Greg’s Net Kritterz chihuahua is starting to look angry and irritated, so he asks his mom for money, and she again declines. She adds that she expects Greg to pay for his own Christmas gifts this year so that they mean more, and Greg suddenly realizes that he will not receive the $20 that he usually gets to spend on gifts. In past years, Greg would buy the cheapest possible gifts from a little holiday fair at his school and use the rest of the money on himself. Now, he has to come up with a way to buy presents and he won’t be profiting, either.

Greg’s precious first edition, signed copy of a graphic novel called Tower of Druids is supposed to be worth $40, so he tells his mom that he plans to sell it for Christmas money. Greg’s mom tells him that this is a terrible idea, and Greg thinks back to the day he got it signed. He waited in line with his mom and Manny for a while and then had to go use the bathroom. When he returned, the graphic novel was signed, and his mother was out of line.