Happy New Year

Just want to wish everyone a joyous, prosperous, and Happy New Year! 

I am not going to make any resolutions more just promises to myself.  I want to mediate more or at least get back into doing it.  I want to manage my finances better so that by the end of the year I can still do a few things.  I want to hopefully avoid the holiday fiasco that happened this past year although I cant please everyone and I really need to remember that.  I want to knit more or at least finish some projects in mind like the fingerless gloves  I am currently working on.  I have one done and need to finish the other, I need to finish the strap to my yoga bag and I want to start a sweater for myself, and a utility bag for my dad for his holiday present next year and have it finished well before the holiday even comes up or is even thought of in the stores.  

I  will post pictures of my beautiful, soft and fuzzy gloves once they are both done.  

Have a great New Year and enjoy but, not too much or at least have a designated driver or call a cab if you must.  

ITS OVER

Wahooo! The holiday is finally over!  I have not had a very Merry holiday.  I really wish that I did.  It was great being at the in laws.  Our daughter had a well Hello Kitty Holiday with lots of Hello Kitty items, some clothes both non and with Hello Kitty.  She got a purse and change purse as well, some My Little pony undies, and a lot of baby dolls and accessories.  Most of it is staying at my in laws.  We did bring home the clothes and undies along with her purses.  

I got a new bathrobe that matches my sisters in law it was too funny we posed for pictures and did a Charlie Angles theme to the pics.  Absolutely hysterical.  I got another clear bird feeder that suctions to the window so more torture for my cats too fun.  I got a funky hummingbird and two separate gift certificates to the same place for a total of $75.  

My husband got a lot of Darth Vader themed gifts and a gift certificate for a coffee shop that not only sells coffee drinks but, also beans and other coffee and tea brewing gear.  

Then Thursday we went to my moms.  She called me before I had to get my eyes examined and informed me that she took down all of her holiday decorations before we even got to her house.  So fun!  We went to my moms and our daughter got a recliner chair (that my mom wants us to have at our house and assumes that we have room for it and never told me about) I do not have central heating or AC so we have floor heaters.  I told her we do not have room for it.  She was not happy with that.  Ah well.  Then I made the mistake of telling my mom that our daughter wanted a shopping cart and I told her no that I did not want her to have it.  Of course my mom did not do as I asked and got it for her.  She did however get our daughter the two things I did tell my mom that she wanted a DVD of Epic (such a great movie) and another Hello Kitty purse that I knew she wanted before I knew what my mother in law had in store for her.  Our daughter did finally spend the night at grandmas so my mom is a bit happy.  

I did manage to make her mad again by telling her that I did not want her to buy a car for me and of course when she dropped our daughter off I told her that no the stuff that she wanted us to have was staying at her house.  Ah well.  If she does not want to keep it then maybe both parents will understand that and not get her sooo much stuff for the holidays next year.  I am trying to be polite and nice about all of this but, all I can say is thank the Gods for Vegan Eggnog and Burbon.   It seems to be THE only way I have managed to keep my sanity.  

Tis the season

It is the day before the big holiday for most folks and I swear most people have frowns on their faces or are just plain grumpy.  I personally would think that most people would be breathing a sigh of relief and smiling at this time.  Instead folks have  on these 

 It all started with having a bit of miscommunication regarding our daughter and how and where she will be spending the holidays.  My husband was surprised that our daughter returned from the in laws and I was thinking well why shouldnt she.  We are going to their place to spend the holiday with my mother.  Well he was thinking that my mom knew about and was ok with her going to their place and opening presents Christmas morning.  Me I was completely confused and in the dark about the whole thing.  So I had the happy privilege of calling my mom and letting her know that we would be stopping by the 24th for my daughter to get her gifts from my mom. Well that did not go very well and my mom is pretty mad and upset.   She even hung up on me who was completely clueless and not in a good way.  Now my mom refuses to even spend the holidays with us at all and is extremely mad at my husband and me as well probably.  I really needed to get some of these pants and wear them today and give a pair to my mom, mother in law and my sister in law.  

My mother in law who has not been getting very much sleep lately got extremely grumpy and angry at my sister in law who is a red head.  So in her frustration she had her daughter drop her off at a store and had to use someone else’s cell phone to call her husband to pick her up.  OOPS.  She left the house without anything purse, cell phone the usual stuff.  Both of them got pretty angry with each other not sure about what.  This is why 3 people need a pair of pants like this.  Thanks Etsy for letting me use this picture.  

The haul and posts

Well my daughter got a few things for the holiday from her dad and I.  She got from me some long johns for those cold and chilly days, a book about a pig named hope, some blue nail polish, and a TY Hello Kitty Nerd with glasses.  It is actually rather cute.  From her dad she got Pickman 2 to play.  

I got a Nintendo DS and some yarn from my hubby to start a new project I am going to make some fingerless gloves to wear with my hoodie plus some needles and the pattern.  I also got a project holder for double pointed needle projects so that way you dont loose stitches.  

My husband got a graphic novel of Shepard’s story.  If you are a Firefly or Serenity fan then you will understand the reference.  

I probably wont be posting as much as I usually do mainly because my husband is home, I have knitting to do, and just wanting to spend time with the family.  

So if I do not post more before December 25th.  Happy Holidays!  Have a safe, happy, and merry holiday.

New car

My mom is wanting to help me get a new used car.  I am not sure that this is a good idea.  The reason why she wants me to get a new used car is so that way I do not have to use the bus and can just come and go whenever I want to.  Plus I am not sure if this is partially revenge for the hubby not answering his phone as usual when I need him the most (still sore about that as well and trying very hard to not be).   I had to call my mom and see if she might be able to get in touch with him, if he was just ignoring my calls, or if his phone was off or not sure what happened when I knocked my head.  

Tomorrow we are celebrating our holiday on the winter solstice aka Yule aka shortest day of the year.  It has been interesting trying to explain how gifts will be delivered and why.   We have done this for a few years now because it is always a challenge to coordinate between 3 households and visits especially for our daughter.  We have also done this because my husband was at one point in time working during every holiday so to just make things easier and actually have a holiday together this was a solution.  Now that he is off for the holiday we have just decided to keep with the “tradition”.  

Even though tomorrow is the shortest day of the year and maybe a bit of a downer with less light if any I always look at it this way.  That after tomorrow the days will get just a little bit longer, brighter, and warmer.  

Have a great Winter Solstice!

School of hard knocks

Yesterday while putting the groceries away I managed to knock my head very hard on the freezer door handle. Wow was I in pain and of course could not get in touch with my darling husband to let him know I needed him to come home ASAP. It almost felt like I had a cut. My head still hurts of course today as well. You might even argue that I managed to knock more sense into myself lol.

On a brighter note I did manage to get a ride from my mom since my husband took the car again today. We went to a lot of places. We even got ourselves a holiday tree WAHOO! It now just feels like the holidays more with just a bit of seasonal decor. You might even argue that it is the Charlie Brown holiday tree but, I still like it. We went and got my daughter her new glasses. The reason being is because she needed a new prescription to what she has already and these fit her better and are less likely (hopefully) to fall off her nose. I also tried to get the bus schedule but, no such luck. There is a website that has the routes and “schedule” but, no schedule is actually listed so it is anyones guess as to when the nearest bus will show up for folks. So some time while my husband is off I will have to go downtown to get the latest/newest schedule for times of the buses. Very annoying.

Without further ado here is a picture of our tree with just a string of lights in purple.

Holiday Cookies

Whew! I am finally over whatever crazy ick took me down and out yesterday. I feel so much better. I actually sang holiday songs this morning it was crazy and maybe drove the other folks nuts who actually had to hear me. American Idol, and Voice material I am not and am perfectly ok with it. I was just having fun and feeling sooo much better.

Today we finished our holiday cooking and they are very tasty and yummy I have had a few ok less than a dozen. I even gave some to our neighbor who always gives us goodies throughout the year. So without further ado here are the Chai Spice Cookies holiday style. Vegan of course.

You spin me right round like a record baby

Whew boy am I dizzy today.   I have either felt dizzy or felt like the world has tilted in a way that is not natural.  I am still fighting with it.  It is the absolute worst whenever I bend down for something.  No I have not been drinking.  On the plus side at least my right ear no longer feels filled with gunk.   

If anyone has any suggestions to make the world stop spinning I would really appreciate it.  

Gotta lay down now so that way I can hopefully feel like I am upright in the future.  This is a total drag because I was wanting to make holiday chai spice cookies with my daughter.  Sigh maybe tomorrow or later on today.  

 

Year in review

A lot of folks have been doing a year in review of finances, life, travels etc. 

My year in review will be brief I promise.  

I started this blog a little over a year ago.   As a way to just share my life with folks and am absolutely floored that people have actually subscribed to my blog.  Thank YOU!  i am always thrilled and impressed that folks actually read my blog. 

This past year I paid off one of my student loans.  WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  I am really thrilled and relieved to have only one bill to deal with.  Of course with the exception of the standard usual being food, rent, utilities…etc.  

I also got rid of my credit card and paid off completely.   Whew!

I helped my mom declutter and get rid of a lot of stuff in her basement.  

I also followed suit by getting rid of a lot of my stuff that has been in my moms basement for 10+ years and my stuff that I currently have in my home.  This helps to bring in the new be it stuff (hopefully not too much) at least at my end, new experiences, new people, etc.

The other good thing was taking my daughter for her very first visit to her grandpa and first airplane rides.  She loved it!  It was a great experience for us both.  We got to reconnect with my dads family.  

 

The bad was that I TOTALLY BLEW my budget for the end of the year.  This includes holiday shopping because I decided to bring my student loan that I did pay off down just a little bit more and further down.   

This is about the only low I can think of.  

For 2014 I hope that more people will subscribe to my ramblings, I hope to make a more significant dent in my student loan that remains, to get rid of more items that no longer serve a purpose and no longer love, and to continue to build my savings account so that way we have an emergency fund plus have more adventures to far off places in this big beautiful world with my daughter.  

A gift of sunshine

If you are like me you might suffer from “Winter Blues or Seasonal Effective Disorder” or just from the lack of sunshine because you have clouds or just snow.  So here is a slice of sunshine for folks and yes I personally rolled around in this spot and was very happy to see sunshine today.  I have been rather tired of the clouds and gloom lately.  

 I hope this helps to brighten your day and give you a bit of sunshine wherever you are just in case you are needing some.