Holiday's, Arg!!

Oh the Holidays, they are upon us.  Tis the season to be merry or tis the season to dread.  My sister and I have had our fair shares of both.  Multiple Christmas's in multiple locations, Thanksgiving at a restaurant or Thanksgiving at an assisted living home.  I know it sounds cheesy, but as long as you are with family, maybe not even yours, holidays can be good.  But I still can't shake the dread that they may be the most stressful time of the year.  I have a job that requires me to work most of the holidays, if not all of them.  My family has adapted many traditions to suit my work, therefor I am thankful.  We celebrate Christmas, 3 days after actual Christmas.  Thanksgiving at a restaurant was due to it being across the street form work and I could walk over, eat, and walk back to work without skipping a beat (and don't forget not having any dishes, that was a bonus).  By the way, Thanksgiving is a holiday that is often forgotten about.  It hasn't even happened yet but Black Friday is coming soon.  

I have had the last two days off and can't afford to shop.  I can't afford to decorate.  I occasionally look at the computer and pick out things that I would have bought for fun.  I have a fresh look on what it means to cut coupons and shop with a shopping list at the grocery store.  And currently, due to my lack of green, I am thinking about what I can make for everyone for Christmas.  Who knew it was so expensive to own a house, yes, you know the mortgage, but no one tells you that the bills are what will bring you down.

On a side note, I just finished going through a box of stuff that used to belong to our mother and found our Grandmother's Wedding album, as well as our parents wedding album.  It is interesting that, except for our Aunt, I don't recognize any of the people in our paren'ts wedding party.  And . . . I found a picture of Mom in like 5th or 6th grade,  I had to do a double take, I thought it was me!  Pretty weird, but cool.