Aaaah the quiet ...

As I sit here the fire is crackling, my fingers are clicking and the kids are tucked away quietly in their rooms. Lucky me.

I have been thinking about two things pretty obsessively lately (actually
there are three things, but maybe the third another time).
These two things are
1)Christmas
2)Finances
Interesting duo isn't it? Who doesn't think about money at Christmas? But its not like that. Its like this: I am usually freaking out about Christmas, getting presents bought before a certain date, "henning" (a new word used to describe me yesterday that is pretty accurate) My Honey about shopping, because I am not going to do it myself, all that. This year I am totally sitting back, making a conscious decision NOT to worry about it. We will shop when we shop. So far we don't have a single thing
bought. Nada. And I ain't worried.

The thing is, I don't want to do regular shopping this year. I would like to help someone without instead of fattening our coffers. None of us have to do without (us=family). We have what we need (and then some) when we need it. I feel like there should be more to it this year than that. What can we do for someone else? Or how can we honor another with a gift of ... here's what I mean. One of my Brothers In Law is a veteran, one loves to hunt. As the gift to the vet, I would like to send agoodie box to a soldier. As the gift to the hunter, donate a scholarship-type thing in his name to the folks that provide hunter safety courses so that someone that wants to the the class, that can't afford it can. That kind of stuff. We all have interests that could be honored in ways like that instead of with presents that just clutter our already overabundant lives.

How would you feel though, if all you got from me was a little white envelope with a note in it that said "you don't get a present this year, someone else does?"

As for finances ... My Honey has been listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio or the web or something. He's got some pretty radical ideas, but so does My Honey. I am his only obstacle . And I sense some major changes for next year coming. I don't know how they will play out or what they will be, but I know that he wants to work hard at paying off whats left on the house, get some money socked away for kids education and make sure we are set for retirement. We do a little of this now, but I sense that the bar is going to be raised. That my free-spending days are coming to an end. Its going to be a rough road. Even worse than giving up caffeine which I did 3 weeks ago! Quit old turkey. But, here I am 3 weeks later, I feel better, I have more control over what I put into my body and I hope to never go back. Although me and Diet Coke have been friends for a LONG time, and I miss him, it was time to kick him to the curb. And my money and control issues are deeper than Diet Coke. But I have been being prepared for what lies ahead, I know I have. And I have the right support to get through it.

And that third item? Well, maybe another time.

PS what is up with Blogger??? I had to re-edit this 7 times (make that 8) to get the
paragraph spacing correct??? I hope it will be a short lived glitch.