Christmas must wait -- it's Thanksgiving time

Each year the Christmas decorations go up sooner and sooner.  I was buying Halloween candy the day after Halloween when I realized that the music being played in the store was Christmas music.  I walked down the aisles and they had started to discount the Thanksgiving items.  I bought the candy and left the store a little upset.

Thanksgiving becomes more and more downplayed and diminished as the years go by.  It's kind of sad.  I have a lot of memories as a child when we would go visit relatives for Thanksgiving.  There would be a house full of people and many times we would up eating on chairs set up with t.v. trays nearby.  I thought that was really fun since my mom would never let us do this.  The food was abundant and very, very good. 

Time was spent watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and of course, football.  My uncles would go deer hunting during the day and come home in the evening cold and happy at their good fortune of getting a deer or two. 

Thanksgiving was a treasured holiday that seems to have become another day for Christmas shopping -- not in my home.  There was a time when you wouldn't even see a Christmas decoration going up until the first week in December.  In our town I have seen Christmas decorations not only going up before Thanksgiving, but being turned on. 

We cherish Thanksgiving and love the turkey, pumpkin pie, stuffing and cranberry sauce.  We enjoy not doing anything except being with each other. 

As to the cost of the Thanksgiving meal, it has reportedly gone up but I feel it is still a good value.  I paid 49 cents a lb. for the turkey, 88 cents for a 5 lb. bag of potatoes, 38 cents lb. for yams, 2 bags of Pepperidge Farm stuffing for 50 cents each -- on clearance, 67 cents for canned pumpkin, 69 cents for frozen vegetables, 99 cents for Cool Whip, $1.28 for a bag of cranberries.  I have been buying the ingredients as they want on sale over the past few weeks.  Yes, in our area this meal is a good value and we look forward to sharing it with others.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy your friends and family. 

Happy Valentine's Day

I'm sitting in the comfy chair in our livingroom with my feet propped up on the ottoman.  As I look around the room, I see furniture pushed away from the walls, a ladder up and there are a few drop cloths on the floor.  I spent time today working out and also putting a second coat on the entryway ceiling.  I'm in the comfy chair because I am in pain - lower back pain.  It happens, especially when I am doing too much.  But in my opinion the pain is worth it since I am getting a lot of work done on my house. 

Tonight for dinner instead of steak we ate pork stir fry.  Guess why?  Okay, I'll just tell you.  It is going to be in the 60's by the end of the week and we voted to save the steaks for the grill.  Yahoo.  The weather here is warm and in the 40's and the snow is melting.  But I'm not fooled, I know a spring snow storm could hit anytime. 

One more thing about meal time, we eat dinner at the diningroom table as a family about 6 days out of 7 each week.  Our son is 18 and we enjoy eating together and teasing each other, enjoying the food and laughing.  We have a good time. 

For dessert I made cut out butter cookies in different heart shapes iced with almond icing and pink and red sprinkles. 

I don't need flowers, cards or candy.  What I do need and want is to be with the family I love on Valentine's Day.

I'm Thankin the Lord He Made You

From a Thanksgiving episode of one of my favorite family t.v. shows, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman - this Johnny Cash song is perfect for Thanksgiving.  I am thankful and feel at peace with my world.

Thanksgiving, The Forgotten Holiday

Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

Over the years it seems as if we jump from Halloween straight to Christmas, overlooking Thanksgiving.  The Christmas lights have been going up on houses all over town, and although that doesn't bother me, it does bother me that they have been turned on already.  If you live in Iowa, you know the weather will change quickly, so people taking advantage of warm weather to put up the Christmas lights on the outside of their homes makes sense.  It's just that I don't feel they should turn those lights on until after Thankgiving. 

Okay, I am old fashioned and perhaps a prude.

Thanksgiving is being pushed aside.  It is becoming a silent holiday for everyone or perhaps even a day when the shoppers are now heading to the stores to buy Christmas gifts.  Yes, it used to be the day after Thanksgiving, but more and more stores are now opening on Thanksgiving Day.

I love Thanksgiving.  It is just as important to me as Christmas.  I have so many wonderful memories of my childhood when we would travel from our home in Western New York down to Pennsylvania to visit my Uncles and Aunts for a grand Thanksgiving gathering.  I loved traipsing in the woods on the farms looking for the wildlife and coming back to the smells of a wonderful buffet meal being spread on a big table.  I can almost smell the scents in the woods as we played and the feel of the cold air on my cheeks.  Then to come back to a warm old farm house with the smells of all of the wonderful Thanksgiving foods placed on a large table ready to eat - well, it was heaven.

Thanksgiving still means a lot to me and people are missing out on not taking the time to set aside that one day to be thankful.  We do have much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving to me means sitting at the table with loved ones, friends and/or family, taking part of a special meal and reflecting on our lives and what we have to be thankful for.  I have always felt that Thanksgiving gets our hearts ready for the Christmas season - a time to celebrate the birth of Christ.  If there has been anytime in recent years that we need to pause and be thankful, it is this year.  The economy may still be in a "sick" mode, but we don't have to worry about going to church and being arrested for practicing our faith.  We don't have to worry that our children will be conscripted into an army of militants.  We don't have to worry that when we go to vote, we could be blown up by a suicide bomber.  Yes, we may be going through some hard economic times, but if we dig down real deep inside ourselves, we can find many things to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my family, for my oldest son who found a job this year and moved himself and his wife back to our community.  I am thankful that my husband has a job that provides for our needs. I am thankful that our youngest son is having an awesome Senior year.  I am thankful that I can be home full time and concentrate on all things homemaking.  I am thankful that I have a home, food and clothing and that I have many, many more luxuries such as a bathroom that has a heater in the ceiling. I can take a nice long hot bath and the room always remains nice and toasty.  I am thankful that even though my Kia Sportage is in the shop being worked on, the problem is covered by the warranty.  I am thankful that I have a vehicle in the first place.  I am thankful for health insurance and that we are all healthy.  I am thankful and grateful for a wonderful church and church family. 

I am thankful to my heavenly father who loves me even when I mess up and am ashamed - I am always welcomed back to "the fold." 

So, let's not forget Thankgiving this year and every year.  Let us always remember that even when times get tough, we can find at least one thing that we are thankful for - even if it is a vehicle in the shop. 

Planning for Christmas 2010 today

Going from spendthrift to being frugal is a lifestyle change that doesn't happen overnight.  At least it didn't for me.  I have been taking baby steps in the past few months in making the changes necessary to live on one income.  One change was Christmas.  We set a budget and didn't go over it.  I started to purchase gifts in September when I would be at Wal-mart and noticed some great gifts going on sale.  One such gift was a royal blue fleece blanket for $4.00.  I bought it for my teenage son.  I have the same blanket in red and he was always taking my red blanket and wrapping up in it on a cold night.  Then I saw a dvd of my husband's favorite movie for $5.00.  My Christmas stash had begun.

The Christmas lists that our children and daughter in law gave us included such items as dvd's, books, t-shirts and winter hats.   There were two items on the list that were pricey.  My DH is a runner and he has run 12 marathons.  He ran the Boston Marathon twice.  He wanted a GPS watch.  After shopping around I was able to buy him one at a great discount.  My DH didn't ask for anything for his birthday from me this year nor for Father's day.  He couldn't think of anything and to buy something for the sake of giving him a gift didn't make sense to him.  So I justified the GPS watch purchase and he was thrilled with it.  He doesn't wear it just for running, but wears it as his everyday watch.

Our teenage son wanted an IPOD touch.  I really had to think about this one.  His birthday is January 4th and he will be 17.  I decided to go ahead and get him the IPOD touch and then I cut back on my "Christmas list."  As far as I was concerned for me my Christmas present was being able to be a SAHW/SAHM.  I enjoyed this Christmas more than I had any Christmas in years.  I love the weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas with the decorating, planning and baking.  To me that is my gift, the time I was able to spend at home getting ready.

When making a big ticket item purchase I always think about how much that item will be used.  The GPS watch is being worn by my husband everyday and used everyday.  So in the end we will get our money's worth out of it.  As for the IPOD touch, my DS will be using it a lot also and will take it to college.  Actually the IPOD was the last gift that he opened and he was fine with everything he had received even without the IPOD.  He told us that if he had not received the IPOD touch as a Christmas gift he was planning to save up his money to buy one.  (He has a part time job after school.)

I don't want to be misleading in that for our family we did spend quite a bit of money on two gifts.  The money was saved and nothing was put on credit to be paid on over the next year. 

The rest of the gifts were small ticket items such as books and dvd's (some were purchased used).  I watched daily for amazon's daily deals and most of the books and dvd's we bought we got great deals on or we bought used and like new.  Some of the dvd's were t.v. seasons and were purchased at $15.00 per season on a daily deal vs. the normal price of $35.00.  I love getting a good deal. 

In the end we were able to buy gifts for family members and stayed within our budget.  BUT --- I still felt a little guilty about the fact that we could have done better and spend less which leads me to this post.

To really cut back on next year's Christmas budget I must start today. I'm not necessarily talking about buying gifts now for next year or starting to make gifts to give away.  Instead with each birthday and holiday we celebrate beginning in 2010 we need to start cutting back so that by the time Christmas 2010 rolls around we will already have been practiced in asking for less and giving less.  Our expectations will have changed. 

Unfortunately the first celebration in 2010 is our son's 17th birthday on January 4th.  Sorry DS, no eating out.  I have already put a budget for birthdays and we will be sticking to it.  I have 9 times out of 10 baked the birthday cakes but this year I think I will try my hand at decorating these cakes instead of just frosting them and throwing on some sprinkles.

I cut back on all the dishes served at our Christmas meal and will continue to keep things simple at Easter.  It really cut back on the stress and allowed me to enjoy the holiday.  As for cards, I think we will start to make our own - something I did a long time ago but gave up for the sake of time.  With the average store bought card at $3.00 each, I think I should be able to come up with a cheaper and just as funny alternative. 

So a more frugal (and enjoyable) Christmas 2010 will begin with the changes I make in each birthday and holiday celebration that happens before Christmas.  My goal for 2010 is to spend more time in planning special occasions and make them more the celebrations that they should be.  I want to focus on what we are celebrating (for example a birthday) and not on the money being spent.  I want the memories to last beyond any gift.  I may even start a new tradition and take one silly Hallmark day a month (such as peanut day) and celebrate it, frugally of course.

Christmas Decorating

When we moved to our home 12 years ago that first Christmas I went a little wild with the decorations.  In fact I put so many strings of lights on the Christmas tree that I blew out the fuse box and we lost power to the front of our house.  We had to call an electrician to repair the fuse box.

I love to decorate for Christmas.  Back then I put up 9 Christmas trees around our house.  They ranged from 4 feet to 9 feet.  I had theme trees:  A snowflake tree with blue lights and crocheted stars; a pink tree with victorian style ornaments; a bear tree; a bird and wildlife tree; a white tree with red, white and blue ornaments and so on.  I made several of the ornaments; some my mom made; and the rest I purchased at discount stores.  I had candles in each window of the home and it took 15 minutes each night to walk around the house and unplug everything.  Needless to say everyone rushed to be the first in bed so that this task was left to me. 

Then my hours increased at work and for the last couple of years I could barely get up our main tree and that was it.  I felt so stressed at Christmas time as I wanted to decorate more but I did not have the time.  I finally told myself that one tree was enough (and it was) and that was about the only decoration that went up. 

Now that I am home I knew that when Christmas time came I would decorate more than I had in the past few years.  However, I knew that I could not go overboard.  I got a late start.  Last week we managed to get the main tree up and it stood without ornaments on it until the blizzard hit.  There is nothing like a foot of snow to put you into the Christmas decorating mood.  I am posting some of the pictures of what I have done.  I found a balance and I have it all down just right.

I looked over the ornaments for our main tree that we had collected since we were married 29 years ago and frankly about half of them needed to be thrown out or stored away until I could face throwing them out.  I doubt you could call many of them keepsakes.  I went to Wal-mart and I was disappointed with the selection and the price.  I like traditional colors for Christmas and most of the ornaments were lime green, turquoise and gold. I went to the Dollar tree and when I walked into the store there were two carts with a 50% off sign.  I looked into the carts and they were filled with glass blown old fashioned type ornaments.  These looked like ornaments from the 1940's and were just what I was looking for.  I filled my cart and in the end I had close to 60 ornments and all for 50 cents each.  That fit my budget.

These ornaments look wonderful on my tree and I am delighted.  I added glass blown ornaments I already had and included some plain red, green and gold ornaments to fill in.  I think that this is the most beautiful decorated tree we have had.

When we closed the law firm in August my boss told me to take the office Christmas tree.  It is a tall, narrow tree which fits perfectly in our entryway.  I have placed all the family ornaments on that tree including those special two ornaments:  our children's first Christmas ornaments.  (You will notice in these pictures that the walls have been stripped of wallpaper, that I need to repair the plaster and paint.  A project for the first of the year.)

I have gone to using bendable garland over entryways to put my snowmen and Santa Claus ornaments and such.  This gives us more room.  I also pulled out my Fontanini Nativity set my mother in law gave me years ago and decorated our buffet with Christmas trees.  The buffet was at our office and my boss gave it to me.  He also gave me the two book shelves that are on either side of our main Christmas tree.

As to this little tree on a sofa table it is a little something special as it sits next to pictures of my family including my deceased father.

All in all I took the best of my Christmas decorations, added $30 from my purchases at the Dollar Tree and am very happy with how it has all turned out.  I have only one thing to add and that is the Christmas stockings which I made.  Which leads to future Christmases and ornaments.  I used to years ago cross stitch a lot.  I have a lot of packages of cross stitch kits of Heirloom Santas and angels and more.  I probably have close to 40 kits that I purchased over 15 years ago.  I did stitch a few but gave up as I was working so many hours.  Over the next few years I plan to stitch those ornaments and hang them on a tree or garland. 

I have to say that as I sit here typing this on an overcast wintry day with all the Christmas decorations and lights up, I feel like the queen of my home indeed.  Oh and it helps to have "White Christmas" on t.v. too.

Baking Pies

We are having Thanksgiving at my in-laws tomorrow and I am baking the pies.  There will be 7 adults and 2 small children.  In previous years I would provide several pies so everyone could have their favorite.  I would then bring home the leftovers and after a couple of days I would end up throwing out a lot of uneaten pie.  This year I am baking a pumpkin pie, an apple pie and 2 pecan tarts.  My father in law and my DS love pecan pie and instead of baking 1 pie for the two of them I am opting for two tarts.  I will have some leftover pie to bring home and that will come in handy as I am making a turkey dinner on Friday so we can have turkey leftovers.

Over the past couple of years Sara Lee and Mrs. Smith's pies have always been on sale for as low as $2.00 a pie (without a coupon).  This year is no different.  I love to bake and being home I now have the time to bake pies.  It probably costs more for me to bake a homemade pie this year (but not by much) but it is oh so worth it.  As a little girl I watched my mom make pie crusts and roll the dough out.  I have never been afraid to make my own pie crusts and if the edges don't look perfectly pinched, it doesn't matter.

I am approaching this holiday season differently than in years' past.   I have time to enjoy the season.  For the first time in years I will be able to decorate at my leisure, I will be able to bake cookies and make candy before Christmas Eve.  I will be able to get the presents purchased and wrapped way ahead of time.

Years ago in sheer frustration due to the many tasks that were pulling me every which way I told my husband that I was beginning to hate Thanksgiving and Christmas because of all the things I had to do.  His response - "Then quit doing it."  The point he was making to me was that I was missing what it was all about.  He was so right.  I quit baking a lot of cookies and settled on the good ole standby sugar cookie.  I made 1 kind of fudge and I cut back on not making a Christmas ornament, put up minimal decorations and scaled back to what I could handle being a working mom.  This included buying store bought frozen pies.

So this afternoon as I was baking pies my mind raced back to when I was a child with an apron wrapped around me, sitting on a stool next to the table watching my mom rolling out pie crusts.  The one thing I have missed for years was the baking that I had always loved.  Now this year I can return to what I love and that is homemade pies and goodies.

To anyone who reads this may each and everyone of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.