Merry Christmas
by Katy on December 25, 2020 · 18 comments
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! May the sacrifices to stay away from friends and family this year make it all the sweeter when we can see one another in person again.
Until then, enjoy your Cowboy elf ornament. My sister’s gift My gift to you.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Merry Christmas to you and your family too Katy! And like you, I’m hoping that staying home will help us to all be together next year and appreciate it all the more. Yes, DH and I stayed home last night and today. I canceled our Christmas Eve celebration with our four kids and their families. One year is not that hard. Besides keeping them and ourselves safe, my main concern are the health care workers who this pandemic has landed on very hard. I do not want to see this nation’s health care facilities be overwhelmed any more than they are already, especially after Thanksgiving. May we all have a happy and healthier New Year!
We relocated 1300 miles the beginning of November. We’ve been staying with our son and daughter in law since mid November.
1. We sold, donated and ditched many things before the move. We kept our quality furniture many items were family pieces.
2. I’ve used Facebook marketplace to find kitchen and dining room chairs
3. We spent a very quiet thanksgiving and Christmas with son, daughter in law and my sister and her husband (they live next door to son)
4. We will be moving into our rental this weekend. The landlord left the WiFi connected for us until we can find a provider (hubby is telecommuting)
5. Sold an number of items for my sister so I get a %
Yes, quiet day. Just my husband and i. Though had many Christmas phone calls, and a FaceTime with my granddaughter.
May next year, be brighter, and covid free.
I told my grown children, hopefully by summer, we’d have a big get together, bbq, and many hugs!
Merry Christmas Katy, and the non consumer advocate family!
1. I listed several furniture pieces on FB on Christmas Eve morning, just to get the task done but expecting them to be sitting there until after the holiday weekend. To my amazement, all four sold by the evening! $250 in pocket.
2. Did not cook this year, instead got Chinese yesterday from a locally owned family business and there was so much we had plenty leftover for today and still enough for a light lunch tomorrow.
3. Got a lovely wood puzzle as a gift, but, sadly, identical to one we received last year from someone else. The local women’s shelter had asked for puzzles and games that could be done by groups in their activity room, so we dropped it off there yesterday, along with a duplicate unopened Scrabble game.
4. Had a very quiet Christmas with the husband, exchanging only cards since we have enough stuff. Our Christmas entertainment is binging the original All Creatures Great and Small series so that we can watch the new one starting on PBS in January, with our critical tongues ready to go if they change too many things from the delightful first one!
5. Someone gave us two boxes with a total of 100 coffee pods, thinking we had the machine for them. Put them on Next Door as a freebie and someone snagged them within an hour. Happy to pass them on.
5+FF: Happy Holidays Katy & All NCAs!
1. Worked full-time 1 week temporarily for former employer. Took lunch & snacks daily & used complimentary coffee & pure water provided. Repaired a couple of holes in my gloves during down time. Celebrated final evening with fast food takeout using coupon for burgers & free custard with survey. Worked another part-time day so employer could make holiday gift deliveries to customers/agents. Received a small gift & several homemade cookies.
2. Busy with multiple medical appointments before insurance ends on 12-31: DH had physical with lab, I had Covid testing & colonoscopy, along with physical with lab. Ordered delivery from DD’s employer for DH’s b-day dinner to support their small family business but since it was post-procedure, my meal consisted of economical red lentil soup that helped keep the overall bill reasonable.
3. Minimal gift spending aside from stocking stuffers already purchased. Between 1 week of full-time work & then transitioning immediately into prep phase for procedure, skipped 1 week of grocery shopping. Did large shopping primarily @ Aldi & big box to enjoy holiday food made almost entirely @ home.
4. Taking advantage of gas station’s giveaway promotions – recent freebies Best Maid bar, Mountain Dew, hand sanitizer, Snickers bar, coffee. Pop will be gifted to DF as her favorite. Recently gave Chex Mix & Spiced Pecans to her & neighbor. DF had an overabundance of onions, so she gifted several extras that will be used in holiday cooking.
5. Recently filled up my car with ½ tank gasoline that lasted 2 months = very minimal driving. Received car insurance with $31.68 Covid credit taken off upcoming premium.
6. Used December free card coupon from card store to fortify my stock of sympathy cards. Also used $9 in assorted coupons & bonuses (inc. $7 that were expiring before the 25th) towards a gift for DD. Took several photos & let her choose item eliminating surprise but ensuring her approval. Did not want to waste incentives on item she didn’t like. Gift savings was 69% off full price.
7. Bundled appointments to metro in 1 day – dentist/optometrist/haircut to increase efficiency of both time & fuel.
“The holiest of all holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart, the secret anniversaries of the heart”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Merry Christmas Katy! We were going to stay home by ourselves as I had convinced my parents to stay in CO this year. Then in early November they both got Covid and decided us and them didn’t have to worry anymore and bought plane tickets out to visit. I am happy to see them and I think it will be ok. They weren’t going to listen to me either way I guess.
Christmas night – like many posters, a small family gathering culminating a very quiet holiday season. Season’s greetings to all!
1. Gifts were fairly modest including $$ to help fund kid’s IRA accounts. (They will appreciate it some day.)
3. Xmas gifts for sons included pieces of art in my stash but never hung. A wildlife print by the same artist DH#1 already owns. Also, a vintage print commemorating the 1883 dedication of the Statute of Liberty which hangs in the NYC Museum of Art for DS#2.
4. Continuing frugal habits of menu planning, cooking from scratch and eating some vegetarian meals. Packing DH lunch most days which consists of a sandwich, fruit and a treat of some sort to keep satisfaction at a reasonable level.
5. Many friends have indicated that they plan to donate their stimulus checks to those who need them. Probably not frugal, but in the words of the late beloved Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN), ” We all do better when we ALL do better.” Peace.
.
Love your Paul Wellstone quote here. He was such an exceptional human being and inspiring leader. If and when more stimulus checks come our way, they will be given to our local food shelf once again.
I often wonder what the world would be like now if Paul Wellstone had lived to become President. A far better place, I think.
I didn’t know who Paul Wellstone was but from these posts I think we could use him right now. So many suffering in so many ways. I feel, at least, there is a light at the end of the tunnel beginning with the Covid vaccine.
Merry Christmas Katy and everyone. We had a nice quiet Christmas. Missing all the family members that we couldn’t be with but we zoomed for a bit. We had a nice breakfast and dinner and took a ride to see some of the decorations in town. Stay safe everyone.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. Our 2020 COVID family Christmas was actually very nice but small. Just the three of us. But lovely. Good food, a few nice presents, a nap! Watching the new Wonder Woman movie and Elf! And cookies. Chatting with friends on the phone, text, and FB.
I don’t do Christmas or holidays but man the tourists came here in droves. Some venues were televised and they were packed in those places with no masks. Probably bringing covid presents with them they didn’t know they had and taking unknown covid presents home with them.
Im so bored with everything. I decided to play grocery flyer shopper. I’m buying and eating the cheapest.
I thought Aldi’s would be all the best buys but I ended up not buying anything there.
10 pounds nice looking russets $2.25
1 pound yellow onions $.50
1 pound carrots $.65
1 pound red seedless grapes $1.20
2 liter Coke $.89
2 liter Sprite $.89
1 pound butter $1.50
1 pound ground beef $1.79
1 can corn $.33
1 10 ounce bag cool ranch Doritos $1.77
Sweet potato $.35 pound
1 big jar vlasic pickles $2.50
Coffee pods $.25 each
I’m looking at my groceries and don’t want any of them. So much for a game to spark interest. They need to make kibble for people. Actually the grapes are good.
The workers who live with me continue to sanitize this covid trap town. They use all that jazzy disinfectant machinery and when they get home they take turns with a hot soapy shower and clean clothes. We all had covid last September but medical experts say:
People could potentially be carriers even after recovering.
Those who have recovered are recommended to get the vaccine.
Present research indicates a 90 day immunity after recovery but they don’t know for sure, it might be more it might be less.
You have to get a new flu shot each year because flu mutates. They don’t know the future of covid. Good times.
I want sandy sun filled beaches, blackened fresh caught fish, grilled pineapple, want want want.
t, I have often said someone needs to invent People Chow, kind of like Cat Chow for folks who need to eat but just can’t be bothered.
Merry Christmas, Katy, and all. And hope everyone celebrating Hannukah had a lovely one this year.
We had a lovely, low-stress Christmas. A few useful but fun gifts were exchanged. We e-mailed family members we could not visit. We napped a lot and and had a couple of delicious but not complicated meals.
Except for not seeing extended family, this is rather how I prefer to do Christmas: very low-key and quiet, as befits a household of introverts who have pretty much everything they need.
Katy, I love that in true NCA style, you regifted the cowboy elf!
It’s awesome, and I’m proud of my sister’s artwork!
You should be. She is very talented!