Bah Humbug!

Hello everyone! I've missed blogging but there just hasn't been much time for driving about chasing WIFI when there is so much work to be done. My husband and I have been picking up as many shifts as we can and the putting all spare money into car repairs. Nothing major has happened, we just make sure to maintain our beloved '94 Honda Accord so we can keep him as long as possible. We just replaced an axle and will be having another one replaced tomorrow. After suffering through most of the summer thinking we couldn't afford to get the air conditioner fixed, we found out it was a worn hose and had that repaired. Next up is an oil leak repair but we have to save up a few hundred and get a day off because that will be a big job. We also will need tires fairly soon. Regular maintenance and not ignoring needed repairs keeps older cars on the road longer.

Disorganization kills! I haven't paid a bill late in several years. I've been in control and organized. Recently my sister visited and she wanted to shop for the babies one day so we went shopping. I hate the hoopla surrounding the winter holidays so I tend to avoid stores completely during this time. I grabbed what I was going to buy for the grandbabies so I wouldn't have to go to the store again until January. Since I wasn't prepared for a shopping trip, you guessed it, I didn't have cash on me. That was okay because I had a credit card I hadn't used in a long time and I was buying a just a few things so I could pay it off in full when the bill came. Well, the bill came and was placed on a random piece of furniture and then fell behind it. I ended up paying it off nine days late and am thoroughly disgusted over it. That's a $25.00 fee for being sloppy and a hit to my credit. I'm foot stomping mad at myself over this but the bill was paid and I will completely ignore the stores until well after the holidays.

I've worked retail in various positions for two decades. You see the very worst of human nature during the holidays. I've seen fist fights, public beratings, sighs and eye rolls in line when it just isn't moving fast enough. I hate seeing people becoming even more rude and angry. Many seem to have this expectation of how things are supposed to be, and they just get angry at the world when things go wrong. Running all over town to try to create the picture perfect Hallmark, Martha Stewart, Jimmy Stewart, Norman Rockwell holiday will only stress you out. Let go of the crazy expectations and just have a good time your own way, after all you can never please everyone.

Stores drive me insane in November and December. Places become packed with crazed shoppers and those awful holiday songs are playing at full blast everywhere you go. As you push your buggy and hum along just remember the workers are not listening to a few songs while trimming the tree and eating cookies, no we are bombarded with the same set of songs all day, every day we work, over and over. We go mad by the end of the season.

I don't understand Black Friday. It is just stuff. No amount of stuff is worth my camping out in a parking lot and fighting other people. It isn't even worth pushing through crowds to get something I really want. I'll buy what I need in October and skip shopping in November and December. That's how I keep myself sane.

My eldest daughter and my son recently found a home in the neighborhood that they can afford to rent. It is walking distance to her work which she needed because she doesn't have a car. January first my youngest daughter and her baby can move into the bedroom and the house will be a little less crowded and hopefully a tad more quiet. I wish them well and hope it really works out for them. It's been a rough year for everyone.

New Year Meanderings

I'm not the type to make new years resolutions. You won't find a list of my goals typed up in order with dates beside each for when I want them accomplished. I like to keep things simple, and I certainly don't want to disappoint myself when I fail to meet all those lofty goals.

This is the first new years eve I've ever had off. I only got the night off because there was a problem in the schedule for someone else and they needed me to swap for another day. It was nice to have off because I accomplished a lot around the house, although it would have been nice if my husband was off too. There's an old saying that what you do on new years is a reflection of what the next year will be like. If so, I will have a squeaky clean and clutter free home in no time.

Next year at some point, I want new jobs and new surroundings. Quite simple, it's all I need for now. I've already been working to reduce the debt, and save. We have a start, and as long as we keep earning as much as we can, we will meet out goals without going into further debt.

Happy New Year everyone! Whether you're a resolution maker or a resolution hater, I hope you have a wonderful time in 2011.

Holiday Hurrah

I've never been a traditionalist. There are a millions of winter holiday traditions from many countries, regions, faiths, and families. I've read and heard so many different stories about how families expect their holidays to be. Many have very high expectations. If they don't have the right color candles, and the right brand of mincemeat, and the perfect weather they complain. At work, if we run out of the brand of stuffing they always use they will slap the counter with their fist and yell, "Now what am I supposed to do?"

Long ago, even when the kids were little I decided not to join the madness. I still bought toys for them each year. I never shopped on Black Friday, and never bought into the hype surrounding the newest toys which ended up being available the following season for half the price.

Working retail for two decades can suck the holiday spirit out of you. I've worked a department store on Black Friday and witnessed people fighting over junk and hitting one another with shopping carts, and screaming at clerks. I've worked in mall stores during the holidays that weren't quite as bad, but gave me a ringside seat to the "merriment" at the larger stores with the big four hour only specials and at the toy stores which thank goodness I never had the misfortune to work at. Crazed parents actually hid out behind the trash bins in the alley behind the toy store at three in the morning. They thought that by waiting there they could be first somehow to get a Furby when the shipment arrived. If I opened my back door to find a mob of Furby crazed parents limping out from behind the dumpsters like zombies in a horror movie I'd be scared, I'd turn the fire hose on them.

If you're trying to lead a frugal life and the holidays are stressing you out, opt out of the big to do. If the environmentalist in you cringes at the thought of all that tinsel and wrapping paper ending up in the landfill, opt out of the fancy expectations. If you hate cooking and cleaning and would rather sleep in a box full of spiders than spend another holiday with Uncle Frank and Aunt Edna, opt out and go on a mini-vacation instead (or at least pretend to.)

I used to stress over being poor during the holidays. I wanted the children to be happy and have a magical season. I wanted the meal to be perfect and the gifts to be packaged beautifully and well received. I also worked full time hours through the holiday season. I worked open to close often on holidays themselves, so often we would just have it on a different day. One year, when the kids were of middle school age I decided the wrapping paper is thrown away anyway, why am I spending this money on something that goes straight to the garbage? The recycle bins always say that wrapping paper is non-recyclable too. The kids were upset for a few moments when they saw a black plastic garbage bag with their name on it in the morning but after they opened it they quickly forgot their resentment.

Do you need six different types of pie, or a turkey as big as Manhattan? Do you have to make the cranberry souffle you make every year just because you always have it? Do you have to risk life and limb to hang a bunch of lights on your house? Save yourself the frostbite and the high electric bills, opt out.

Take what traditions you want, and drop the rest. Have a wonderful holiday season, whichever holiday you follow if any. Just remember not to stress yourself trying to keep up with the Jones', or worse the Kringle's.