xmas was only 1 day ago and i've already determined my favorite and least favorite gifts. 

 

let's start with the favorite.  i'm a sucker for gifts that are clearly thought out and personalized.  i always appreciate when people think "what would she want?" instead of "what do i think she should want?" (i call those folks 'gift pushers').  anyway...so, my favorite gift was a snowman xmas tree ornament that had our family names written on it.  i thank Deb for that one!

 

on to the least favorite...jon received a book called "The Best of the Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader"  from his mom.  now, the reason i have decided it's the least favorite gift is not because it's a bad gift, it's because it has already been abused...and it's all about how the gift affects me :)  this book is jon's new excuse to 'go missing' for an hour.  honestly, i've never understood the toilet reading.  i mean, i get the concept and i get that one could sit for a bit and read.  what i don't get is people that can sit and read for 30 minutes+.  you're sitting on a cold toilet in a stinky bathroom.  if you want to read, why don't you choose a more comfortable place?  seriously, finish your business and then go sit on the couch for 30 minutes.  i've discussed my theory with jon and he agrees with me and even laughs at what he does, yet he says "i can't help it - i'm programmed to read at that time."

 

anyway, xmas '08 was a great time and we really enjoyed the young'ns.  Here are a few photos...

 

 

  

 

 

 

i'm just curious about one thing...who recently taught my boy the following...

 

he farts.  announces he farted.  smiles with a proud grin.  then...while i'm saying "what do you say buddy?"...instead of saying "excuse me" he backs up to my face and says "smell it!"

 

all i need is to know who...jon denies it...so who...spill it...and the only awesome response here is "Zohan".

 

 

it's that special time of year...you know, that time when you get laid off right before the holidays...mmmmm...i feel that warm/fuzzy feeling bubbling up now.  i've refrained from writing for a few weeks, as the shock and awe was still so fresh...i needed time to embrace my new life of glory.  though, i will say that it's pretty swell to be part of such a large group of unemployed, and it will be something i can tell the grandkids..."i was one of the millions impacted during the biggest recession since the Great Depression."  ...this is where i have the extra fuzzy feeling for our current president Bush...he did such a great job...super smart fella.

 

now, i'll just start listing the facets of my life that have been impacted...which can be seen as positives or negatives, it just depends on your perspective...

 

1) kiddos.

     (a) obviously with unemployment comes household cost cutting.  a big expense is daycare/preschool.  so, in cutting that expense, i get to hang out with my young'ns more often (this is one of those, depending on whether your 4 yr old decided to proudly plug the toilet with ALL of the toilet paper only 30 minutes after you got home from being laid off, could be a positive or a negative).

     (b) i now have to accept the responsibility of being creative...which isn't really my strong suit.  instead of thinking about what meetings i have the next day or who's desk i'd like to take a big dump on, i am now tasked with thinking of ideas that will entertain a 4 yr old and a 6 month old.  i will admit, i'm actually proud of myself.  i'm pulling it off well.  Aiden is fully embracing the sticker chart (yep - i went that far).  he even called me his 'very best friend' the other day.  seeee...how sweet is that?  score one for me being able to excel at so many, many, many things.

     (c) i've also had the privilege of taking my kids to Chucky Cheese for the first time.  that's right...when boredom strikes and you & your 4 yr old need to get out of the house, sometimes you gotta do things that you never thought you would.  although, i will admit, i went on a random Wed. so there were like 3 kids there instead of what i hear is usually a mad house.  i also brought pb&j's, so i didn't have to eat their crappy food and i constantly doused all of us with an anti-bacterial pump, so as to not come home with 15 diseases.  overall, it wasn't too bad, though i'm clearly not going to give it rave reviews and become a frequent customer.  check out our Chucky Cheese portrait - we rocked it out.

 

2) news.

     (a) i now have no idea what's going on in the world.  therefore, i put jon on speaker phone and say "tell me what i need to know."  it's usually goes like this..."OJ is going to prison? - nice, good to know...anything else?"  you would think i'd have a bunch of extra time on my hands to keep up with the latest news, but unfortunately with 2 kids and a job search, i really have no extra time.  unless someone emails me or posts something on Facebook, i'm clueless...oh, and i should include snail mail on that list, as i do also enjoy the daily mail run...even more so now that xmas cards are arriving.  even though i don't personally subscribe to the sending of xmas cards, it's exciting for the unemployed to get personal mail. 

     (c) work drama now has to come from jon's work.  his work is less exciting than mine was (mostly bc i worked with a bunch of crazy people)...though, lately he's been able to fulfill my crazy fix.  today it went something like this..."wait, so, coworker A is sleeping with coworker B, but coworker A is bringing someone else to the xmas party this wknd?...see, now that's quality information...find out more and call me later with a full report!"  did i mention their xmas party is open bar?  heh, totally can't wait to sit back and watch the drama of the employed.

 

3) body adjustments.

     (a) my body is not used to carrying around a 20 lb sack-o-baby-potatoes 7 days/week.  Sadie is a TANK!  and by tank, i mean - she's in the 95th % of weight for her age.  obese or not, she's heavy and my back/arms/neck are paying the price.  though, i now have the strength to hold a sack-o-potatoes for hours, so when that challenge presents itself, i'll clean the floor with all yaz!

     (b) sleep.  for some reason, i have the feeling every night that "i don't have to go to work tomorrow, so i can stay up until midnight."  only problem with this theory is that the offspring don't care how late i stayed up because they are still on schedule and therefore my 4 yr old continues to come into my bed at 6:30am and say "MAMA - OPEN YOUR EYES!!!" (this is of course as he's jumping on top of me and physically peeling my eyelids open)

     (c) food.  gone are the days of "i'm not in the mood to cook - let's order a pizza."  now it's "what do you want to go with frozen peas?" or "how about grilled cheese and tomato soup?" granted, it is almost challenging to see what kind of meal i can make out of cans from the pantry...though, i do look forward to challenging myself a lil harder in the future.  there's also the exciting Sunday paper full of coupons that i now cut.  yep - i now take extra pride in how much money i can save at the grocery store....guess what - i saved $12 on last week's trip - go me.

     (d) i have clean sheets.  being unemployed allows you to do laundry more often, so simply stated - clean sheets are a nice perk. 

 

4) work.

     (a) unemployment is a process - i wish it on no one, especially now.  MA unemployment is apparently so backed up - "they'll hopefully get to my claim in 5-6 weeks.  if you get a check the week of 12/15, great - if not, call us."  this was the comment i got after trying to get through for a week straight and then finally getting "your wait time is 59 minutes."  whatever - either way - this is where i thank you ever-so-kind-employed-folk for your contributions to my current income.  just think...you're paying me to write this, which actually means you're paying to read my blog...that's awesome...thanks for being super swell.  i should get a tip jar just in case you feel like giving a lil extra this holiday season.

     (b) old job.  i will not and should not comment on the brilliant people that make up my previous employer.  they're going places, so look out world.

     (c) new job.  i don't have one, but it felt nice to include it as a bulleted item.  i'm staying positive, as i know it'll come in time.  until that lucky place employees me, i will continue to enjoy each day.

 

off i go to eat some rice krispy treats, as those are the poor man's bon-bons...

 

 

ok...so my 2 year old Kenmore dishwasher decided to break.  the dumb motor died, so we had to buy a new one.

 

first, i have realized that my dishwasher is no longer a luxury item.  i didn’t grow up with a dishwasher and I really didn't have a working one until like 7 years ago (yes, i remember exactly how many years - it was big do'ns bc it made me finally feel like a normal member of society).  anyway, in just that short amount of time, i have now grown to need the dishwasher...more specifically, i can't live without a dishwasher.  it's a commodity in 2008, so i shouldn't feel bad...and i'm not going back to the hand washing...no way, no how.

 

anyway, so i went to Sears to buy a new one, which will show up on Friday - thankfully.  until then, i should remove all the dishes that were loaded from the cycle that died and hand wash them...but instead, i have decided to leave them in the dishwasher.  i will unload them right before the dishwasher switch happens and then reload them into the new dishwasher.  Jon told me that idea was gross bc they’ll have sat in the dishwasher for 5 days, but then i asked him if he wanted to hand-wash everything…he quickly shared my view point.

 

on another note – i need to discuss something that has always bugged me about Sears – their sales receipts.  have you ever noticed how long they are and how many you get?  they need to stop producing so many.  seriously, with every purchase, do I really need 2 surveys receipts, a discount receipt for my next purchase, a credit card receipt, a gift receipt and a sales receipt that is 10 miles long?  even my generic Market Basket grocery store has started printing on the back side of their receipts to conserve paper.

 

here’s to the new dishwasher lasting much longer than the old crappy one…