Thank You Betty and Sheri… You guys are great!
and yes I guard my words when it comes to writing in my blog… don’t want anyone to worry needlessly… and this is supposed to be my pretty place, not my whiney complaining place…
but then it is good to write them out, to sort them out and not let them build up and explode on loved ones…
However I do my best thinking at work and in the car so by time I get home, I forget everything I want to write about… so I’ve been jotting some things in a notebook as I think of them this evening…
For today I’ll just elaborate on what happened the other morning that set me off… One being that I have not had Chuck for two months now, but I think he is trying to arrive this week so I am PMSing big time… For the past six years or so I tell hubby every Christmas that we are going to cut back and not go all out… just get the boys the main things they want from Santa and not a bunch of extra stuff that we think is cute, they did not ask for and then never play with… but each year hubby goes over board, I see a few more things the boys need and then we both get too much stuff for ourselves and once again Christmas morning is huge… So I figured this year with hubby not working, we had the perfect excuse not to shop, no money… we told son2 and son3 that they could make a list of ten things and Santa would bring them five each… I told hubby nothing for either of us, nothing from us for the boys and son1 just needed a movie or such… and stockings could be the usual soap and shampoo with a candy or two… but that’s it… trust me we are not suffering for wanting anything, especially the last year we have all been out of control buying stuff, especially books and movies…
Anyway to Saturday morning, son2 and son3 were arguing over the toy catalogs, son2 was telling son3 what he couldn’t ask for cause that was what he wanted and just general brother bickering… but I saw red, as they were both being greedy and selfish and told them I could cancel Christmas in a second… as hubby doesn’t have a job… of course son3 was in tears as Santa brings the presents and son2 was just teenage mad… you see I am all about the cutting back for the four to six months that hubby isn’t working… it’s the other people in the house that don’t seem to want to work with a plan…
Of course I don’t want this to be the year that son3 learns there isn’t a Santa… son1 and son2 were literally teenagers and still believing in Santa as I had them so convinced they just weren’t sure and didn’t want to jinx anything…
Besides Thanksgiving is first, and I am not ready for Christmas yet… I have been trying for this year to relax and do one thing at a time… so figured with hubby not working, this was our chance to do nothing so as not to spend money… but everyday everything is still happening all the time… just so busy here with three boys at work and school and life…
I’m also trying to reel hubby in as he is the biggest shopper… but you would think he would be the first to not shop as he is the one not working… he promised the boys each a bag of 50% off candy after Halloween… he came home with four or five bags… $13 worth after the 50% off… what happened to one bag each… of course he and I are also eating them… I’m trying to get back to losing weight…
I have been up since 3am, new time, son3 had a bad dream… but I looked at hubby’s clock that hadn’t been changed and thought it was 4am and I get up at 4:30am for work… son3 wanted his TV on to forget about his dream, he also wanted the hall light on even though his bedroom light was on too… We watched Funniest Video Moments with Eric Estrada for a bit… I went back to my room and realized it wasn’t time to get up yet… turned the hall light on for son3, laid down for a half hour but didn’t get any sleep as hubby was snoring big time… got ready for work, son3 was back to sleep and I was out the door…
Set the ad at work, printed missing signs, hung the all on sale signs and cleared the exceptions… went to lunch… and continued organizing the women’s shoes in the stockroom…
It has been raining all afternoon and windy… hubby raked all the leaves on the side of the house and then the wind blew a bunch more out of the tree again…
I have been on the laptop clicking this and that…
Son2 and son3 found a little frog in the yard that they put in the fish tanks with rocks and a bit of water… we researched what they eat, live insects… so I have talked them into letting it go back in the yard, as it misses it’s mom…
son2 just came back in from letting the frog go, he got freaked out as it jumped on his arm…
Son1 worked his part time job today… now he is playing his XBox…
the boys need to get showered, read a book with son3 and Simpsons Treehouse of Horror XXI comes on tonight…
Today I ate: vitamins, water… 4pcs of candy at work… lunch~chimichanga, yogurt, cola… lasagna, rolls, water… 2pcs of candy at home… dinner~split pea soup, cornbread, water…
Pedometer: over 9600 steps…
Happy Journaling…
4 comments:
I totally understand wanting to tone down Christmas. Because this is my favorite Holiday, I have always gone over board..I've probably gone too far with birthdays also..So, the last couple of birthdays, I have been more mindful of how much was being spent. The best part, the kids didn't even notice.lol..
I know your intentions were for this to be your pretty place, but when life happens to throw you a nasty curve, you need to get things off your chest. And that is what we are here for:) Any time!
Hope your week gets off to a great start..
Sheri
I always went over board on Christmas when the kids were younger and hubby was always "we need to cut back and not give them anything and everything". And I tried but it was always hard to do. I realized it was because of my growing up years. My mom was a widow and struggled to make ends meet, but we never suffered for anything because of God's provision on us, but holidays were "sparse" with us not getting lots of things and we learned over the years not to ask for any "big ticket items". So I think because of that I carried that over to when I had kids and we had money, I went crazy and bought them everything in sight to make up for my youth. So I wonder if something similar is in your hubby's past that he is trying to make up in his spending habits. Just wondering. But the best Christmas we had was two years ago when we were really cutting down expenses. We bought son a few things (4 things tops), hubby and me gave each other gifts others could use (through World Vision) and we enjoyed time together. Helping others brought more joy to me than gifts opened but then again at the time son was 19 years old and not young like son3. We never did the Santa routine at our house so we didn't have to deal with that when they realized Santa was moms and dads. I like your idea of them picking 10 items and then getting 5of them. Maybe you need to hide the catalogs (LOL). It is hard to raise kids these days in this economy. One can hope there are better days ahead.......but I'm not sure.........
hang in there!!
betty
Praying God will bless you and your family with unexpected treasures of all kinds this holiday season. May it truly be the richest one you've ever had.
Love,
Barbara
This year I have told my kids that we are going to do less with gifts and money. This is not easy. We have to cut back though, and so I am looking for ways to focus on fun and games, but not stuff. Does that make sense?
I hope you figure out a balance that works for your family as well....
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