday I got an email alert from my local police that we had an armed robbery attempt at a local community bank. That scares the crap out of me, for two reasons.

Burglaries, in general, have been on the rise in our area, but most have been break-ins of parked cars. I fear that as joblessness goes up, so does desperation.

And secondly, there are two banks I visit in the neighborhood; one almost always with my daughter, because she has her savings account there. The first thing upon entrance is a receptionist desk. I doubt the cheery lady behind the circle of formica is packing heat along with the lollipops she gives out!

On another note, I am SO incredibly glad that this year, my family decided to do Pollyana/Secret Santa for adult gift-giving instead of the insane present pile we have done in years past. I got the wish list of the people assigned to me and my husband and with the bonus of free shipping coupon codes, I ordered gifts off the list in about 30 minutes online, and had them shipped to my moms house where I will wrap them in the days before Christmas.

I only now have a handful of gifts to buy: for the hubby, my 2 nephews and my mother-in-law.  I already jumped on a sale & free shiping offer a few weeks ago to get gifts for my daughter on their way to Pennsylvania for the Holidays.