Dashing December Savings (frugal chatter 2014)

[jasperandchar]

Ashley just smile and wave so to speak, people are always quick to comment and judge when it comes to others but they need to take a step back and zip it (lol) wishing you a great time at your dads

[jasperandchar]

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, I'll try to pop in tomorrow I am sure I will have a few moments (lol) for my frugal besties....

[Ciel]

The wind's making noise for about an hour now. Thought it was going to make a fool of the wind warning yesterday morning but no, it came around. Safe travels for everyone planning outings or receiving visitors.

Ashley, you were VERY CONSIDERATE to your cousin (jerk) and his wife in giving them time to enjoy their dinner together; good thing your littler cousin one generation removed was not demanding of you or she'd be back at the table with the folks! Glad you got your video games out-brain needed to let some steam off. If you have a dancing game, put it on! Next time the "family" has loose lips on your love life etc, use the Ann Landers reply freely (either hers or from a reader also fed up with society's constant comments on what women should be/when/how/etc.) "Why would YOU want to know THAT?" as needed to get them to zip it, as jasperandchar rightly stated.

See if you can get brother to help move things out of storage when you and Mom go to empty it. He needs to show up and be the extra pair of hands. 2015-tell the other family members, new tradition: you are opting out of family gatherings (maybe you can use the gift money for something you want to do ). When you wrote about the uncle that wanted no contact yet he wanted to pick up gifts for his family----really, that's some nerve. No contact means he gets nothing.

avoncallingu-you were able to MacGyver a solution for the family gathering. Two thumbs up for the short notice. Would brother have thought of it himself if you told him you and DH were staying home? Whatever you can find at home is what's being served.

Jasparandchar, it's your day of peace on earth at home. Awesome!

Angela273, your earlier baking will be handy for the prospect of Mom and company coming by. Glad you got advance notice of her visit. Other kin have to learn to make contact with you, not just expect you and your family will do all the running around to visit everyone. In our family, Mom is the one that makes the social calls and knows what the relatives are up to. Visiting is not easy because of distance/transportation/timing and since some relatives are grandparents themselves, they tend to reserve most holiday times for their kids and grandchildren. While we are used to leaving messages on others' answering machines, some relatives don't like doing the same on our machine. It's strange.

Crochetlady, think I can see the point of just being at home and skipping gatherings. Things change and we change--celebrations can change too. Sometimes it's nice to be with others and other times, it's a treat to enjoy one's home without rushing on a schedule.

[Natalka]

Good morning!

I know you are all busy since you celebrate Christmas Day - I hope you have a wonderful time!

We had our celebration last night, and it was so very nice!
Lots of great food, drink, gifts, and talk!

Milan's coming back over this aft for another meal.


Just wanted to share with you a pic of the huge, beautiful bouquet of flowers my son got for me - honestly, the photo doesn't do it justice - the orange roses are so large, like you could cup your hand around them. And the arrangement smells most awesome!

[Natalka]

Our meal last night (my son's first helping!), and the sweets!

[MrsSunshine]

nat.. that looks so good... yum!
and those flowers.. beautiful.

just relaxing after putting dinner together (lazy mans cabbage rolls). one for moms one for tonite.
nice platter of goodies too. buns are buttered and ready.
just waiting for clothes to dry.

[lilo0003]

Merry Christmas everyone. I need a nap, one would assume the teenager would sleep late, nope 7:59 am. At least they had my coffee ready. It was a late night as we watched A Christmas Carol until 2am. It's become a tradition to watch it while we wait for the kids to fall asleep.

[Ciel]

I like that lilo003 had her coffee!
Just had a glass of pop after lunch. The gray day (cold & breezy, isn't it) is putting me into nod-off land. All I've noticed outside is that the spruce tree lost some needles/short branch sections. Nothing else seems detached but I did not step into the front yard yet.
Won another Starbucks tea code today (yippee) so that adds another free hot drink to my December fun later. No other contest wins to report but will say some contest sponsors are very proactive about providing contest winner updates on their social media accounts close to the draw dates!

[Ciel]

Blue sky and weak sunshine are poking through the grayness! That's a gift!

[Angela273]

LO was up a LOT last night. He kept getting up crying, we couldn't figure out what was wrong. He opened his stocking last night and slept with his barrel of monkeys. I eventually taped it shut because he would spill some and then scream about that from his bed. None of us got much sleep and LO started his day at 5am. My headache didn't go away last night, so I am already looking forward to having another nap when LO has his nap this afternoon. LO loved most of his new toys. He already wore out his fancy remote control car, so it is charging again. I'll check in later.

[Crochetlady]

Merry Christmas everyone!

Nat those flowers are gorgeous! The treats made me hungry.

Slept late this morning. SIL woke me up when she called from Edmonton. BIL from Peace River called a bit later. Hubby has been watching the John Wayne marathon on tv and I`ve been crocheting and playing monopoly online. I`ve been craving something sweet so I think I might make some candy later...an old recipe of my mom`s.

[jasperandchar]

Nat that flower arrangement is absolutely stunning.

Your supper last night looks amazing....drooling....what is the dish behind the cabbage rolls it looks decadent .

[jasperandchar]

Merry Chirstmas all

We had a relaxed and drama free Christmas with the in-laws, everyone is stuffed and they are now gone home.

Dh is in his pj's and I'm popping in to say hello.

Wishing everyone a wonderful evening.

Avon I hope your dh is feeling a little less dizzy hun!

[Natalka]

J&C - that is perogies, smothered in the mushroom sauce so you can't see them, lol!

So glad everyone has had a great day - we also were fortunate to have the SUN! However, it came with -19 temp as well - windchill tonight will get close to -30.

We had a mid-afternoon 'feeding', as well as the leftovers from last night I baked some crispy chicken.
Sent Milan home with lots of food - not just leftovers but other fresh food - and even stuff like pop and juice - he sheepishly admitted he spent too much on Christmas and was broke, had just enough to fill his gas tank and pay his phone bill this week.
So I loaded him up on what I could in regard to food and some FPCs and (don't tell my husband, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if he knew...) I gave him my debit card in case he needs gas or food - and told him to use it. Oh, what the heck, I said even if he wanted pizza...
He's off work til Mon. so he'll be okay. He knows he can come here as well whenever he wants, too!

We'll just veg - maybe nap - and probably graze later. Or maybe just have wine/booze and sweets, lol!

[MrsSunshine]

can u adopt me Nat.. lol

after thinking we were going to dinner and need to feed like 50 ppl.
there was like 15 of us. way too much food.
my lazy rolls weren't cooked enough. so we have two trays for saturday. kinda of a good thing.