Mountainair

That’s funny. There is a chain pizza joint here in the states that offers a free “emergency” pizza when you order from them so that when kitchen disasters like that happen you can take advantage of your free pizza. I had a girls night out for dinner and went to a cider place that was serving Christmas cookies paired with ciders. I’m not a cider fan but the pairings were actually really good. For dinner I had the grilled cheese with bacon, apples, and a special aioli with field green salad on the side. Very good.

Don’t get me started on health care in America. 2020 was a crap show for my family. I had an ACA plan that was reasonable for my family to pay monthly. I.e had a high deductible. We weren’t sick often, didn’t need drs often. In that year my daughter broker her arm twice. She needed four surgeries by the time 2022 arrived. It was a years long process. Our bill was over $40,000. Meanwhile my 10 year old was diagnosed with a heart condition requiring 2 surgeries at over $100,000 a piece. Over that two year period we owed over $50,000. My husband and I both work jobs without benefits but the kids are eligible for Medicaid. My son will need many more surgeries so I’m in this precarious position of getting a better job and paying out of pocket for medical or keep working my lower paying job that allows me to be present for my kids and they are eligible for Medicaid.

Ugh- I live in Asheville. Wonder if she will at all mention the devastation surrounding her, the people living in tent neighborhoods because their homes were destroyed, Ruth Chris is about the only restaurant on that side of town that survived (other than Biltmore Estate restaurants), no doubt they will be eating there at some point.

As a mother of three (8, 12 and 15). I can’t even bother to look at our entertain Carlin and Evan’s instagram reels. I work part time (8-2) at my kids school as a Kindergarten assistant. I arrive at 7 and sit in the car so my kids can socialize before school starts. I leave at 2:30 and sit in my car until 3:15 dismissal so I dont have to go through the car line. No benefits, no paid time off but I work a job that allows me to be there for my kids. My husband lost his job due to Hurricane Helene. It was completely flattened. He found a new job with less pay in three weeks. These fools know nothing about the real world and Dubai is wasted on them. Granted Dubai is not a place I want to travel to. Scotland, Italy yes but I’m in the boat of having a new driver to insure, college. They have no clue what it means to sacrifice Jack shit.

I really don’t understand why they don’t vet these properties better. I mean I do-DRAMA but I think it’s pretty clear most viewers hate this part of the trips. Last year my family of 15 went to Florida. We had four couples and 7 kids between us. We were able to find a house with 4 primary bedrooms each with an en-suite and king bed plus three additional rooms and two more bathrooms to mix the kids up in. There were several of these options to chose from.

Those sound yummy! My kid is a more adventurous eater so the cheese shouldn’t pose a problem. I plan to go closer to Christmas to check out the selection but I may have to buy the frozen ones from the store for my other two kids.

My teen son loves pierogies so I was thinking of getting some from a local European store that makes them fresh in-house as part of our Christmas Dinner. He has only ever had frozen ones from the grocery store. The main course is yet to be decided. We started a new tradition last year that for New Years Day we break out the Hot Pot and have the table filled with all sorts of meats, veggies and noodles and the kids can add whatever they want and it’s a good way to sit around the table and chat :)

Not related to self check outs but since Covid times our drug stores have been severely lacking. My kids have needed antibiotics in the last year or so and CVS and Walgreens have been completely out of them leaving me in a lurch. I’ve waited in line for hours (seriously) to be told they are out of said antibiotic. There are times lately when the pharmacy is just closed due to lack of staff. I ended up switching to our local grocery store chain and have had no problems getting prescriptions filled.

I was perusing my Snoop Dogg cookbook yesterday looking for a cookie recipe. I found what I was looking for and his commentary before the recipe included him giving a shout out to his boy “Puff”. I’m going to be mad if Snoop’s name gets brought up in all this mess. Jay-Z doesn’t really surprise me. I listened to his Blue album (I think that was the title) and liked it well enough but he was another one that Icked me out for no good reason.

Tomorrow I have to go shopping with my two sisters in law. This is our first Christmas without my mother in law and my one sister in law has been on a roller coaster of emotions. We’ve known each other since we were teenagers and we are now on our 40’s so “moms” death was hard on all of us. The other sister in law joined the family about 10 years ago. We are shopping for gifts for the kids that their Papa can give them. I’ve mentioned in another thread how much I hate shopping and they hate shopping with me. I feel like I need to drink before I go. Maybe I’ll be more chill. I’m an in and out shopper. Not a touch everything, ooh and ahh shopper like my sister in law is. I’ve already pissed her off because she texted that she was going to buy the three little girls (our kids are all the same age- we have biggles, middles and littles) the Holiday Barbie to be from her dad and I merely suggested that they dont need to all get the same gift. My daughter could care less about Barbie’s. That set her off. She has called and or texted me several times since mom died about how awful I am. She is in recovery from alcoholism so I take it with a grain of salt. She chooses me to lash out at because we have known each other over 20 years but it doesn’t make it easier. Wish me luck tomorrow.

I’m an old soul at heart but remember my favorite gift being my canopy day bed complete with a trundle bed underneath for sleepovers and retro record player/roller skate sheets. That was ‘95 or so when I was 10. My grandpa was always big into gadgets and technology so would gift us all of the newest video game systems just so he would have an excuse to play them. Our decorations go up the day after Thanksgiving but we didn’t host this year and our normal tree farm was hit hard by Helene (we are in Western NC), so we went artificial this year and we’re all set up by Thanksgiving. My kids school (and where I work) is on winter break from Thanksgiving to New Years so I usually take Christmas down a day or so after Christmas so we can get back in the swing of things after being off so long. New Years is either quiet at home or snacks and a sleepover with my sister in law and her three kids who are the same ages as my three kids. Said grandparents mentioned above still plan on coming every Christmas and usually they will make it for one day before they abruptly leave due to my Grandmas health and we usually never get a chance to see them before they leave. They do always make a point to see my mom. This year they sent me money to buy gifts for the kids in their name. They live 4 hours away and I know my time with them is slipping by and I’m glad my kids have had great grandparents as long as they have- my oldest is 15.

Me personally, the moment my life started to crumble around me. My 5 year old needing multiple surgeries for a repeat broken arm, my son being diagnosed with a heart defect at the same time requiring surgeries, loss of loved ones-2020. I lost my Mother in law this year who has been a part of my life since I was 14. I don’t consider it a Christmas song but it is played this time of year to bring people like me to our knees with emotion. Thankfully I’m on the right amount of anxiety meds to keep me sane-ish. It’s kinda like when randomly they decided My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music was a Christmas song.

We kind of had that tradition. My dad and Grandpa were (are) church organists and my grandparents lived an hour away. We would always pack up the car with Christmas presents in the morning and drive to them or have to wait for them to get to us before we could open anything. If Christmas was on a Sunday, well, that was even worse. We were only allowed our stocking until we got together, then we’d sit on the couch with breakfast and go one present at a time. And there were always plenty! It was a whole day thing which I kind of miss with my own kids but I took the opposite approach with my kids. No church, I make breakfast but I don’t expect them to eat it. They start with stockings and then have to wait for me and Dad to be coffee-d and bathroom-ed before they can start. They get to open a few gifts at a time but not a free for all. Late morning my in-laws come over for breakfast and my parents come over for dinner. We do a big Christmas Eve with my in-laws and family (14) of us where my mother in law makes her soup and we have a sandwich platter, decorate cookies, the kids open gifts and the adults play White Elephant. We lost my mother in law back in April so this is a season of firsts for all of us and we are trying to keep her traditions alive.

I’m a paper list in my back pocket gal myself. Sometimes I’ll forget my list at home and have my kids text me a picture of it and I find it the most annoying way to shop. Alas, I loath grocery shopping and my sister in law picks on me for the way I shop. Grab the cart, race through the store and how dare anyone get in my way!

These are generally people that take up whole aisles, have no list, have no visible disability (yes, I know many disabilities aren’t visible as I suffer from my own), and have no control of their kids so it’s not like they are helping and the other adult looks like the grocery store is the last place they’d rather be. I shop at the same stores every week and I see the same families in there. My brother and sister in law do this as well and again- Pet Peeves- I’d much prefer shopping on my own than dragging my whole family of five through the grocery store if I had the option.