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~

DVD Organization

 

While I was home this summer, I saw a little box filled with my Step-mother's DVD collection. I thought to myself...hey that would be a great way of taming the hundreds of DVDs in our colletion.

The first step was to find some boxes... not as easy as it seems. I wanted drawers/boxes that would allow the DVD to hang without the jewel boxes in numbered sleeves, like the box at my Dad's house. I finally found some (at Popular if you are interested) and the next step was to go through all of the DVD's weeding out those we have outgrown, don't work, are of dubious origin or are duplicates. I then organized them into four basic sections: Classics (generally oscar winners from the past (we bought a bunch of these in Costco in tawian at a great price), movies Jeff and I watch, Family (sub divided between cartoon and regular movies) and TV shows.


 

I then was able to find a great freeware (cause I am all about free) software to organize the DVDs. It is called Movienizer and I really love it. So, I sorted all the DVDs into rough alphabetical order, took them out of the jewel case and dropped them into the box. Nancy and Kiera helped with the cartoons.




At the end of the day, I ended up with two full boxes of DVDs, sorted by my rough categories and in rough alphabetical order. The TV series did not get sorted. I have input all of the classics and Jeff and my movies into our database and now have an alphabetical list of all of the DVDs with box and sleeve number. So... anyone want to guess what the total is (without the kids movies or TV shows??)

 

Needless to say, I feel good about removing a bunch of clutter, getting one area of my life organized and in shape. Now onto the next project (Scroll down for more)....







and the answer is


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. 198 (will give an update after all of the kids shows and TV shows are input)

More ****, different day, or as the say... life goes on

Today is a really rough day around here. I am traveling and Jeff is having a tough day. Lies were told, expectations were not met and it has left him really disillusioned and bitter. I am lucky that I have met my yin/or my yang, he is my touch stone and balance. I am sure I dont tell him that enough, but it is true. When he hurts, I do. Such a kind and gentle soul doesn't deserve the crap that is often thrust onto him. Particularly the crap I send his way... but that is for another day. I know that what is happening to him has nothing to do with who he is, and he knows that intellectually, but it is hard to face emotionally sometimes. And, while I know (think) he doesn't read my blog, if he did I would hope that these words are nothing he doesn't already know. I love you babe and this too shall pass.

So, it must have been fate, kismet or karma that I read this post today, before I found out about Jeff's hard day. Zen Habits is a great website, one that was hyped by a number of "scrapbooking" gals, so I was a bit hesitant to check it out. Don't ask me why, I am t I don't like being a sheep and doing something just because, but at the same time this guy, Leo- a resident of Guam btw, which is pratically in my neighborhood, has it right. Life is tough, life is hard, life can be cruel, but ultimatly it is worth living filled with love, hope, joy and enthusiasm. Read Leo's letter to his son here.