Christmas Gifting

Tomorrow is December 1st and kids (and some adults) will each the first chocolate from their chocolate advent calenders. The beginning of the last month of the year also means that Christmas season will begin in earnest and the invasion of the gift shopper will commence. Even the lazy guys that make their mothers buy them everything because they cannot stand shopping make their way to the mall to pick something for the most important lady in their life ( yes, still Mom).

I do not like malls much, and I like crowded ones even less but I know that there is no way to avoid them unless I buy every single gift online. The biggest issue though is WHAT rather than HOW. The worst are guys, they are impossible to get anything for. Brothers, Fathers, guy friends, boyfriends, cousins etc. I am plumb out of ideas.

Help?

Co-op decisions...

 I'm enrolled in a co-op program at my university and after completing second year, I spend every other term in school or at work somewhere. I spent last summer working at a nuclear facility as the Emergency Preparedness Assistant and loved it! The only problem is that it was in the middle of no where. Tiny town of 4000 people and no public transportation. What they DO have is bears, wolves, and intense snowfall. As exciting as it would be to experience a "real" Canadian winter, I do not have a car and I'm not sure if I will be comfortable with being 7 hours away from family and friends with no way to visit.

So now I received an offer to work in Ottawa for a placement that is not exactly related to my future goals, or work in Toronto doing a job that seems more applicable...

So since yesterday I am officially moving to Toronto in January to work a very bureaucratic job that is exactly in downtown. I should be ecstatic but to be honest, I am a little nervous. The work environment seems very strict and cold and the job will involve very little "hands-on" projects. And life in Toronto...I'm not sure that T.O. and I will get along. I just spent 4 months in a tiny community in northern Ontario and now I am to move to the biggest city in Canada?

I feel like such a country mouse.