It's All Over...

Well, it's all over. Christmas that is. While ours was not quite the Norman Rockwell picture we had all hoped, it was nice. Mr. Pants and I opted not to exchange gifts - partly because there was nothing we really wanted and partly because of lack of funds. Medium and Small Pants were very happy with their gifts. I didn't overdo this year and got them a few things that they really wanted, and some more small fun things. Small pants has taken off his baseball "kweets" from Santa only to bathe and sleep and has been talking to his "Furby" nonstop. He has them on at preschool today. Medium Pants has been madly snapping pictures with his digital camera and having tons of fun with his "Spy Gear" stuff.

And, luckily, this was NOT the year for someone to snap at the family get together. I expect it will happen some year, either me, my brother or my sister-in-law will just have more than enough one day. You will note that I did not mention my sister as a possible "snapper." That would be because she would be the reason for said snap. That would be a tremendously lengthy post, and I am not sure I can say it all concisely. Suffice it to say, that we have all tired of her superior attitude, laziness (read unemployed by choice), mooching (off my mother and child support), snottiness and general bitchiness. Yes, it may be me who snaps. To be quite honest, I am surprised I haven't done it yet. She is in such desperate need of her comeuppance. I guess the thing that keeps me from doing it is the fact that in my mother's eyes, she can do no wrong. Anyone of us who would speak ill of her would be banished from the house and not allowed to return. While that really would have no effect on me, it would hurt my children, so I bite my tounge.

Oddly enough, Medium Pants has made some comments lately that make me think that he much more attuned to her and her attitude that we thought. You will be proud in knowing that I said that he was not being nice and it was wrong to ridicule her. I then turned, left the room and did a little dance behind a closed door. AHA! Someone else gets it! It's not all in my mind.

She's one of those "My child is perfect and does no wrong" Mothers. Yep, The Princess starts school next year - oh, to be a fly on the wall for that.

But I have digressed far enough. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and while you may not have received everything on your list, I hope you didn't kick anyone's ass this year. Unless, of course, they really, really deserved it. Then it would be ok - 'tis the season.

And So It Begins....

Well, we found out yesterday afternoon that Mr. Pants is getting laid off today. That is not good news. The only bonus to the new situation is that I now do not feel quite so guilty about taking that new job. He is a welder/steamfitter (read hot) and work around here is just slow right now.

And the beat goes on..... Atleast we are almost completely finished with Christmas shopping. Both boys spent Saturday night with my mom and we hit Target, Toys R Us, Old Navy and Walmart. We then had a nice steak at Colton's along with a few Coors Lights. All in all, a very pleasant evening. We have just two more Lowe's gift cards and we are through. Hey, don't ridicule, these people asked for Lowe's gift cards!

Hopefully he will get on with another company soon. We cannot afford for him to be out of work for long - I only have one good kidney, so selling it on e-bay is out of the question. I wonder how much I could get for a sliver of my liver? It's not even rock hard yet. If you need it, you may want to catch me before New Year's.


Update - He will be going to work for another company in the morning. That's right, the man hasn't even been unemployed for an hour and he gets another job. Thank goodness, because I can be that perky and upbeat for only so long, you know.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

None of that "Happy Holidays" nonsense. Let's not forget what this holiday is truly about and what should really be celebrated. I thank God every day for these two blessings. Even with all my issues and neurosis, I realize that I am truly blessed and very fortunate.

Sheesh, there is no way I will get it all done!

Holy Crap. I will never get everything finished before Christmas gets here. First of all, we are flat broke and with the possibility of Mr. Pants being laid off, we have to pinch what we do have. That said, I still have a few gifts to get for the kids and then the whole rest of our families.

All in favor of gift exchange for kids only, please raise your hands? In Pant's family, all the adults and kids draw names, so everyone just gets one good gift. In my family, the adults draw names, but every kid gets a gift from everyone. That can get pricey. I would think, a kid would rather have one $50 good gift than 4 or 5 crappy $10 gifts. Maybe that's just me. My mother balked at the whole name-drawing concept when mentioned by me 10 years ago. She drew her nose up so high, I could literally see the very back of her brain. A few years ago, she relented, but still doesn't seem to care for it much. That would be a whole 'nother post, one made most likely after she is long gone.

I am so stressed out this year, I hope the look on the kids faces Christmas morning makes up for all this. I am sure it will, until the "I really wanted this.....and I didn't get it." starts. That should be about 1:30 pm on Christmas day.