Monday, December 15, 2008

Christmas in a downturn

This year Christmas is going to be full of family and full of gifts from the family, but not so many from Jeff and I. frankly the kids have too much anyway, and we have been blessed with very generous family. So Jeff and i have gotten the kids a skateboard and "scooter" for D and K respectivly and a set of books to share. Other than some Christmas Stocking fillers and some pre-Christmas clothing to wear on Christmas, I think maybe only some new pyjammas for both and that's it. Jeff is getting one gift from me, one that I think he will really like, and one gift for our anniversary. I don't expect much from him for either holiday either. WHile I have a few dreams, including an antique buffet, this is just not the year for it. We are spending our "Christmas" gift by taking the family away for a vacation to Kota Kinabalu.

The best tradition we started was for the kids to purge toys prior to Christmas. This year we sent 4 boxes of Toys, Old Yarn from a failed business idea, and general accumulation of stuff to Salvation Army. I have another 2 closets of stuff to purge, the last of the baby stuff as this 42 year old is really not likely to have any more kids. It really feels good to know that in this time of personal finance cut backs for our family, we can still donate to Charity. In terms of things we need and or will purchase over the next few months, once the inlaws leave I see our shopping coming to an absolute stop.

As for my stocking up on food, I am purchasing items that are only available this time of year. We just purchased three turkeys and put them in the freezer. We also stocked up on 4 cans of pumpkin so I can make Pumpkin pie at Christmas (and then perhaps later). Bonnie and Jeff are making us a huge batch of Pork Posole, The recipe serves 16, so we should have enough to freeze 4 or 5 more meals (and thanks to J&B for paying for all that pork!)! My goal is to have a "larder" full before Jeff is finished with his job in February, filled with healthy foods we eat in order to reduce our food costs even further. The dining out will also significantly be scaled back as Jeff will be "working" from home, but then he has a few ideas/dreams that may cost us a bit in the food budget.

So, anyway, back to work for another week before our trip to KK, I will post pictures of Kota Kinabalu on my other blog as they happen~

Friday, December 05, 2008

Sad day here at Dairy Farm


it is another sad day with the loss of our old kitty. Sedona started to vomit a bit yesterday and was acting a bit sluggish, but she ate well and was drinking well. She also got in her almost hourly spat with the dog. We thought about taking her to the vet but thought that there would be little the vet could do and if she was still sick we would take her down today. As I went to bed lastnight, I think I knew she was going to pass in the night. I wish I could have kissed her one more time.

Well, I was right, we did have to take her down to say a final goodbye and have her cremated by the vet. Sedona died in the night, we hope in her sleep. If not we believe of probably heart failure. She was 14.5 years old and we had her from mid August of 1994. While this was not as tragic as our loss of Christmas the cat back in October, we still have an empty spot in the house without her.

The hardest part of pet ownership is saying goodbye.

RIP Sedona, I know you are with JD and Christmas that went before you.

Monday, December 01, 2008

The to do list is winning

This next two weeks will be swamped. The inlaws are on the way, work has a couple of burning projects, FFC is cooking hard and fast...busy when I want to be able to relax. Perhaps a few hours of overtime tonight and tomorrow and I can take a breather towards the end of the month...

Life is a balancing act and while for the most part I balance well, I feel the beam is tipping a bit so forgive me if my blog posts are a bit infrequent this week.
 
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