It’s the end of November

Whew, where did the month go?  When I was little Christmas seemed to take forever to arrive, but now I’m starting to feel like there’s not enough time for me to get everything done – the baking, the shopping, the forty some odd Christmas cards I’m planning on mailing this year.

Thanksgiving came and went since I last updated and we had it at Chris’s grandfather’s and step-grandmother’s home.  They live in a tiny little place and there were seventeen people crammed in it.  I brought the stuffing, which everyone seemed to like, but how could they not when I used the family recipe?  We’ll be doing Christmas Eve/Day with my family, then swapping next year.

Black Friday came and went, too.  I didn’t shop, oh no way, but I did have to work the afternoon and evening shift.  We were pretty busy, busted goal out of the water, and there were several crazy customers I had to deal with, including a shoplifter.  I was so relieved when that day was over, but it’s still been busy.

Actually, after work I headed over to Target.  It was 9:30pm at night and I was able to find everything I wanted, still on sale, with none of the crowd.  I saw a story on the news about a man who was trampled at a different Target when they opened in the morning.  It’s just disgusting.  Is it really worth it to people to save an extra fifteen bucks on a digital camera to step on a fellow human beings head?  It’s just disgusting.

We put up the Christmas tree over the weekend and I finished decorating it yesterday.  I’m planning on taking some pictures/video of it when I find a camera that works and can upload to my computer.  Oh technology.  Anyway, I’ll post those when I get a chance.

Tomorrow is December!  That means NaNoWriMo is officially over at midnight tonight.  The first two days I thought I was going to win hardcore, way over the suggested word count.  Boy was I wrong!  Work got busy, life got busy, and I don’t remember when I actually stopped, but I did stop around 9,000 words.  That’s 41,000 words short of the goal.  Oops.  I still like my story though, so I’m going to keep it on the back burner and finish it… someday… after the holidays… after I finish these Christmas cards.

Kohl’s Department Store

Being that I’m actually a twenty-year-old young woman living in the 1940s wearing a pretty knee-length skirt and t-strap heels, I must say I love the phrase “department store.”  Sometimes (don’t judge) I like to think about the names of department stores and how well their name goes with the phrase “department store.”  For example, “Macy’s” and “Kaufmann’s” (may you rest in peace) go very well with the phrase department store.  They just sound classy.  “JC Penney Department Store,” however, sounds significantly less awesome.  Their merchandise kind of reflects that, too.  “Sears” is a hearty and traditional name in department stores and sounds even better when you say their whole name, “Sears, Roebuck and Co.”   I feel kind of bad for Alvah Curtis Roebuck because his name is no longer really associated with the store.  In 2005 they merged with Kmart, and their merchandise reflects that now.  I would only ever buy an appliance or power tools at Sears, definitely not clothes.

Oh, I’ve gone off on a tangent.  One of my new favorite stores is Kohl’s.  It was a long time before one showed up in our town and I hadn’t spent much time in it after it opened, but I rediscovered it in August when shopping for work pants.  I tried on two pairs and they both fit immediately and it was definitely not a hassle to shop there.  That’s when I decided Kohl’s was my new favorite department store, replacing… well, no one really.  I didn’t have a favorite department store before.

I overheard a man at TGIFriday’s a couple weeks ago telling his wife about how Kohl’s is not liked by Consumer Reports, or some such organization, because they run false sales.  They jack up the original price and it immediately goes on sale in the hopes that you’re duped into thinking you got a good deal.  It’s kind of obvious when you think about it, because practically everything in home decor is always 50% off.

Be that as it may, I had a coupon that was going to expire for ten dollars off anything in the store.  And when they say anything, they mean anything (except items where profits go to charity).  So I found a cute Christmas throw pillow “on sale” for $9.99 and since I was a penny short of my ten-dollar subtotal, I scooped up a cute cookie shaped Christmas ornament also “on sale” for $2.49.  According to the bottom of my receipt I saved $22.50 today.

But that’s not the reason I like Kohl’s.  I know I didn’t actually save $22.50 today.  I saved $10 from that coupon they mailed me, which is why I like them.  I’ve been wanting to get a Christmas throw pillow for ages (ie: a week and a half) and I finally found one and I got it for FREE.  Mele Kalikimaka to me!

So that was my “win” today.  My “loss” was that I hit 10,000 miles on my car.

WIJFR: One Winter’s Night

So today I had a day off before a few days of long shifts at work and took advantage of it by try to catch up on my reading pile.  What actually happened was that I didn’t catch up on anything I had already started, but started two new books instead.

Whoopsie.

We headed out to Barnes & Noble with our nooks today because there is a coupon in the daily for a free small smoothie if you own a nook.  Score.  So we settled into the Barnes & Noble cafe and I took advantage of their “read in store” option on said nook and started reading Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy.  So far, it’s a lot better in my opinion than the first book, which was a pleasant surprise.  But I don’t have time to get back there to read for another hour for at least four days.  The wait list on PBS is at least three years, so I may have to break down and order the e-book for myself.

On the way out I picked up three Harlequins because I had a coupon, $1.50 off three.  Sometimes you want to read something fast and easy.  I started tonight with One Winter’s Night, which was fast in easy in both senses of the phrase and surprisingly pleasant.  I was done in three hours and was glad to have spent the evening with this book.

The book is broken up in four short stories that all take place on the night of the office Christmas party.  Four different couples find each other and fall into heavy lust, if not love, too.  I’d never read a Harlequin Blaze until tonight, and I can see why they’re called that; it was definitely steamy.  Because of the way it was broken up, I didn’t feel bogged down with the story as I sometimes can with other Harlequins (as in, OK we get it, they’re attracted to each other and they’re going to agree to get married in the end, so let’s get this over with).

I definitely recommend this one if you’re into Christmas romances.

How a Wool Sweater Keeps You Warm

Let’s face it, wool sweaters are itchy.  People with eczema should not wear them, but when I found this one at Banana Republic on sale for under thirty dollars and I had a thirty percent off coupon, I had to at least try it on.  The light blue color is so pretty, a tiny smidge darker than in the picture above.  It felt pretty good in the store, not too itchy and rather soft.  So I bought it.  The 100% merino wool sweater.  And I have eczema.  Which had been flaring up for the past two months.

OK, no one said I was smart.  I think if I could wear this inside out it might be better.

One of the things that drew me to sweater, besides the fact that it was hugely on sale and I had a coupon and it was a pretty color, was its weight.  It’s thin.  This, I thought, would be a good thing because I hate overheating in heavy sweaters.  Especially when my step-grandmother-in-law likes to keep the heat up at Thanksgiving around 76 degrees.

But now I’m wearing it, trying to keep it on to prove to my husband that it was not a waste of money, and I’m burning up and I finally figured it out.

A thin wool sweater will keep you warm because it’s itchy.  The itchy makes you feel like you’re burning.  Thus, you warm up.

Wait, he’s in the shower right now and didn’t see me put this on.  I’m off to change!  I’ll wear this when I find a shirt I can wear underneath it.

It’s like a zoo out there!

I’ve notice a lot of people in the area seem to have started their Christmas shopping early this year.  Not like picking up a gift when they see one, but more like aggressively shopping (and driving) as though Christmas were only a couple weeks away.  Chris and I went to a Toys R Us sale last Friday to pick up the gifts for the two kids on our list and it was crazy!  They were open until midnight and, aside from the fact that the location we visited seemed to have no rhyme or reason to its layout to begin with, it was a mess.  Toys strewn about, in the wrong place, disorganized on shelves, which had a lot of empty spots.  Looked like a lot of people shopped the sale earlier in the day.  Anyway, shopping for Christmas presents for kids was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.  Now I can’t wait to have kids of my own so I can go Christmas shopping for them, haha!

Today I had to go to Wegmans, there was no avoiding it.  I needed bread flour for the rolls I’m making to go with dinner tonight (remind me to post that recipe for you later, it’s delicious!) and a gallon of water for the Keurig.  I went on an empty stomach so I was going to pick up lunch, too.  Well, it was a Monday around 1pm and it was PACKED.  Christmas stuff everywhere, people buying turkeys for Thanksgiving, meandering this way and that, running into each other – oy!  I got my stuff together as fast as I could and got into the 15 item or less line because the two 7 items or less lines were closed.  Naturally they opened up while I was waiting and other people beat me to them before I could move.

Ok, people, listen to me: if it says fifteen items or less it means fifteen items or less.  If you have sixteen, fine whatever, if you have fifteen and pick up a pack of gum in the check out line, that’s cool.

But the lady in front of me had TWENTY-TWO items.  Yes, I counted.  She could have gone through the fifteen item line AND the seven item line separately because that’s how many items she had.  It was packed and those of us with just a couple items had to wait for her big-ass order to be completed before we could go.

The fun part was, and yes this is the excitement in my day today, the container of candy canes at the checkout line.  Three for a buck, so I picked one up and am enjoying it now.  One of the local radio stations has started playing their 24/7 Christmas music.  I’m raring and ready to go for the holiday season!