Weird Holiday Season

I think the whole Christmas season this year is strange for me.  The weather has been unusually warm, so I was only able to turn off my air conditioner on Thanksgiving.  We finally got a cold day today where I have to actually wear pants and not shorts. 

Christmas shopping is very limited due to the fact that I have not had a job in the past year.  Luckily, I live within my means, so there is a little money to spend on Christmas, so the kids are at least getting gifts.  They are getting mostly clothes though, so nothing too exciting. 

My ex is taking the kids out of town after Christmas and asked if he can have them before Christmas day so that they can travel.  The kids no longer believe in Santa, so that is not an issue, but it just feels weird.  We will be opening gifts a full week early since they are getting some clothes that they would like to take on their trip and this will give me time to get them washed, etc...

Of course, I have been informed that my unemployment will be us at the end of the year, so I have been searching high and low for a job.  I have to say that there is not much out there in the way of decent jobs.  So, everything seems up in the air right now because if I get a job, I don't know what it will be or what to expect.  If I don't get a job, my unemployment will be gone and we will have to definitely change how we live (thinking beans and rice). 

So, the holiday season just does not feel all that festive this year.  I am trying to cheer myself up and keep my spirits up, but that is easier said than done.  I will say that I am thankful for my wonderful family and that my life overall is pretty great.  Now if I could only find a job.....

A Baseball Glove for Christmas

My son's Christmas list pretty much consists of one item, an expensive baseball glove.  Luckily we do not live too far from Orlando and there is a Rawlings factory store there.  I looked up online and I guess there are only two Rawlings outlet stores in the whole country.

We went to the Rawlings store on Monday since my son did not have school.  The whole intention was to go and figure out what glove my son wanted so he can ask his Dad and Grandparents for money towards it, since the gloves cost more than what I can afford at this time. 

It turns out though that the outlet was running a 20% off sale on the glove my son wanted and I also pulled a 10% off coupon online that I was able to use.  So, he actually got his glove on Monday!  Overall, he ended up getting a $348 glove for $222 not including tax.  He has $150 coming from John and his grandparents towards the glove, so I went ahead and paid for it now. 

If you have a baseball fanatic in your family and you are going near a Rawlings outlet, make sure to check them out. 

Soccer Tournament Weekend

This past weekend I spent my time watching my daughter and her soccer team in a soccer tournament.  I really love watching them play and only wish that they had won the tournament. They came in second which is great, but a first place win would have been nice. 

My daughter has been playing on two soccer teams this past season, both the girls and they coed (boys) teams.  She really enjoys both and I think it has really helped her develop her game. The girls' team is a little more technical than the boys' team, but the boys' games are so much faster and aggressive.  I think playing both definitely makes a more rounded player. 

The only problem though, is at the end of the season, she started piling bruises on top of bruises on her knees and toes.  Hopefully, now that the season is over she will be able to heal completely before the next tournament in January.  Sometimes, it seems like my life revolves around soccer.  I will be glad when baseball starts up for my son so I can attend a different sport too. 

By the way, my daughter is the redhead in the pic.

Alarm Madness

This summer, my teen and tween protested and told me they are too old to be tucked in anymore.  I agree, but I enjoyed making sure that they were actually in bed and ready for sleep.  Instead, now they kiss me goodnight and get themselves to bed.  Of course, before they walk away, I always remind them to "set their alarm".  Of course I get the tween/teen attitude and am assured that they will set their alarms. 

Then, comes morning....and they only actually set their alarm about 1/3 of the time.  On any given day, one or the other of the kids forget to set their alarm, so I am in their room waking them up late.  God forbid if it is a day when both kids forget to set their alarm.  I have decided that I am sick of the alarm madness in the morning, so I am threatening the kids with tucking them in again. 

My son talks about going into the military, but can't even set his alarm consistently, sometimes I just want to strangle them (joking of course).  If you are a parent, you know exactly what I mean. :)

Wheat Intolerant

Over the past year, I have been battling severe allergies.  I have had allergies since I was about 6 years old and was on allergy shots for a total of 19 years of my life.  So, allergies are nothing new to me.  I am pretty much allergic to anything that lives, many pollens (grass, some trees, ragweed and others), cats, dogs, wool, feathers, molds, bees, horses and dust are what the allergy doctors over the years have diagnosed as definite allergens. 

My usual allergic reactions tend to be runny nose and sneezing with watery eyes that tends to try to settle into my bronchial tubes to create bronchitis.  Luckily, over the years, I have learned to know the symptoms and how it progresses, so I can usually get control of the reactions before I go into bronchitis.  Last year however, I started breaking out in large hives.  I am talking big, dinner plate size.  These are by far the worse reaction I have ever had because it makes you want to scratch your skin off and they are painful.  You get to where you cannot function because they are so distracting. 

I went to the allergy doctor and they put me on Allegra and Zyrtec which help greatly.  The doctor did not even want to go through the whole allergy testing thing again because I have been through it so many times and I have been tested for nearly everything that they have a test for, so it had to be something that does not have a clinical test.  Oh great, right.

Well, I did research online and it indicated that I may have a food allergy or intolerance.  I have been following elimination diets off and on now since the summer and have discovered that I have both a dairy intolerance (discovered that in August) and also a wheat intolerance.  Oh joy. 

In fact the symptoms are worse for wheat then they are for dairy even. Now I am on a quest to find wheat free products that I actually like (brown rice pasta is gross).  And am hoping that I do not have any more food intolerances that I have not discovered yet. 

Do you have any food allergies or intolerances?  How did you deal with it?  Any advice would be helpful. 

Thank You To All Our Veterans

Today is Veterans Day here in the United States.  We use this day to honor those who have served in our military.  I would like to thank all those who have served and have fought for the American way of life and freedoms. 

This holiday has special meaning for me this year as my son is forging a path to eventually enter the military.  He is still in high school but has decided he wants to take 4 years of JROTC and he wants to attend the Air Force Academy or go to college thorough the ROTC program. 

He informed me last week that he would like to join the Civil Air Patrol and has already joined the Color Guard and Drill Team at his school.  I am happy that he is thinking about his future, but as a mother am a little concerned about world politics and whether that will put my son in harms way. 

The Funny Side of Vitamin D

For the last 6 months or so, the news has been inundating us with information about vitamin D and stating that most Americans are deficient.  I have mostly ignored this advice since I live in Florida and get my fair share of sunlight between gardening and my daughter's soccer games and practices. 

I guess everyone that is not in the sunbelt though, has to worry about this deficiency.  In Sunday's paper the Parade magazine had an article regarding Vitamin D.  And yes, I read it.  The article pointed out that the only vegetable that contains Vitamin D is mushrooms.  First off, mushrooms are not technically a vegetable but a fungi, but I laughed out loud in the irony of mushrooms being a source of Vitamin D.  What is the humor you might ask...the fact that mushrooms grow in the dark!!! 

We create Vitamin D in our bodies when we are exposed to sunlight, but mushrooms are generating it without sunlight.  They must indeed be magical mushrooms...lol.  And, yes, I find humor in strange places and am actually grateful that I am so easily amused. 

Blogs and the Economy

As a blogger, I try to keep up with many fellow bloggers.  There are several types of blogs that I read, mommy, couponing, economic, and political.  One thing I have noticed is that many bloggers are not posting as much as they used to and when they do, it is often negative news. 

I too have fallen into this rut, and I think it has to do with the general state of the economy in the U.S. and the financial and emotional strain that it is dealing to individuals on a daily basis.  I especially notice this strain in the frugal and couponing blogs.  In fact, many of the blogs that I read a year ago, are no longer in existance.  The latest blog that is shut down is Space Coast Couponing.  The blogger shut down the blog as they had to move their family out of Florida because they could not sustain themselves in Florida any longer. 

I feel for these individual and am thankful that I am able to continue in my present state, even though I have yet to find employment this year.  I know that there are many worse off than me because I see it every day at moving and garage sales of people that have lost their homes and/or have to move out of the state to move in with family members because they can no longer sustain a household. 

All I can think, is Lord help us all.  There has to be a way out of this mess without more people suffering.  I only hope that the solution rears its head soon because at this rate, blogs will become few and far between. 

So Busy....

It is amazing to me how busy I can be since I am not working.  Between my daughter's soccer schedule and both kids social schedule, it seems I never get caught up on housework.  I think since I am not working that my house is in worse shape than it was when I was working.

Part of the problem is that since I am not working, everyone has the mentality that "Mom, has time to do it", so I get less help.  And since I am trying to live off less money, I am taking the time to clip coupons, look for deals, etc..., which all takes time.  Actually it takes more time than most people realize.  Now, grocery shopping takes significantly longer as does running errands when I am always searching for the best deal. 

I look back now and wonder how I had time to work.