Anybody else ready to take the tree down? I am ALWAYS ready to take it down as soon as Christmas is over to get it out of my living room and make space (we're cramped here with six of us). The family wants it left up until after New Year's. We'll probably compromise and take it down in a couple days.
When do you take yours down?
Well, I waited to post about Christmas and the stepkids (as I said in my last post I was going to do). I didn't want to make any predictions...though I knew exactly what was going to happen.
When I wrote that last post, my kids sat wrapping presents from them to their older half-siblings to add to the box of already over $300 worth of gifts going to my stepkids. As they sat and wrapped, my husband opened a small UPS box he'd just received from the ex's place of employment. It was an unwrapped sweatshirt stuffed into the box (literally stuffed and bulging) and a Christmas card signed from my two stepkids to their dad - only. My husband, after opening his present from his children, hoped that it wasn't going to be the only thing from his kids to this house - - hoped they weren't going to ignore everybody else. I mentioned how sad it was that as our kids wrap presents to their older siblings, they get ignored by them. I don't actually expect them to spend money on any of us anymore for anything but they should have addressed their Christmas card to everybody - at least their siblings too. That was a deliberate snub. Nothing else came.
I mentioned during this discussion that we only had about $25 in the budget for a birthday gift for my stepdaughter (who turns 19 in two days) and told my husband when the latest it would have to be mailed out for her to get it in time. I leave the rest to him. Considering how today was that mailing cut-off date and my husband hasn't done anything yet, I am thinking this is going to be the first year her present is late, if he plans to send her one. I don't care. It's not my problem. Unless he plans to spend the money he's been saving to replace his crappy computer, all she will get is $25 out of our budget - if he sends it.
I'm sure my husband probably received a Merry Christmas text from his children and perhaps even a thank you from them via text though last I heard, he hadn't heard that they'd even received it (yeah, good thing we pay for the tracking to know they did). The rest of us heard nothing.
I will be removing my stepdaughter from my Facebook. She already dissed me over her graduation ceremony. She doesn't get to act snotty to me on Facebook, totally dis her siblings during the holidays - who have never done a thing to either of them but love them, and then hold her hand out for expensive gifts (and oh wow...did she use her gift for the worst tattoo ever - wow is it awful). The fallout from my blocking my stepdaughter from my FB will be felt through the whole family on his side - the ex and stepdaughter will make sure of it. That will leave my husband to explain why to his adult "child" when she throws a fit (despite her age, she is emotionally stunted - due to the prozac or her mother or both - who knows), to his parents and rest of his family. It's beyond time for him to speak out anyway.
My holiday shopping is done...I think. I shipped out most of the packages that go out of state already (including to the stepkids) and my kids' and hubby's presents are hidden in a storage closet waiting for me to wrap them all. My kids received the usual assortment of clothes, make-up, toys,and electronics - depending on their age. I bought my husband a down jacket (got it uber cheap on sale so couldn't NOT get it) and one of those Keurig single brew coffee makers (he is a coffee-aholic). He usually gets music stuff at birthdays (and we sometimes skip Christmas gift exchanges between us and just concentrate on the kids) but I wanted a change! The kids won't let him smoke cigars anymore (so no dutch masters cigars for him this year) but he made out pretty good. With sales and coupons, I was able to get him the highest model Keurig coffeemaker at a low price and then several boxes of the different coffees for the machine.
The stepkids for Christmas - well, I think I'm just going to wait to talk about that. My husband is holding out hope they won't be mean this holiday but I'm not holding my breath. It is feeling a bit like a bi-polar Christmas with them this year so far.
Sometimes, it's hard to remember the sweet little girl a stepchild was 10-15 years ago when they've grown up to be snotty adults.
Getting real sick of her snottiness towards me on Facebook. I'm thinking blocking might be a good idea. It seems to me that all these years caring for and about her should mean something and that "blocking" would never be an issue between us but...
I don't deserve her snottiness.
I don't have to put up with her snottiness.
My kids shouldn't have to see her snottiness.
My friends and other family shouldn't have to see her snottiness.
You'd think since she expects a Christmas present (she's already told us what she wants), she'd turn off the "snotty" until December 26th.
My teenager is in teen love. Last week, she had her first kiss after the boy told her he was falling in love with her. Remember those really early years where you couldn't wait to go to school to see that boy in the halls? She is living it right now. I understand those teenage feelings (I can remember back that far) but as a mom, I dread the heartbreak that she will eventually go through.
He already knows what he is getting her for Christmas (I think jewelry). My daughter is still looking for a perfect gift for him. Perhaps something personal from Personal Creations? He says he wants a funny t-shirt for Christmas. I would imagine she will do that, since he said it is what he wants, plus something more personal for him but age appropriate.
She asked me a few weeks ago if I thought she would be stupid if she thought she loved this boy. Of course I don't think she is stupid. I can remember writing "I love so and so" over and over when I was her age. Gift buying in 2011 for a teen boy? I have no clue. While I remember the feelings of teen love, I have no idea what teen boys today want. My son isn't a teenager yet. I hope she doesn't need my help finding a personal gift for her boyfriend because I feel useless for this part.
My ten-year-old is asking for a laptop for Christmas! I can't believe she is talking about the latest laptops and wanting to put one on her list to Santa (she still sort of believes but I doubt that will be for much longer - - she is on the fence right now about Santa). She saw my stepson and stepdaughter come over with their own laptops this summer, that they got for Christmas from their mom, and now she wants one too. Yeah, that's not happening. I hope she comes up with some smaller items on her list because Santa can't afford laptops this year (or next). If she knew about Santa, I don't think she'd be asking for one.
Read more... |
| Our stray kitten enjoying the tree. |
If women's jewelry is on your holiday shopping list (or for an anniversary - my 15th anniversary is in 11 days), I have a promo code to save you some money. Lauren Klein is having a holiday sale and with promo code shp10, you get FREE SHIPPING.
I just finished another round of shopping. Everytime I think I am close to done, I remember something else. It seems like I have a perpetual shopping list!
I still have my parents, my husband's parents, my oldest sis, and a good friend of mine to shop for (plus a few more things for our kids). We're going with a loft bed for my son, specialty coffee beans/grinder and loose tea for my parents and sister, and probably a 3-in-1 printer for my husband's parents because theirs just broke. Good timing for that to break because we had no clue what to get them. For the new baby in the family, I am looking at different personalized gift baskets.
I have no idea what to get a really good friend of mine - something not expensive but something that still means something. No clue yet. She loves coffee too but she also is a single mom of three active girls (with an ex who leaves a lot to be desired) so perhaps a gift certificate to the day spa in the next town for a little pampering and relaxation? Her oldest is singing in a talent show and my friend has to work and miss it so I think I'll make her a DVD of that too. Any other ideas?
The stores are sold out and the prices online are going up. It doesn't look like this one will be under our tree this year.
dolls on her list. 
Furby things. I called every store in southeastern Michigan tracking two of them down for them. I swore never to do that again and I won't. If I can't find these Monster High dolls at another Wal-Mart, I'll move onto something else on her list. My husband just requested a week of the kids' spring break parenting time - giving them more than four months notice. Odds are that she'll come back with it already scheduled up the wazoo for the kids and tell him no.
If she does that, I hope he demands his xmas parenting time. That will include xmas and my stepdaughter's 18th birthday (which the ex is not going to want to miss). He's given xmas to the ex the last several years because the kids don't want to leave her alone at xmas (whose fault is it that she is alone after all these years? HERS!) and his employer has him working through some of it (most parents do) but there has to be one chunk of time he has with his kids this school year!
Our Christmas shopping for my stepkids is done. My stepson is getting an Ibanez electric guitar and my stepdaughter is getting a Breedlove acoustic guitar. Both great guitars! We got a Best Buy kind of deal on the electric guitar. It's worth more than we paid for it. My stepdaughter's guitar is going to be a joint Christmas/birthday gift because it was expensive and her birthday falls within a few days of the holiday! I don't think she'll realize exactly how great of a guitar she has but hubby did good on picking out the right guitars for both of them. I hope they like them!
Wow! The ex is "letting" hubby buy my stepdaughter the acoustic guitar (see previous post). I hate using the word "let" because it implies he has less rights than she does - oh wait, he does in her eyes!
After her email on how she was buying their daughter the guitar, he responded back to her how their daughter had told him that she wanted a laptop and acoustic guitar and he can't afford a laptop. He went on to tell the ex why an experienced acoustic guitar player should pick out the guitar. He worded it all very nicely in the email (while giving his own verbal rundown on his feelings for his ex while we typed up the email which was hilarious).
Her response was a bit of a surprise (the money aspect of it). She responded that she is buying their daughter the laptop for her birthday (falls around xmas) and that the guitar was not going to be a xmas gift - just a gift. Wow! Must be nice to have that kind of spending money to plan to buy a laptop computer, xmas gifts, plus an acoustic guitar just because and that was just for one child. Hubby responded back very nicely, thanking her and telling her how much he looked forward to buying her a guitar.
Sounds like my stepdaughter is getting what she wants for whatever the occasion for the holidays. We are going to have to come up with another good idea for a graduation gift now and I really have no clue at this point - we were planning to save for a laptop for her:( Maybe airline tickets to some awesome destination before college starts?
My stepdaughter turns 18 next month. I believe child support will go until she graduates from high school, as well as health insurance. I believe she'll just stay on our health insurance for as long as the insurance provider allows so she doesn't have to try to find some type of affordable health insurance on her own. I'm just thrilled that we have the first of two kids turning 18 finally! It's been a long, hard road to get here and with xmas settled now, I look forward to not having to deal with the ex again until at least Easter!
 |
| Available at Baby Stuff Gifts |
Speaking of Christmas, which is coming up way too soon for me, we're only a little more than a month away from Black Friday. I went out once on Black Friday and swore never to do it again, and I haven't. I prefer to shop online as much as I can.
How many of you go out on Black Friday to shop? Do you get great deals worth the stress and aggravation?
My teenage daughter has told me what she put on her Santa list - an iPod Touch. Yeah, right. Keep dreaming. I got an iPod Touch and it's great, but I got mine for a survey I participated in and it was free. It slides right into the little slot for iPods on my stereo so I can listen to it through my stereo speakers (which I prefer...don't like to wear the ear buds). It was a bonus for being the best participant in this survey forum. Little different when you actually have to buy one. I told her to look at an ipod nano or another mp3 player along those lines. Several of her friends have an iPod Touch though and after using mine and seeing her friends', she has her heart set on it.
Santa is going to disappoint this year I think.
The results have been in (and I'm late in posting them but figured that was ok since the poll was left on the right sidebar for everybody to see). Here they are:
WILL YOU BUY A CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR THE EX?
What a mess. FedEx damages my stepson's gift, order a new one and the store sends the wrong one so we order another one from a different store to make sure my stepson has it to open xmas morning and FedEx delivers it to the wrong house and loses it! I handled all the ordering, FedEx both times, the store, etc.
Why even though I didn't want to? Because my husband asked me to and with his 3rd shift schedule beating him up physically, and he doesn't ask for much, I couldn't say no. It would be hurting him, not the ex or the stepchild who doesn't thank me ever.
He did get his gift in time to open it xmas morning though! Wow! What a fiasco!!
Through this mess, the ex and I actually communicated (via email but it was direct communication rather than her addressing my husband through my email), joked a little and I sent her a small box of chocolate as a bit of stress reliever (chocolate is great for that!) for all the stress this put us all through. She thanked me first through my stepdaughter who was there when her mother opened the unexpected box and then via email.
Do I expect it to last? This might've been a one-time thing but the kids saw their mother and I communicating like normal people (it's never happened before) so not only did I help lighten my husband's load, it led to something totally unexpected which was good for the kids. Perhaps it'll lighten the load of responsibility and loyalty they've struggled with. Perhaps not. Only time will tell.
What a hassle it's been getting my stepson his gift. I ordered it online and it was damaged when we received it. It took a few weeks between then and us receiving its replacement from the company. That came the day before yesterday - AND THEY SENT THE WRONG ITEM. Trying to get a replacement between now and Christmas and with mail time to return the item, then the mail time from the store to us to send another one and then us to my stepson would make it late. So, I had to order (and pay for) a new one and have it shipped directly to the ex's house. Good thing I had room on a credit card or else I would've had to do a check by phone. We wanted to wrap it and ship it ourselves but it would have been late unless we paid major bucks to send it by air each way (which I'm not doing after all this hassle - a guitar amp is heavy!). I've now paid for TWO of these things when we only needed one. We're going to use the second one (the wrong one) for our daughter's guitar. It definitely wouldn't have been our first choice (or any choice) for an amp for her but I'm tired of dealing with this store already!
...and I didn't even want to be the one ordering the gift for my stepson to begin with but I did it for my husband. I need to remember this for next year.
I haven't been updating as much as usual the last two weeks. I have started a new job and my blogs have been sliding a bit. I have to get organized!
Christmas shopping is under way. I'm only about a quarter done though. I did end up ordering my stepson's gift for my husband and it came damaged. Then I had to go back and forth between the company we bought it from and FedEx to get it returned and replaced. We're still waiting for the replacement to arrive. Boy was I regretting getting involved and getting ticked (my own fault though for doing it in the first place against my better judgment). I did it because my husband asked for my help. My stepson only thanks my husband, ignoring me entirely so I didn't want to bother. If he does it again this year, I plan on telling my husband that from now on it's his full responsibility. I'm not a doormat for his teenaged son (unless I choose to be...ugh). Pulled between helping my husband and putting myself out there for my stepson to snub me. What a place to be!
I've managed to lose ten pounds! I am SO excited about that. I changed my thyroid medication and it's really helped. No, I don't mean weight loss pills. I have thyroid disease and need thyroid hormone replacement therapy daily to regulate my hormone levels.
My husband gave me an early Christmas present too. He bought me a tiny Pomeranian and chihuahua mix puppy. She's about a pound or two and will get to be 3-5 pounds full grown. She's adorable and follows me everywhere. I haven't named her yet. I'm having a really hard time coming up with one that just feels right. I think he knows the struggle I go through with his kids/ex situation and this was his way of trying to make up for it. When we had to move for his job, he got me a horse three years ago. He gives good gifts!
© Blogger templates Shiny by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
Back to TOP
