The Holiday Hectic Headache

Today, I want to post some musings as a bit of a follow-up to my previous Economic posting. Not only is money tight, but so is time. I think that we all get a little Holiday-Crazy every December and try to live up to what are sometimes unrealistic expectations that we place on ourselves. I live a full and wonderful life with my husband and two kitties. We too many wonderful friends to count. We are always on the go to a concert, dinner, sporting event, whatever. Frankly, life is pretty darn good. Then... come the holidays. I am a big big big Christmas junkie. I love to decorate, find the perfect gift, wrap things creatively, cook, and bake. The problem is, that there is no stretching of the space time continuum during the holidays. Frankly, I think this is not fair of the universe, but I apparently have no real say in the laws of physices, so I am forced to adjust. Too much to do and not enough time and space. Sound familiar? Well, this year, I am subtly rebelling a bit. Finances demand that I cut back on some things, and this has helped me get a clearer picture on how I want to spend my holiday time. As I said in my previous post, it is all about the people in our lives.

This year, I am going to take time to stop and smell the Fraser Firs and sip a little hot cider. The indoor decorations are up, but the outdoor ones just may have to be skipped in honor of curling up on the sofa and watching It's a Wonderful Life for the millionth time. I want to spend this time enjoying the company of my family and friends. Less worrying about it being a perfect Christams... more time appreciating the life I already have.

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Economic Ponderings

Money is tight these days. I think that we are all feeling the crunch. The media is whipping us up into a scared frenzy. We are being pushed to buy stuff to "save" the economy, at the same time that we are being advised to watch our pennies because people are losing jobs everywhere. So... I wanted to throw out some ideas that we can all use to save money this season and perhaps in general. Nothing earth-shaking here, just common sense suggestions. Feel free to add some of your own.
Use Coupons
Comparison shop (on-line, advertisements, between stores, etc.)
Search the internet for discount codes or special "members only" specials
Buy online and use free shipping
Carpool
Map out your route ahead of time when you are running errands
Use "frequent shopper" programs to accumlate discounts and free merchandise
Give baked goods as gifts
Make up "themed" gift baskets of lots of small items. (i.e. travel sizes for someone going on a trip or health foods for a workout buddy)
Don't spend too much on wrappings.
Make a personalized gift (i.e. ornaments, glassware, T-shirt, etc.)
Give to a charity in someone's name (i.e. ASPCA, Red Cross, Salvation Army, World Wildlife Fund)
Make a budget and KEEP TO IT (this is the hardest tip of all)
Search out Sr. Citizen discounts and take your mom and/or dad shopping
Send E-Cards instead of paper cards in the mail (saves stamp money and environmentally friendly)

Anyways, that's all I have for now. I will continue to ponder.

Happy Shopping Everyone! Remember, it is truly the people and not the STUFF that makes the holiday season wonderful.

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Let's Play a Game

Hey, go and check out Jo-Jo's Place at http://momof2andwife.blogspot.com/2008/11/savvy-moms-christmas-gift-basket.html she is giving away some fun games to amuse the whole family. The great prize includes a basket with a Nintendo DS, Guitar Hero for DS, Rubiks World for DS, Scrabble 60th Anniversary Edition, and Cranium Family Edition. I have never played Cranium, but it is definitely on my list of family games to try out. While you are there, explore around Jo Jo's place. There's lots to read up on.

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Home Improvement Website/Blog

I know that everyone has about a thousand things that they plan to get done around the house. Here at Casa Jen, we are no different. Having grown up in a "non-handy" household, I often turn to the web to help me learn how to complete home improvement projects. Today, I found this great site at Home Construction Improvement
. There is a wealth of knowledge there to help us do-it-yourselfers and even the pros get their projects done. Even better, they are currently having a contest to give away a $100 Home Depot gift card to help us out. I see some new bathroom vanity lights in my future....

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I Won the Contest

Yeah!!! Woo Hooo.... I am going on the road with Pop Evil for the weekend. Thanks to everyone that helped me win. I will report back about the trip after I win.

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Hey EVERYONE... Please go to YouTube and watch my video. If I get the most views I win a trip as a Roadie for the Weekend with the band Pop Evil. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go and watch the video. There are three of us competing. This is the biggest prize that I have ever been up for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeiHkJYVW3Q


THANKS!!!!

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Football Season

I know that there are four seasons on the calendar. I understand that they are tied to the movement of the earth around the sun. Yeah... I get all of that, but I still argue that they need to add an additional sub-season to the calendar. Yes folks, IT'S FOOTBALL SEASON!!! For some, this may simply mean that they get to go to the mall on Weekends and have fewer crowds to deal with. For others, it may mean that traffic is crazy on game day near the stadium. For me... well, Football pretty much takes over my free time between August and January. Between the food, drinkees, gatherings with friends, screaming at the T.V., fashions, and fantasy statistics, football keeps me pretty busy. I love this time of year.

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Living in a Star Trek World

Like many kids, I grew up watching Star Trek. I was fascinated by the gizmos, cultures, and general Star Trek universe. I even grew up to be a liberal-techno-geek-archaeologist. Pretty much livin’ the Star Trek way. I was also a fan of Next Generation and Voyager, but I never really liked Deep Space Nine, as it broke the cardinal rule. They rarely went where no Man (or one) has gone before. They stayed on that silly station and fought border wars. It was a little too like the real world and the conflicts in the Mideast for my taste.

Anyway, back to my “point”. I am known to often comment on how much our lives these days are like Star Trek. Beyond my personal techno-anthro-liberal lifestyle, I have noticed how much of our daily life was but a fantasy back in the days of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Let’s consider a few of the obvious points in common…

1.. The communicator – Flips up, wireless, beeps, and can transmit your location. Sounds a lot like most cell phones with GPS. The Next Generation pin-on communicators look just like Bluetooth headsets!
2. The Tri-corder – These varied in size and shape, but we now have portable heart-rate monitors, breathalyzers, and blood sugar monitors. Medicine is all about the small and portable these days.
3. Data Pads – Amazon Kindle anyone? Laptops? Yeah, they’re everywhere.
4. Holodecks – We have all sorts of virtual worlds to explore these days. Be it with special goggles, giant movie screens, or even your Wii, we are not limited to living in reality anymore. The characters even interact with you just like on the holodeck.
5. Viewscreens – Flat Panel T.V.s work just like them. You can even hook your laptop and webcam up to them and speak to someone across the galaxy… uh well, maybe only the world.
6. Weapons - Nuff said. We can zap anyone anywhere these days.

So… those are my random thoughts of the moment. Feel free to comment or add your own real life parallels to science fiction.

And… if you don’t agree with my points, well, “Damnit Jim, I’m a blogger not editorialist.”

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Blood Cancer can touch anyone's life

Reading the inspirational stories at the Blogging for Blood Cancer site has really opened my eyes up to how this disease can effect lives. Please go and read the stories of these brave survivors. I love that people rise to the ocassion and fight back. They are not victims, they are survivors. I applaud them and encourage the rest of you to keep spreading the word and awareness.

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