Didn't get what you wanted for Christmas?

I am amazed how many times I hear couples moaning about how their husband/wife didn’t get them anything for Christmas (shame on them!) or how they got their husband/wife something awesome, but they just got “fill in the blank with a disappointing thoughtless gift”.

Awesome gift giving and gift receiving doesn’t just happen. We make it happen, and I’m going to let you in on a little secret…

Definitely, definitely, definitely talk before hand.

Excuse #1. No money

He spends $10 on a trinket, and you spend $250 on his dream-come-true gift. You are disappointed and hurt and he feels like a schmuk.

Solutions #1. Set a budget so you don’t spend unbalanced amounts.

Take the money out of the bank and put it in envelopes for each other. At the very least, if they don’t get around to shopping, they should put the money in a card for YOU to spend… If you have kids, set a budget for them too. This year my DH and I had $100 gift budget for each other, and we each spent $100 on gifts for our DS. In addition, we gave our DS $100 to spend around $50 on each of his parents… Teaching your kids to give gifts is SO important!

Excuse #2. No idea what to get.

It’s Christmas Eve, and he still has no clue what would make your eyes glow and your heart flutter in renewed love. You are online wracking your brain and perusing random blogs for ideas.

Solutions #2. Have him write a wish list, and you write a wish list for him. Exchange them about a month before Christmas.

He picks a few things off your list, you pick a few things off his list, and the rest is inspired by the list. Have the kids write a list too. Don’t want them forcing excitement over something they could care less about. Win-win!

Exuse #3. No time to shop!

You’re rushing around going to work Christmas parties, baking cookies, sending out cards, getting season pictures done, shoveling snow, hanging lights, putting up decorations, getting a tree, wrangling kids… The last thing you want to do is take on the crowded parking lots and crazy malls.

Solutions #3. Schedule times for each of you to go shopping alone. Don’t forget to schedule times to take the kids shopping to pick out gifts for their parents too.

That takes care of the top 3 excuses. No money. No ideas. No time. Solved!

For the record, I got everything I wanted! A chef’s knife that is light enough it doesn’t aggravate my carpel tunnel syndrome, a beautiful mother of pearl and silver tree ornament, a matching wooden necklace and earrings, another pair of earrings that my son picked out, soapstone India perfume and some yummy smelling soap, a Mother Earth News magazine, a journal, an alpaca wool scarf (from the farm next door to us) and my two favorite boys home with me for the day!

Protected: I keep pinching myself…

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Settling into our new place…

October 31st (yes, on Halloween) we moved into our beautiful home. Once we moved everything in, it was hard to believe all of that stuff was in a tiny little 800 square foot condo! That place must have REALLY good storage, cause we filled a 6 tonne truck packed floor to ceiling, plus two carloads, and my dad took a couple loads of boxes too in his work truck!

I’m sitting here at my desk, looking out the window at our beautiful 5 acre yard, and my heart is filled with gratitude for the blessing of this home. I can hear the soft murmur of conversation next door in the hair salon as B cuts a client’s hair. He opened early on Monday to do a haircut for a woman who is going away for a month, and ended up doing a colour for someone else too, and made almost $100 that first day. Yesterday and today he was fully booked and didn’t even have time to eat lunch! He is going to do fabulously. Everyone I talk to on the island is excited to have a “real” hair dresser living and working here. I know he’ll be very successful. His personality is a perfect fit for island life, and everyone is really pleased with the haircuts and colour he has done. He’s the only male hair stylist on the island, and also the only one who is open full time hours and offers full hair salon services. I’m so proud of him!

This week I took three days off to get the place organized and unpacked, and it’s getting there… I need to file a bunch of paperwork, and I have a list of things I need my dad to help out with, but otherwise I’m ready to go back to work tomorrow. I will be commuting to Nanaimo for the time being. I was originally going to be working on contract from home, but they decided last minute that they want someone in the office full time doing my position. They gave me a $1/hour raise, and will pick me up and drop me off at the ferry so I don’t have to pay to drive on (a difference of $15/day). It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work until I find something local on Gabriola.

Ds started at his new school on Monday, and is settling in well. He came home his first day and said he made a new “bestest” friend. B will be taking a lunch break from 10:45-11:45 everday so he can pick ds up at 11:17 everday, make him lunch, and eat something too. Ds will hang out with him here at the house, either in the salon, or will play and/or watch movies in the next room. Again, it’s not ideal, but we can’t afford the extra $500 a month to put him in daycare, so we’ll make it work. I plan to have a bunch of centres set up so he’ll have activities to do during the day, but that’s not going to happen this week. I need to find a shelving system with baskets or drawers for all of his different activities.

Next weekend we are going to have a small party for a few close friends and family, and welcome them into our new home. I’m excited to be able to accomodate large parties now, and am really looking forward to Christmas in this house. We certainly have enough wine glasses! I counted them all when I was unpacking… Can you believe we received 18 wine glasses in all as gifts?! And we rarely drink. LOL Funny….

I know a bully…

Tonight B and I were telling ds stories about when we were his age, which he really loves. B was saying that he had a friend that protected him from bullies, and ds asked what bullies are. We explained it, and his reply was “I know a bully.” Oh yeah? At your school? “No.” Oh, what’s his name? “Satan!”

Nice one.