"Fashionably Late, as usual."

It is a tradition for our family to be late. 

Not by choice, per se, nor by design, but by Natural Talent. It's a gift, really, ;) By late, I don't always mean too late, nor do I mean terribly late. Haven't you all ever heard of a dear little habit called fashionably late?

The sort of late that causes you to come through the door into a party after everyone else has arrived so that you are immediately the center of attention. The kind of late that gives you a breathless, wind-blown, "Oh haven't I been having fun!" sort of color in your cheeks. The sort of late that is no one can blame you for and no one can criticize. ;) 
I am in jest. But sometimes I do like being just the teensiest bit late for beginning things. Christmas shopping for instance. It is a Holiday Law for Daniel to do his shopping no earlier than three days before Christmas, and it is an equally important Holiday Law that I go with him to be his conscience.

Daniel: "Do you really think I should get this?"
 Me: "Get it."
Daniel: "But will she like it?"
Me: "Of course."
Daniel: "But is it too expensive?"
Me: "Are you kidding? It's the best price I've seen all season!" etc.

 We have rather a lot of fun, my gentleman and I, and it would not be at all the same to go out, say, December 6th. There would be no jolly rush, no peppermint-chocolate-and-sparkles feel to the air, no half-jesting fear that the shopping won't get done. No. One must be late for this sort of excursion.
There is also invariably a little dilemma known by some as a Simple Matter of Mathematics. It goes thus:
"Susie, how is fifteen dollars to be divided between gifts for four people without any sacrifice of quality or taste?"
Ahem. I may not be at all bright when it comes to General Math, but I am quite proficient in this art. The solution is solved in this fashion:

You are determined. You winkle your way through your wallet counting and counting and counting your money (including pennies) to be sure it was Fifteen and not Fifty instead, which would solve everything immediately. Having assured yourself that it was Fifteen after all, you begin to scour your memory as to how much of certain gift-cards you have already spent. If there is a spare 3 dollars and change on a gift-card,that store is immediately your destination, as even that paltry amount would nearly double (for one person at least) the current balance. You get in the store and debate over various items, find a long-forgotten coupon which happens to still be good, buy the item for much less than you had hoped, previously, and suddenly one person is checked off the list.

 Repeat as many times as desired until your shopping is done.

Yes. I am rather a mathematician. 

~Rachel