Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The One in Which I Get On Your Nerves

I keep hearing people say the holidays are so stressful and they wish they’d just be over so things can get back to normal. What’s so great about normal? I’m getting to take off work for a week and a half, and spend a lot of that time with my family. I’ve already warned Reece that I’m going to kiss his cheeks raw. And poor Emily will be sick of me by the time I leave Arkansas! Mom and I will drink two pots of coffee every morning and Grandmother Bera has promised to tell me more family secrets. I can’t think of a better way to spend the holiday! And then, Auntie Linda’s coming up to spend New Year’s Eve (casino) and New Year’s Day (Cotton Bowl) with me. I love the holidays! One reason people complain about this time of year is because they commit to too much: too many parties, too much baking, too much eating, and TOO MUCH SPENDING. They bring that all on themselves. I started a Cash Christmas Policy for myself several years ago and it works very well. The secret is to start putting away some cash beginning in January. By November I have enough socked away to buy all my Christmas gifts. And, if I don’t have the funds to buy everything I want for Christmas, then I don’t. I think it’s ridiculous to go into debt over gift giving and would feel absolutely terrible if someone did that to buy me a gift. I also don’t let the season’s true meaning escape my mind for too long. Yeah, I’m loud and outspoken and say a curse word now and then (okay, all the time) and rarely go to church, but I’m still a Believer and haven’t forgotten what Christmas is all about. No, it’s not the huge sale at Macy’s on December 26.

I could go on with my piousness, but I'll stop.

I've got to go to Wal-Mart tonight and return an iron I bought over the weekend. A couple of weeks ago, I dropped my old iron and the bottom fell off. I then ordered a new one on target.com and it leaked water all over my clothes. Of course, I'd thrown away the box so I couldn't return it. I bought the next one at Wal-Mart last weekend and it doesn't work. It barely warms up. I plugged it in a couple of different outlets to make sure it wasn't my electrical outlet instead of the iron and it doesn't work. It lights up like it's on, but then doesn't get hot. I hate returning things, but I do have the box and the receipt, unlike the time I had to return three cordless phones before I could get one to actually work. I'd lost the first receipt and by the time I'd returned the third one, they were taking mugshots of me and asking me for my fingerprints. I felt like a criminal and got all bitchy with them and told them that if they'd quit selling inferior products I'd quit returning them. That went over well.

THIS MOVIE is wonderful! Add it to your Must See list if you've not seen it.

No comments: