Business Christmas Party

Every year, Chris' office Christmas party, is held at his dad's partner, Ben's, house. It was for adults only because there was just not enough room for everyone and their children. This year however, is going to be different. The partner has moved to a bigger and better house and all are welcomed. Jeff was going to act as the gateman to direct people where to go once they pulled into the complex. He won't be because he is actually going to be working a full 8 hours at his job at the mall. That job may fall on Chris.

Chris has told me that the new house is huge. He has a room exclusively for a home theater with home theater seating set up just like a cinema. So, maybe the little ones can be entertained in there with a movie marathon or something. I know Katie will be all into that. There is a billiard room with a nice bar (I will be probably be seated at the bar all night) and he will have a bartender on duty until everyone leaves. Food will be catered by Sonny's because Ben loves Sonny's and we will provide a few items like we do every year. All the VIP people of Sarasota will be there like every year and although you would think people of money are all hoity toity; this group is extremely nice and fun. Some of the big wigs responsible for all the condominiums on Siesta Key, Longboat Key and Casey Key (where Stephen King has a house by the way) will be attending.

Last year was good. We weren't expecting Chris to get a bonus because business was down. Although, they did surprise Chris with a bonus. This year we are not counting on it either but it would be nice. They have had to scale back on office staff, in total they have laid off three people, including, the office manager. So I highly doubt there will be a bonus but we shall see. Ben by the way did not buy this house. He rents it and he got a great deal on it. He got a bigger house costing less money than what he was spending. So that just goes to show you that even the well to do are cutting costs.

12 Pains of Christmas

I just about died when I found this song. It took me back to when I was maybe 17 or 18 years old, going Christmas shopping with my family and this song came on over the radio and we laughed so hard that there was not one dry eye in the car. My sister had taped it a long time ago and my father actually would play it at every Christmas dinner for years until the tape broke. I am going to have to email my parents the link.

Its on my playlist at the bottom of this blog. I guarantee you will not stop laughing until after the song is over!

Caviar dreams and champagne wishes

Chris and I were talking today about how nice it would be to pamper ourselves with a mini vacation for just the two of us. A friend of mine that has lived in North Carolina frequently talked about the Outer Banks of North Carolina as an historical not just on how the British tried to colonize the Americas but also where the Wright Brothers took their flight. I was never much into history back in school days but the older I get I find myself more fascinated by it.

There is so much that I would like to see, but, until the kids are grown and out of the house, it's not going to happen. I have started a vacation journal and jotting down historical sites here and abroad and maybe one day I can utilize that journal for the memories from visiting such places. For now though… it's a dream.

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Call him Speedy Gonzales

Yesterday, Chris and I evaluated our expenses. We are budget minded individuals, and we strive to save money where we can. After receiving our car insurance invoice, we thought maybe we could save additional money there by taking me off of our combined policy and placing me with my own insurance. Our main objective, besides saving money, was to insure my Malibu for the cleaning business and possibly setting up a commercial account so that it could be incorporated into the cleaning business expenditures. It's not going to happen that way. Yes, I could get a great deal on my own but, Chris would end up paying a lot more with me out of the picture as a secondary driver for both vehicles. We can contribute that to his **ahem** driving boo boos. Chris has a lot of speeding tickets but luckily the points start coming off this coming March. The reason we pay a hefty premium now is because of Chris and his lead foot. With me out of the picture his premium would almost double. So for now I will continue to stay on until his record is clear. I say within the year it should be. That's of course he keeps his nose clean and the cruise control on.

Thanksgiving Pictures

My mom has such a flair for decorating a wonderful holiday table. I wasn't blessed with that talent one bit.

You can barely see me... I am sandwiched between my parents. My mom duped me into getting the rolls ready to go into the oven. Funny thing though, my kitchen is 3 times this size and I call it a one person kitchen.

Here is my dad, carving the turkey (one of them that is) Chris got the pleasure of cutting his fried turkey minutes after my dad was done.

It's beginning to look a lot like stuff your face time.

By the time everyone got ready to dig in there was not one place on this table that wasn't packed with a dish. Even the built in hutch behind the table was full with food.

I had asked Chris why he didn't get pictures of the family. His parents and our kids. Apparently the kids were next door playing until it was time to eat and his parents kept giving him dirty looks. I think we all know where he gets his camera shyness from. LOL!

24 days of insanity? I sure hope not!

Since I am still recuperating from whatever the hell I have caught, I am trying to be productive in my Christmas shopping by seeing what the deals are online. Chris and I have already purchased the big gift for the family. I can say we did a pretty good thing for the kids this Christmas. We bought a Wii. This was a decision that took months to make. Weighing the Pros and Cons and finally settling on purchasing it before Black Friday hit. We did our homework and figured better to do it now or not do it at all. Since, they would probably be unavailable, once the biggest shopping day of the year hit. Chris sacrificed his Xbox and all his equipment and games to be able to purchase an extra controller and accessories and four games. Total out of pocket cost for the whole shebang including the Wii…. $240.00!!! Not bad considering the Wii itself cost $250.00! I think we shopped smart on that one.

Now I am trying to locate wholesale electronics for two members of the family. I found a couple of good deals so I may actually be done with that part of shopping, now, all I have to do is find a few more items and my end will be 100% done. Now it will just be buying for Chris from the kids. Chris and I have forgone our gift giving to each other this year. We wanted to make sure the kids were taken care of and besides, with this economy, we have done pretty well considering. I let him off the hook for Christmas but he better remember my birthday or he will be sleeping with the animals. I am betting that Reese, Bentley, Cuddles and Belle will not like having a human in their bed this Thursday. We shall see though!