Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry (Almost) Christmas

Hi!

Sorry, sorry.. I know.. MIA again.

It's been a strange few weeks.. I didn't think Christmas was going to happen in my house. I know it's not about the gifts, but it still has meaning to me in that field.. and even though it's going to be a meager Christmas under my tree this year I got my kid gifts of things that he both needed and wanted, not any useless junk that he'll see and never use.  I knitted scarves for almost all my friends and that makes me tremendously happy.

Christmas eve with the bestie's family tomorrow (even though she is in Africa and we all miss her like crazy!) Then to hang with my family on Sunday.. New years eve with my friends.. new years day with my family :) I get to see my sister and my niece and nephews and my new baby Godson :)

I did all my shopping yesterday.  It was INSANE! But I started early in the day and was home  by 1 (with a massive migraine)

I did my grocery shopping this morning and wrapped all The Kid's gifts before he got home from school.. I just have scarves and some toys to wrap tonight after I finish baking.

I have ALL of next week off.. which is bliss to me, I never take time off work like that.. usually it's just a day or two at a time, or I give myself a long weekend.  I'll be getting an extra week of vacation this year, which makes me happy because I'm actually going to make sure to actually DO something with my time instead of just staying home or whatever.. this year I'm gonna make it happen.. because, well.. because I have someone that makes me want to :)

I will try to pop in tomorrow to wish y'all a Merry Christmas.. if not please have a safe and Happy Christmas.

For now.. I must get to the cookies in my oven :)


Thursday, December 8, 2011

No, I haven't disappeared

Sorry I haven’t posted in so long.. I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth.. If you Tweet with me you know I’ve been around.  I just have been busy with stuff.. Most of my free time has been spent knitting and learning to crochet (which is a Pain in the ass, I still can’t seem to get it quite right).  I work, I come home & make dinner, have dinner with The Kid and then I knit until my eyes are about to close.

To say I’m broke this year is an understatement.  When I moved I knew it was going to put a strain on my wallet but I really honestly thought I was going to be able to swing it with just a minor inconvenience.

HAHAHAHAHA!

While my paycheck has stayed the same, my cost of living went up by over $200/month

My usual grocery budget of $50/week has gone down to $25-30/week

I’m now holding off as long as I possibly can without having to get gas.. My truck is old and I don’t really like doing that.. But I have to.  It costs more than $50 to fill the tank.. If I just manage to drive as minimally as possible a tank of gas can last me 2 weeks.  I got totally screwed by my bank last month when my account went into overdraft and they didn’t notify me, so it just kept going and in the end I wound up having to hand over an entire paycheck to cover the fees.  That killed me, that was present money.

The Kid wants an X-Box for Christmas.. I already told him that’s not happening.. His birthday is in Feb, he’ll get it then, that’s just money that no matter what I will not have for Christmas this year.  Usually by now I would have most, if not all of my Christmas shopping done.  This year I’ve managed to only get him a gift with my staples rewards (yay, free $! It Does pay to bring in those empty ink cartridges) it’s something he’ll use every day, so it’s cool :) I know he wants a few games for the Wii, and I’m really hoping that we get our Christmas bonus this year. I’m depending on that to be able to get gifts for my kid and for the niece and nephews. Forget getting something for myself, that rarely happens anyway.

I've told the adults they’re getting scarves.. And cookies.  That’s all I can manage for them this year.  I was lucky enough to get a stash of very nice yarn for less than $20 and I've been knitting like mad.  I know the kid won’t wear a scarf no matter how nice the yarn so I've skipped over him in that department.
I know Christmas isn’t about the presents.. I grew up with very little and had a lot of extended family that are no longer close like they used to be.. So it’s just The kid and immediate family now.   I don’t expect anything from anyone but I always try to make it the best Christmas for the kid.  I’m hoping I can manage to swing it this year.. Fingers crossed.