since I was here last. I didn’t realize it had been so long! We’ve been really busy, and have had a lot going on. Isn’t that the case with everyone this time of year? (or any time of the year, really, if you have kids!)
We haven’t done much of any decorating, but we’ve got a nice pile of gifts for the girls. We’re so excited about some of them – can’t wait to see their faces on Christmas morning! And I’m so very thankful that they’re not picky or choosy. We can buy secondhand or used, and they’re just as thrilled. That really helps. On top of that, they’re nice when it comes to their Santa lists. They never ask for more than three things each, and so far (*knock wood*), we’ve been lucky in that they haven’t ever asked for anything overly expensive. Normally they ask for a doll, and a movie or cd. This year, Princess asked for a cd player – one of those personal ones (what is it called? A “walkman”?), so she can listen to her own cd’s in the car. Those are pretty reasonable if you don’t want/need a fancy one, and we got lucky! When we put in a small layaway, we got a coupon from the store – spend $25, get $15 off, so we got them each a player and only spent $15! 
I thought that was pretty cool. And then, mil gave us two $10 cards to Value City that they’d given her to encourage her to come back before Christmas. We happened to hit a sale the day we went in – we got them each a few toys, and with the sale prices, it came to only 39 cents above the gift cards. Then, they didn’t even charge us the difference – the cashier said that up to a certain amount, they waive! Wow, we’ve had good luck this year. (It also doesn’t hurt that my sil manages a video store, and she gives us the heads up on when sales on used movies will be, so we are always able to get the kids the movies they want at really good prices!) Anyway, I am very thankful that this year has been a good one that way. We don’t always get that lucky, and some years have been leaner than others. And it hasn’t only been with the kids gifts. We found something I really wanted to get for a friend at such an excellent price, and the one thing hubby really wanted, I went to buy yesterday – and it was on sale for almost half off, that day only! I’m so grateful.
Things in the rest of life have been going well enough. Can’t complain! We’ve had some really good days, and some not so good days. Such is the way of it. Today, I’m glad that we live as close to the kids’ school as we do. Hubby’s truck wouldn’t start for the third day in a row, and he’s got no more time left to be late to work or to leave early (he stayed home Tuesday, went in late yesterday). So, I’m staying home today. I walked the kids to school – it only took 15 minutes to get there, which isn’t bad at all. I’ll be back to get Peanut when she’s done, then we’ll go back to get Princess later in the afternoon. We’ll get our exercise in, anyway!
I am going to call my dad later on (he doesn’t get up until close to noon), to see if he can come over and help me get the truck started. Hubby forgot to put dry gas in the last time he filled up, and the truck is persnickety about starting when it is cold/damp. I think it would have started this morning, but for the fact that the battery is running low now from trying to start it so many times these last few days. Of course, the jumper cables are in the trunk of hubby’s car, which is sitting in the pasture at my mom and dad’s… :p Anyway, we’ll see how it goes!
After Christmas, I’m going to see about getting some of the work done on my car that needs to be done. It will have to get done a little at a time, but every little bit will help. It is really leaking the antifreeze now, and that has to be taken care of as soon as possible.
Oh – Princess got in trouble at school yesterday. She was trying to help a classmate who had spilled something all over their desk. Several other kids started picking on her. She got frustrated, and swore at them, to the tune of “damn, I’m just trying to help!” Because of that, she got lectured by her teacher and another woman about anger issues and being dishonest (she told them she hadn’t sworn, but then told them the truth). She had to sign a note, bring it home for me to sign, and has to have an in-school “time out” on Friday, which is a little excessive, considering it is her first offense, and was obviously punished enough just with the lectures, as she spent the rest of the day and half the evening crying. Now, I understand that rules are rules, and that she shouldn’t have reacted that way – what I have a problem with is that the kids who were picking at her – to the point of her getting so upset – didn’t have a word said to them at all. This is a school that touts that “Everyone is someone” and has all these sayings in big letters in the front display about being nice and respectful to others, etc, etc. She shouldn’t have sworn, but she also shouldn’t have been being picked on. It doesn’t have to be pushing and shoving to be bullying, and this isn’t the first time this same set of kids has been on her case. I have issues with selective zero tolerance and “one size fits all” punishments. (According to the note she brought home, the same punishment is meted out for not using indoor voices at lunch, using poor table manners, being disrespectful to the teacher – or hitting someone!)
I am going to let Princess go to the school holiday shop after school tonight, so it won’t matter if they choose the time the rest of her class goes to shop tomorrow as the time for her “time out,” though she’ll be just as distressed if they make her skip recess time, because on Fridays, the choir she is in meets during recess. Anyway, that’s enough of that. Makes me angry, and I don’t want to be angry!
Well, I think I’ve rambled on enough for now. Have a good one, and I’ll try to make it back again before too long…
