Yah for my long week off!

       

  Ok, I love my job, but I really love my week off.  Wha Hoo.   I had such a long day yesterday.  Class from 8 am until noon, had to do some shopping, made supper, worked from 7pm until 7:30 am and then had to try on our new uniforms.  Finally bed from 9am to 1pm.  Now I am up and drinking my coffee.  Ready for my week off to begin.  What will I do?

   I am soooooo sore from working out.  I let myself get back into bad shape.  Tomorrow I will hit the gym as I will Saturday and Monday, Tuesday, wed.  etc.....  I will get back to being able to work out without feeling like I got hit by a truck if it kills me, and it may, LOL. 

   Also I have to wrap the kids presents and get them mailed out.  It is going to cost me a fortune.  Payday is tomorrow.  Finally a full check, the first since I got sick with my gall bladder.  Boy will that be nice.  I also want to put up the tree.

  I really thought about not putting up the tree this year earlier.  It just seemed silly with the grandchildren gone and my husband and son are both pretty baa hum bug about Christmas.  Getting all the lights on the trees always has my husband muttering every swear word known to man and until the lights are up the tension gets pretty bad.  But then we get to put on the ornaments. 

 

    Rick and I have spent 33 years collecting these.  When the children were small every year we would make new ornaments to hangon the tree.  Some of those have survived.  And we collect Santa ornaments.  I have hundreds.  We hit the stores the day after Christmas and buy the ones we have scoped out before Christmas for 50 % off.  That is half the fun, getting them for less.  Sometimes though we buy them right away, they are so perfect we must have them knowing they will sell out never to be seen again.  Getting my ornaments out is like Christmas because sometimes I have forgotten we bought it as I packed it right away when we got it.  All bring back memories and all are marked with the date we got them.  From the 100 year old glass Santa on top of the tree that was my husbands grandmothers and which came from Denmark to the stuffed Santa under the tree all were lovingly picked out for its facial expression.  Yes, I do have nativities and I do celebrate the reason for the season but I love my Santa's.  And if I don't put my tree up I won't get to see my Santa's.  So the tree goes up this weekend.  Maybe making my husband a hot buttered rum will help.

    I got this catalog today.  I love their clothes.  So pretty and they have a sweater I really like.  Thing is every sweater in this catalog and in their store is $79.99!    Now if that sweater had been hand made by skilled hands with loving touches here and there I would think it was a bargain.  However it was probably made overseas by underpaid labor for about $2.00  Then they drape it on overpaid and underfed models and pimp it to us fat gramma's who want to look beautiful and sexy.  A bargain at any price!  Except it just isn't worth what they charge.  Maybe if it had been made in the good ole USA I would pay $20.00.  But not for how much they mark it up.

 

   We have Alfs manufacturing here.  They make fancy blue jeans.  They are all made in the same place but different labels are put on them.  Some sell for $20.00, some sell for $80.00 just because of the tag.  They are made on the same machines, by the same workers, with the same thread and the same denim but the tag is different.  I tried telling that to my son.  When he pays for a name brand he is allowing them to rip us off.  And that is new to his generation. 

   Of course Hollyweird stars have always gone by who made their clothes, its a status thing, but when my kid wanted tennis shoes that cost $150.00 just because they were made by a certain company and a certain tall sports person wears them something is wrong.  Have you tried to buy clothes without their advertising on it?  They should pay me to be wearing their clothes, not me paying more to advertise for them.  I don't, my husband doesn't.  If they have their product label splashed all over  the clothing I won't touch it.

 

    My older son does though.   My granddaughter had to have Baby Gap, What!  You paid how much for that ugly outfit!  That she will outgrow in 3 weeks.... are you nuts.... ARE YOU NUTS.........  DO YOU HAVE SUCKER ON YOUR FOREHEAD..........  ARE YOU REALLY A CHILD OF MINE!  I guess you can't pass on common sense and that is what they are hoping for.  Such a consumer my kids are.  The merchants love them.  I think they are nuts.

   Anyway, I seem to be ranting and raving lately.  Maybe I am going to become a cranky old lady.  Naaaa, gives you the wrong wrinkles and at my age I am cultivating my wrinkles.  I want smile wrinkles, not prissy cranky wrinkles.  Smile Julie smile.  I am going out for a beer and pizza with my husband.  Haven't been able to lately and I need to unwind.   Yes I know the calories are totally out of the ballpark but I need it, I want it and life it too short for bad beer!