My Christmas cards are still sitting here......

Even though I find this hilarious, I would NEVER send a card like this one.

But it did make me laugh....

Here I am, sitting at my desk (which is super messy as always) and to my right are two boxes of cards.  When I hauled out the Christmas decor I discovered them in the box with all the wrapping paper and gift bags.  I set them on my desk as a reminder to send out cards this year, but they are still sitting there as a reminder of my procrastination.  I didn't send out a single card.  

But I know I am not alone ~ we received two cards this year.  One was mailed from my husband's brother and his wife, and the other was given to me by one of my racquetball friends (who hand makes cards every year, they are beautiful and amazing cards that take her months to plan and make).  So, the tradition of sending out cards has ~ from my experience ~ died a slow death.  

First of all, postage is very expensive.  55 cents for each and every card, not including extra if it is heavy or over-sized.  Cards are fairly cheap unless you want a specific message, or want to impress the recipients with a fancy card.  I also tried send E-cards (you can do it through Hallmark), but no one seemed very happy with them.  I thought they were great, because you could add your message and some were even animated, sang songs, etc. 

Secondly, it takes time.  Generally we like to write something in the card, like "I wish we were together for the holidays", or something personal that you want to say.  The really time crunched write a letter and print out however many they need and stuff it inside the card, which isn't very personal at all......

So, as I sit here, wondering how old these cards are, I wonder if I should just throw them out, and admit to myself that it's not something I will do.  Being honest with oneself is sometimes hard.  We don't want to admit we are unorganized, procrastinating shit-bags, do we?  And yet.  I suppose that is exactly what I am, lol.  

Love, 365

Calling it out......or "you go, Peg!"

Calling people out on their B.S.....

Brought to you by (go here)......

And then there's this........ a very interesting article where Michael decided to call out the BS when he encountered it for a week.  

Peg's story was a little bit more satisfying.  I mean, who hasn't wanted to, or did, tell someone in the nicest way they could think of that they're a jerk?  Worse yet, a racist jerk.   Oh, you didn't go to the link yet?  Go ahead, I'll wait........

 I recall calling out the BS was a few years ago when I went to buy tires.  Maybe more than a few years ago, because this was when Bush (the second one) was president.  Remember when we all had a nice little tax bonus?  We had to wait quite a long time for our refund due to the last four numbers of Romeo's ss#.  We decided I would buy new tires for the Rodeo, I did my due diligence on deciding what type of tires I wanted, and went down to the Discount Tire down the road.  I pointed out the tires I'd chosen, and the sales guy went to the back to make sure they had enough.  He returns a few minutes later, said they only have one and they will need to go to the bigger warehouse to pick up the other three.  The charge was "only" $40 for them to go right out to get them.  

I looked at him for a half a minute, my mind spinning out all sorts of scenarios.  Then I explained that I had waited months for this tax refund, and I can certainly wait another few days or a week or whatever, for the tires.  Just call me when you have them and I'll be back, I said.  I pick up my purse and turn to walk out, when he calls me back, and said "let me talk to the manager", returns a few minutes later to say they will wave the fee.  

And inside my head, is a little girl jumping up and down, raising her fist in the air, yelling "YES!", while I pulled out my book and started calmly reading while I got my new tires.  

Love, 365

Merry Christmas everyone!

Wow, it's been sooooo long since I've posted anything!  Here is the handy list of excuses....

~I've been busy with shopping for the holidays and baking too many cookies...
~When I sit down to write, something comes up and I end up not finishing....
~I've been working too much......co-workers are taking off time they can't carry-over......
~I fell and I can't get up.....

The past week has been crazy and hectic, but I suppose many of you have experienced the same.  We had such a nice Christmas ~ not in the way of gifts, but just the way the day went, you know?  We didn't irritate each other, the small gifts were thoughtful, the Louisiana gumbo was great.  I also had a banner day in bread baking.  Even though the ugly loaves taste just as good as the great looking loaves, it's really great when they turn out pretty.

Merry Christmas!
Love, 365

Ahhhh, a wee bit of alone time.....

Tiny humans......

I don't really know why, but Romeo has been substitute teaching more the past 4 weeks.  In the past he would let a week or two go by before accepting a job, then take one or two days and repeat.  Perhaps his recent trips to urgent care has spurred it on, or the holidays.  

Whatever, I have a rare day at home alone.  Something I really missed when he retired a year ago!  I love my time alone, where no one is hanging around, asking if I need help, or what I want for lunch.  Oh, I have the hour or two on the weekend when he is working on a project outside or is making his rounds of the hardware store (sort of like me going to the department store, haha).  Sometimes I just need a day where I can regroup and recharge.  Like today.

Last week he had a couple of jobs with kindergartners.  Not long after he arrived, he texted me with "they are so tiny!!".  It's one thing to see a little kid with their mom at the store, and quite another to have a class room full of them.  It really made me smile to imagine him in that class.   

My co-worker brought in some cookies she baked, and they were so delicious I got the recipe, and a batch is in my freezer right now.  After I get home from racquetball I'm going to bake them.  They're a shortbread cookie with fresh rosemary.  I really need to plant a few bushes in my yard, it's so expensive to buy at the store.  

I hope you all enjoy your Friday!  

Love, 365

Mailing packages.....

Although Romeo now has a gift under the tree (the robe I wrote about in my last post) I still had some small things to mail out.  I picked up some of the flat rate boxes from work and looked up how much it would cost me to mail them.  After being sufficiently shocked, I decided to mail them anyway.  There is a UPS store not far from my house, and they accept USPS stuff too.  So I took them in and after the woman who was helping me (wow, was she grumpy) told me how much it was, I told her I'm sorry I wasted her time and took them to the post office to mail.  It would have cost me $34 dollars.  They would charge me 14 dollars more than the post office would.  I was shocked.  I'll never go there again unless I have a UPS package from Amazon to return.  I think that's highway robbery ~ does anyone say that anymore? haha.

Most of my shopping is done.  The last thing I really needed, for the office "white elephant gift exchange" is coming tomorrow.  I am so glad that part is over, because it's just so stressful, and I am struggling to get through the first part of the month to my next paycheck.  Unfortunately you really can't order from Amazon in October and have them hold it for you until the second week in December!  So I had to wait ~ most everything was picked out in October and November.  I'm tempted to send gift cards to the grandkids (not for them to spend, but the parents to use for what they might like).  Buying a gift for my grandson with autism is especially hard.  Even his Dad (my son) would tell me when I ask for a hint or suggestion that he just doesn't know. 

My co-worker and I baked on Sunday ~ wow, the kitchen looked like a bakery.  The oven was on for 3 hours, and the downstairs was actually too warm.  We had fun though, and she is truly a nice girl.  She's probably in her mid to late 20s. It was nice to have someone to bake with that enjoys it.  We're planning on getting together again sometime to make pumpkin rolls, but I'm wondering if we'll get to it before the holidays. 

I hope your shopping is done, and you're simply enjoying the parties! 
Love, 365

The average Saturday........

Looking good!  

Oh, it's just a typical Saturday morning.  I usually watch Lucky Dog while having breakfast and coffee.  I wish I could get a dog from Brandon, he trains them so well!  After finishing this post, I'll shower and get going. 

Since most of the family lives in Texas, I have packages to mail out.  I received the name of the person from the family gift exchange, and Romeo picked up a very nice robe from Costco.  It was $19.  To ship said robe?  Probably $15.  Now I'm thinking I will send a gift card to the recipient and let Romeo keep the robe.  Next year I'm putting "GET GIFT CARDS" in my calendar starting in mid-November so that I don't make this mistake again.  I had forgotten how expensive it is to mail stuff since I rarely mail packages...most of the time I let Amazon mail them for me, probably just like most of you.....

And wow, have I been taking advantage of Amazon.  It's just so convenient!  I would love to shop more locally, but then I'm stuck with the same issue I mentioned already.  Shipping.  :-(

I had a lovely 8 days off ~ I had a few extra days to use up before the end of the year....we can only carry over 2 days to the next one.  I baked, I decorated, I volunteered.  Went back to work on Thursday and somehow :-) got through those two days to the weekend.  What I really need is a three day work "week".  Which may happen as my boss transitions to retirement.  We speculate that he will cut Friday's out of his schedule sometime this next year.  But I'm not ready for retirement yet.  I need to pay off my "new" car.....

Sioux getting into the spirit.....

I know it looks like it's leaning, but it's just my poor camera skills...haha

Ok!  I finally posted something, and it doesn't matter that it might or might not be lame.  But for now I have to shower and get going....so enjoy the weekend wonderful readers!

Love, 365