She works hard for the money!

Where have I been? Well, not too far- honestly.

Been trying to do anything to keep my mind off of being worried. The good news is I don't have to travel far- my work laptop is right beside my home computer and while you were perhaps having a restful long holiday weekend, I was busy working! A half-day of catch-up on Saturday, and one day of rest (Sunday). I figured Monday would be a slow day, but NOT... I felt like I was trapped in a whirlwind of deadlines and issues.

You see, my job security hinges on my ability to suck up extra work therefore making myself critical to the business. Hence, a chance of not getting laid off.

I know what you are thinking- I am clearly delusional. And in this corporate world crammed into a bad economy everyone is expendable. I get, I get it. I am merely racking up some good credits for later this month when I will take 3 sick days.

After all, I may be a workaholic, but I am not insane.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I did take a day off and went to see my stylist for a haircut and touchup. I love my stylist. I don't even have to tell him what to do with my hair, he always has the best ideas. Yesterday's idea... CUT IT OFF!! and so we did. Three inches in fact.

I feel lighter and quite happy. Not to mention I love being closer to my real strawberry-blonde hair color.

Then I went to Trader Joe's and bought myself some flowers and a mint green tea to drink.


By the time I got home, I was peaceful.

Not a bad day!

Coach is a lot like Vegas

Who told me to go shopping in my last post? I blame YOU! lol.

I have the day off today, so buzzing around doing errands for upcoming vacation, AND went to get my hair done. I can't go away with grey hair, I just cannot.
Oh, and I may have *happened* to stop by the Coach Store.



And I may have *happened* to purchase a bag (but, I swear, it's a small one, and I used my 25% off coupon).

And I may have *happened* to stop at my favorite shoe store and buy a pair of sandals.

whaaaaat?

What happens on my day off stays on my day off.

Old habits die hard

Because I wanted it and have denied myself for too long:


And because I had a $250 gift card I decided, well, how about some sandals for my upcoming vacation?

Because I deserve it.

Screw the budget for just one day. I am happy.

Christmas-Lite

It's like a non-fat grande latte, or sorta like having a piece of decadent pie with black coffee and Splenda (right, Emily?).

It's Christmas-lite, or Christmas without the guilt.

No bulging credit card bills, no rushing to buy the last item on your list (which happens to be gift #28 for dear Aunt Sally), no mounds of expensive gift wrap that's left in a trash heap in the corner.

No worries that you didn't spend enough, or buy just the "right" gift. No returns for things that didn't quite fit, or items that were dupes, or quite awful (did I say that??).

My personal favorite... I'll actually be able to fit David's gifts UNDER the tree. Not around it, and down the hallway...

More time to bond with the ones we love.

Where togetherness reigns supreme, and spending quality time with the family can simply be a movie, a board game, and some good hot chocolate (or beer, or wine...lol). Yeah, thumbs up on the wine. shhh... I can still drink it since I'm not on meds yet.

The BagMomma family is embracing Christmas-lite this year.

And it feels pretty darn good so far.

I might even have time this weekend to make cookies!

How will you be spending your holiday? Are you staying home? Traveling? Having to deal with annoying relatives? Using the fruitcake from Great Aunt Betty as a doorstop?

For those of you who have to travel (especially by plane, train, or excruciatingly long road trip) I feel for you.

And I also want to know who really eats fruitcake.

Does anybody eat fruitcake??

Do tell.

No place for wimps!

You know the images each year of the brides lining up at Filene's in Boston, MA for a chance at clinching that bargain-basement price for a wedding gown?

Well, we have a version of that here in the suburbs of New Jersey, and it's called a Holiday Craft Show. And it's not a place for wimps.

For those of you not familiar with this type of event, it's usually held at a church or school, and it's a mass of craft vendors (selling jewelry, home furnishings, gifts and such). There is one in my area that is extremely well known. People line up in the freezing cold waiting for the doors to open at 9am.

The serious women bring their own shopping bags for the loot, stand in sub-zero temps with no coat on (because once you are inside it's hotter than Hades), and wear those god-awful fanny packs for easy access to money.

About ten years ago, I was one of those women (minus the fanny pack... ugh, that's a travesty to a handbag queen!). These days I frequent them less and less. Usually just buying a couple trinkets for Christmas gifts.

I took my Mom this year, and I guess we are off our game because by the time we pulled in the parking lot, the spots were mostly full (it was only 9:05am). And, as we walked into the school gymnasium, some of the vendors had people standing in front of tables ten people deep.

Really!

All for a custom-made wreath or a personalized holiday ornament.

I had forgotten the rule "pick up an item when you see it, or it's gone". I lost out on a cute ornament to a 70'ish lady who body-slammed me to get the last sparkly snowman.

Holiday cheer anyone?

We passed one vendor (who we LOVE- she hand paints crafts with amazing detail), and she had THREE items left in her stall. It was 9:20am. She sold out in 20 minutes.

I did pick up a beautiful candy cane ornament. And I did find a sparkly snowman (different, but just as adorable).

As we walked out, a mass of men huddled in the parking lot. Holding their cell phones and laughing, "we're just here to carry out bags to the car".

aaaaahhhhh... the shopping season has officially begun.

Apparently the world economic down-turn doesn't apply to craft shows.

Latte Rehab has its perks

Now that David catches the bus for school (and I'm not driving him 12 miles each way to daycare) I have extra time on my hands.

I didn't realize that my weekday commute to daycare chewed up a ton of time each day. I used to leave the house at 7:15am, and lucky if I got home by 8:15am.

Now I walk a block at 7:30am to the bus stop, and I'm sitting at my desk here in the home office by 7:40am.

Whatever will I do with the extra 50 minutes?? lol.

I'm saving some money as well. I used to fill up at the gas station once a week, and now who knows how far a tank will get me. I filled up last Sunday and my tank is still on FULL!

S. works about 7 miles from home, and he no longer has to drive out of this way for PM pickups at daycare either. That's a lot of savings considering he has a gas guzzling pickup truck.

Sadly, I gave up my morning coffee. Four days a week I had been stopping at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. Now I make my coffee at home mostly. I still treat myself on the weekends or an occasional afternoon. I figure I am saving about $80 a month just in coffee alone.

I could get used to this.

Of course, all the saved money will go towards the infertility debt, but something is better than nothing, right?

After that, I should institute a new PURSE fund. Now that's what I call FUN.

The Happy Wanderer

David has turned over a new an unexpected leaf. Surely we couldn't count on him to be the perfect little man 24/7.

The fact is, he's 4 going on 5 in a few weeks and starting to really push the boundaries of the parent/child relationship.

Exhibit 1 (Home Improvement Store)
After David test drove all of the John Deere riding tractors on display (and repeated attempts to remove him from said tractors and lectures on how he needs to put on his "listening ears" and actually LISTEN to Mommy and Daddy) he started the hiding game. Hiding meaning ducking into the shelves in the aisles and pretending he has disappeared. He thought it was a riot running ahead of us and hiding. That was until we ducked to the side and his head popped out and he didn't see us. Of course the game was over at that point. Wide eyed he looked around, and when WE popped into view he laughed.

OK, lesson not learned.

S. stomped out of the store in a fit. Mad that David wouldn't listen. Wait, who's the adult here anyway?


Exhibit 2 (Children's Clothing Store)
We needed to but the growing boy some tank tops for our upcoming vacation next month, so we entered the store at the "witching hour". In other words, naptime. Upon opening the door, we heard the store blasting loud music (shopping ambiance???) and David decided to break out into his finest dance moves in the middle of the Boys 4-12 section.

Customers thought he was cute, but S. was further annoyed. Especially since David shimmied and shaked his booty to the adjoining Girls section, out of view.

I have to admit, I couldn't keep a straight face. By this point watching him dance made me laugh. And it's hard to say "David GET OVER HERE, STAY WITH MOMMY AND DADDY!" while giggling. S. was still annoyed. Very annoyed and despite hushed conversation in the corner of the store, David still was hyped up. And Daddy had enough.


We ended the day with David falling asleep during dinner at home, and not waking up until this morning.

I think he wore himself out.

Shortly after, S. dropped into bed and was asleep before I even got into bed. Looks like Daddy wore himself out too.

Parenting... fun, eh?

So cute yet so devilish.

Peace on Earth, or at least at BagMomma's house

So where have I been?

I was growing tired of the drama around here. Is it a coincidence that I have off from work this week? I think I must have used some serious psychic powers knowing I would need this week off.

If you remember a week or two back, my drama at work was reaching a head, and then the great computer meltdown occurred. Then the loss of Luke. All the while, anticipating my first cycle back on the TTC bandwagon and worrying about that.

I had originally scheduled this week off to do a lot of little projects around the house. I have done a few, and did another purse cleanout and donation. I cleaned two closets (so far) generating a landfill of trash. Mostly empty boxes and crap I was saving for god knows what.

Sadly, my PC rebuild hasn't gone as planned... so I ended up ordering a new PC for the family computer. Since I had my work laptop under lockdown since last Friday, I've been out of the loop on blogging and e-mail. My Google Reader had 780 unread posts when I posted on Monday... I'm sure it's over 1,000 by now. But you know what? It doesn't matter.

I am relishing the fact that I have been able to detach myself from the computer for awhile.

I even (GASP) went shopping to REAL stores yesterday. Places where they give you free boxes with gifts you buy instead of my internet purchases where they CHARGE you a giftwrap/box fee.

I went to lunch alone yesterday, and sat in a restaurant eating a turkey wrap with NOWHERE to be. I browsed the Coach store, Williams-Sonoma, Sur Le Table, and Harry & David. I sat in a comfy chair in Starbucks sipping a Latte watching the snow fall outside.

It was heaven. Well, except for the money I spent.

So far, this week is turning out to be unexpectedly decent.

I am done my BCPs, and awaiting arrival of AF to make my first u/s appointment and the start of my injectables cycle.

I am (almost!) done my Christmas shopping.

I finished decorating, and decorated a special tree dedicated to our departed pets. We got rid of the dog and cat food, the dishes, the kitty litter. It was time to let it all go.

My new PC should arrive next week, and I think I'll just take my time loading everything on it. I am using my work laptop for urgent stuff and these posts in the meantime. Won't have my usual time to browse and lurk, but that's okay. It's temporary.

To sum up this week in one word: PEACEFUL

[breathing out a sigh of content]

The most wonderful time of the year

I like to shop, normally.

I really do.

But this year I will freely admit I am DREADING holiday shopping. It's just once more stress component added on to my work situation, S. work issues, babymaking issues, the fact that I don't have time to houseclean, so forth and so on. Et cetera!

No, I'm not a scrooge.

But considering I am one of those people who usually puts a lot of thought into the "perfect" gift, I am a bit, well....... guilty this year.

I am declaring.... "Christmas Lite"

As in, we will be focusing on the part of Christmas that is not rushing around or standing in line at the mall. Let me back up... I would gladly stand in line at my favorite local bakery for sweets, but I won't be at Macy's behind the person opening a new, revolving account at the register when 30 angry people are in line.

We will celebrate the holidays with the things we enjoy most- being together with those we love and counting our blessings that we still have the opportunity to laugh and reminisce.

So.

If you are a member of my dear family, please don't expect the perfect gift this year. More than likely, your gift will be a gift card. It's not that I don't love you enough... it's that I love you too much to give you a lousy gift you don't want because I will be soooooo off the mark this year (my brain being off-kilter and all).

Having my friends and family is all I want this year.

and a BFP at the end of my next cycle, that would be good too...

just sayin'...

Well, at least it's not an ice chest

Have you shopped for a major kitchen appliance lately? I am aghast at the prices out there for basic kitchen necessities. Not to mention the quality has declined year after year. Which means whether you buy a $4,000 fridge or a $800 one, they all have similar shelf-lives. Thank you China.

Hubby and I have been on the hunt for a new refrigerator, mainly because since the resuscitation of the old one back in August? to the tune of $250, our beloved fridge has been going Sybill on us lately. One day the milk is just a touch not cold enough, the next day it's the polar ice cap.

I don't need a fridge that sings to me or tells me how beautiful I am in the morning (although that might be a nice add-on). I went shopping for a basic fridge with an external filtered water dispenser.

So, off we go to Lowe's for their Veteran's Day Sale. They had four rows of refrigerators. Your basic top/bottom, side-by-side, and the new french door top with the freezer bottom. We didn't want the bare-bones top-bottom (no water dispenser or inconveniently located in the fridge). We looked at the new-fangle french door ones, but as much as I loved seeing the fridge portion wide and at eye-level... the freezer on the bottom was useless. I mean, who wants to DIG in your freezer? I would never find anything in there!

So, we are forced back to the side-by-side. And, now, we decide we want stainless. But did you know there are several different kinds of stainless? true stainless, faux stainless, satin stainless? Satin stainless won out (I did the fingernail test... shhhhhh) because it was the only one that did not scratch with minimum effort and showed no handprints.

In the end, our final choice was a Whirlpool Gold, which met all of my needs except it doesn't talk to me. lol.

It does however, have a few bells and whistles I could have done without. Of course it was one of the only models that cannot be delivered next-day. So we won't have it until the day before Thanksgiving next week. Or maybe earlier local Lowe's helper says.

Did I mention I am hosting Thanksgiving?

Eventually, when I become independently wealthy, I will need to replace the stove and the dead microwave, even the dishwasher soon I bet. Now that it's been 8 years since we last fully furnished the kitchen I'll know better next time when I am thinking appliances aren't THAT expensive.

For now, I thank Lowe's for the no-interest financing... which allows us to buy food to put into the refigerator.