Month: December 2011

Christmas

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Thursday was our last day of work until this coming Wednesday. My employer gave us Friday and Monday off for the holiday, so Joe took off Friday and then we both added Tuesday to extend our time off.

Friday I started cooking while Joe went to pick up the kids. Shortly after arriving they opened their presents and we had our Christmas dinner a few hours later. Standard fare applied, including the Archer Farms spiral honey ham which I’ve grown to love.

Saturday evening we took the kids to my parents’ to celebrate which was really fun and then dropped them off at home on our way home since we don’t have them on Christmas Day this year.

Today we didn’t do much. We couldn’t wait (seems to be a yearly theme), so we already exchanged our presents yesterday morning. I bought Joe a Mr. Coffee Single Serve (Powered by Keurig brewing technology) that he had been eying for months. The cheapest we had seen it for was $80 at JCPenney which would have been $70 with the coupon I had, but then I found it on Amazon for $64 so I got it for him even though we originally agreed to only exchange stocking stuffers. He got me a few different things including the soft kitty t-shirt from The Big Bang Theory but it was too small so we gave it to K. The rest of my items are in the pic below. The gift card is my big gift as it will cover a one-hour massage and then some. And with the way work has been going lately there’s no doubt I’ll be needing that soon!

Gifts from my husband

This evening we went looking at Christmas lights and got home just in time for the Bears game which Joe is watching now.

Now that we’re all caught up I’m going to log off and play Words with Friends with my brother and the kids. :)

Anti-consumerism and anxiety

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Is it weird that I don’t want anything for Christmas? I’ve been looking at the deal sites just because it’s fun but nothing makes me go “oh, I wish I had that”. Does that mean I have too much? Or am I depressed? I know I’m stressed out a lot right now due to some changes at work, but I’m not sure why that would make my desire to consume disappear. Maybe it’s the articles I’ve been reading about having too much stuff.

Incidentally, I went through the five Christmas decoration bins I have in the garage and am going to be giving away some of the stuff that I never use. I have one bin that is nothing but empty boxes, tins, and bags for gift-giving. I probably won’t have to ever buy gift bags again! I’m still using Christmas cards I bought years ago too.

I think the one thing I’m looking forward to is just the time off to (hopefully) clear my mind of work for awhile and relax because January is going to be a hell of a busy month for me.

On a related note, I’m back on Xanax. Ugh. I was only taking it if I had a panic attack but now I’m back to a pill a day. Mind you, it’s a quarter of a milligram which is nothing, but that little bit helps.

Why can’t I be one of those relaxed people who doesn’t get phased by anything? I’m the exact opposite and I hate it. I want to be calm at all times. I guess I can make that a 2012 goal.

RIP Amy

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Amy

I discovered Amy’s lifeless body yesterday morning when I went to feed the mice before work. Poor thing. She was always so hyper; I think she used all her heartbeats up in seven months instead of twelve which is the typical lifespan of a mouse. She never enjoyed being handled and always had a strange head tilt that the vet couldn’t diagnose or treat, but she was a cutie. We buried her yesterday evening.

Bath & Body Works & The Olive Garden

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I’ve never been the biggest fan of Bath & Body Works because their merchandise is overpriced and their staff relentlessly bug you whenever you enter a store. That being said, yesterday I figured I might as well redeem the coupon I found through Slickdeals for some free lotion.

Not entirely surprising, no one was aware of the promotion and they didn’t have the 2 oz. lotions in stock. Luckily they gave me a 5 oz. bottle for free instead which is better than many other people who tried and were turned away and told “no substitutions”. It’s really unfortunately when a company runs a promotion and fails to communicate it to their staff or have supply on hand. It’s just bad customer service and can also be seen as bait and switch.

As for the scent, I do like it, but not enough to buy any more. I find all their scents get a bit annoying after repeated exposure. Plus I STILL have lotions and body washes I purchased well over five years ago. They tend to last forever since I can’t tolerate them for long before going back to a regular lotion you can buy at Target.

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Another place that’s low on my list of places I frequent is The Olive Garden. I’ve never disliked their food, I’m just not big on Italian food in general and prefer to make my own. For some reason I got a taste for them this weekend, however, so after Bath & Body Works we had an early dinner at the St. Charles Olive Garden. Joe ordered the stuffed chicken marsala and I had the 5 cheese ziti. I’ve had it before and really like it. Their salad is good too, but the breadsticks are just ok. I’ve heard people rave about them but I just don’t get it. If you’re looking for really good bread sticks try Gino’s East instead.

Dinner was relatively inexpensive thanks to a $5 coupon and some left over credit on a gift card we originally bought to be used at Red Lobster. I really didn’t need the extra calories but I’ve got two seafood meals and a chicken salad planned for this week’s dinners so it should all balance out.