monkeygirl Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 I haven't paid rent on time 3 months in a row. I've sold all the jewelry I've ever owned that was worth anything. My car is from 2006, beat to shit and making funny noises. My Dad is still dead and my health is declining. And I have no drugs or alcohol. I do have a thousand dollar insurance policy so I'm still worth more dead than I am alive So I got that going for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 It probably doesn't help that my best friends Mom passed away of breast cancer. I'm going to her funeral today in Austin for the first day of winter break. She was one of the biggest influences in my young life and I will be forever grateful to her for being the person she was. My best friend and her parents gave me opportunities I could never have had with my mother during my formative years because of their generosity and goodness. I got to go to camps, NASA tour, learned to play DnD, was introduced to comics and British tv. Then my other best friend has a really close friend who is also dying of cancer and him and his partner are helping with hospice care and working shifts to make sure she is not alone. To lighten this thread back up I found this at Dillard's! https://www.dillards.com/p/peanuts-snoopy-appliqued-chenille-plush-hoodie-sleep-tunic/510168274 It's getting bought the moment it goes on sale! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceheart Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Man, were a really festive bunch. My condolences to all in this thread. My mom bought herself an air fryer, and weve all been playing with it, and if you dont have one already, its worth keeping your eye out for an after Christmas clearance sale on one, theyre great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 I'm still coveting a stand mixer. This year at the Christmas party raffle they didn't do it. I won a Fitbit instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Ender Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Man, were a really festive bunch. My condolences to all in this thread. My mom bought herself an air fryer, and weve all been playing with it, and if you dont have one already, its worth keeping your eye out for an after Christmas clearance sale on one, theyre great.Air fryers are the best! I put almost everything in mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolis Posted December 25, 2019 Share Posted December 25, 2019 I bought one for my wife for her birthday last month. She loves it. Made steak one night. Don't put steak in an air fryer. Not as juicy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 25, 2019 Share Posted December 25, 2019 It was nice leaving my mother-in-law’s house without anything for myself. She got us a shelving unit from Ikea that we just picked up from the store, and my wife and kids got stuff but I didn’t. It beats feigning excitement about an Amazon Echo, which I did last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted December 25, 2019 Author Share Posted December 25, 2019 So someone in my family got a air fryer last night. We decided to do some french fries. It cooks small amounts and takes up a lot of space on the counter. I'm going to wait until the figure out how to make my oven do that same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerina Posted December 26, 2019 Share Posted December 26, 2019 We got 2 air fryers for Christmas. And a bunch of camping stuff that was on our Amazon Wish-List (as much as she can annoy me, my MIL sure does know how to stick to a list!!) My sister-in-law and her fiance bought a house this year, so they really really REALLY wanted to host Christmas. So that's where we were all day. I did have to feign satisfaction with her cooking (stuffing from a box, egg noodles boiled in broth, the blandest green bean casserole ever, and store-bought pre-cooked ham). Meanwhile, my mom grilled ribeyes and made her famous wine shrimp an hour and a half north of my SIL's house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 And I got a flat tire on Interstate 35 on my way to Austin for Christmas. People are nice on Christmas and stopped to help me change out my flat. I was so glad because even as chonky as I am the small little lug wrench they give you to take the lugs off wasn't giving even my fat ass enough torque to get those lugs off. I was standing on the damn thing and they wouldn't budge. I was near tears and cursing in Kyle Texas in my pyjammas. (I wasn't supposed to be out in public!) So here I am stuck at Discount Tire waiting for a patch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Krawlie Posted December 26, 2019 Share Posted December 26, 2019 I managed to get away from my in-laws with a six pack of beer, consumed day of, as my only gift. It was a relief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceheart Posted December 26, 2019 Share Posted December 26, 2019 Spam, Frigidaire put an air fryer function in their 2020 stove line. But I got a Cosori countertop air fryer / toaster / roaster / convection oven thing, and it is definitely not small. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 I managed to get away from my in-laws with a six pack of beer, consumed day of, as my only gift. It was a relief.I never would’ve thought that I’d want to escape without presents, but I feel you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeygirl Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 So, I managed to make it through-although, it does feel awful having wanted Christmas eve to go fast. It's my favorite day of the year and I 'missed' it. But many around me were of the same mind. My Mom called me, almost crying, on Monday, sad that she hadn't even sent me a card so i told her not to let it bother her because I didn't send any either. I attended my day-job's "Christmas Party" (our new boss scheduled it AT THE OFFICE during the day, so no alcohol) on one of my days OFF, but it was nice to hang with my work friends without having to worry about when my next report airs cause I wasn't on the air. I went to my good friend, jackie's house for a couple hours on Christmas eve and helped her wrap presents-something I love doing and did not do this year outside this. And her family invited me to see Little Women with them on Christmas Day I worked a lot of overtime ($$$) and today, I will determine if I can pay my rent on time next month, once I see what my paycheck amounts to. I will never have another Christmas this shitty again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destiny Skywalker Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 My poor kid kind of had a shitty Christmas. Despite providing an Amazon Wishlist with techy things like robots and snap circuits, everyone bought her clothes. She is 8 and wears a uniform to school. Several of the clothes were many sizes too large, she will not be able to wear them for at least 2 years. My mother-in-law got her this hideous old lady outfit and got her brother things off his Wishlist. I let her return it, it was just so ugly. So basically her brother got a ton of toys and she got clothes she can't wear. I was already irked with my mother-in-law for the clear gender bias, but then everyone but my dad did it, too. (Dad was the only one to buy off the Wishlist, but then I left the gift back at home 150 miles away.) We got both kids RC cars so they wouldn't fight and hers was a dud out of the box. Poor kid needs a Christmas do-over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted December 28, 2019 Author Share Posted December 28, 2019 AW man that is the worst! I had that Christmas as the older child for years. Always clothes. Not stuff I would wear either. I got a fur coat once. When I got that coat my Dad was stationed in El Paso. Like what the hell? When am I going to wear this? It's an older child thing I think too. I don't know why. All the older siblings I've ever met got "grown up" type gifts that they didn't want. Best Christmas was when I got a record player stereo. This year I gave booze as adult gifts. And for kids I got a large jar of fun shaped erasers, a squishy "NeeDoh" ball that changes colors and Pokemon things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destiny Skywalker Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 One of my friends said their live-in mother-in-law got her 7-year old a BBQ set. She's the youngest, though. But a total WTF moment because what is a 7-year old going to do with a BBQ set? I kind of gently brought it up to my husband's family that my daughter was irritable because her brother got to play with all these cool toys and she got clothes, and I got a shrug and a "She'll learn". I was so irritated that was their reaction to the clear disparity in gift giving. She is still old enough to play with toys. I think the other issue is the bias with girls and technology. My stepmother in law thinks my kids get too much screen time and she has "so many regrets" about letting her kids have a Wii when they were kids. She says it's so many hours wasted. I think if my kids are learning to use technology and programming, that's not hours wasted. (I spent a lot of hours reading as a kid. We're those hours not "wasted" just because it's a different medium?) There's studies on how we encourage boys to use technology with gifts and toys and discourage girls with giving them dolls and stuffed animals instead, and how that stunts their comfort with technology, which is now hurting girls academically as we move to computerized testing. I'm pretty sure that's why her wishlist was totally ignored, because it wasn't cute enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerina Posted December 28, 2019 Share Posted December 28, 2019 That's really shitty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted December 28, 2019 Author Share Posted December 28, 2019 This happens a lot in school. Doubly so because I teach in a Mexican-American school district where girls are expected to get married and not ever hold jobs unless they are place holders until they get married and have kids. OH MAN. A BBQ Set. I can't evun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destiny Skywalker Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 Well we got our gift package from great-grandma today. More clothes, and very pink clothes, but nothing for little brother. I'll excuse it because she's like 92 and senile. The funny thing is my daughter is usually the favored grandchild. The bias from my mother-in-law is so obvious it's not even funny. But it's just very clear after a generation of boys that they have been dying to buy frilly pink shit. She's 8, it's time to get over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Spam Posted December 29, 2019 Author Share Posted December 29, 2019 Right!? I don't know why it's hard to shake that kind of gender bias loose. I don't promote products but I do get a lot of STEM stuff for the classroom. I've ordered some of the coding things for the classroom. The girls love it more than the boys. It's actually right up their alley as they are more organized and better able to plan effectively than boys, at least in my experience. I super agonize over gifts for kids. I admit though I did buy clothes for the boys for one of my friends. HA. For me I want something that connects to there personality and make sure to spend time with the kids to learn about their wants or ideas to get an idea. This year it was Pokemon and Octonauts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destiny Skywalker Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 I mean, I got my son a Minecraft hoodie that looks like a creeper. Clothes aren't always bad. He got a few clothes from family, too, but the majority was toys. Her RC car finally arrived and worked, so Christmas is somewhat redeemed. The smart soccer ball I got her is also having a little more impact than I expected (needed to find a way to encourage her to practice on her own more). I get super upset with the Girl Scout leaders who are too intimidated by STEM to do the new STEM and coding badges. I think they think they have to be experts to help the girls troubleshoot if they run into a problem, but you encourage the girls to help each other or figure it out on their own. I find that the younger girls especially are very good at it because they haven't been told they can't be good at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeygirl Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 My poor kid kind of had a ****ty Christmas. Despite providing an Amazon Wishlist with techy things like robots and snap circuits, everyone bought her clothes. She is 8 and wears a uniform to school. Several of the clothes were many sizes too large, she will not be able to wear them for at least 2 years. My mother-in-law got her this hideous old lady outfit and got her brother things off his Wishlist. I let her return it, it was just so ugly. So basically her brother got a ton of toys and she got clothes she can't wear. I was already irked with my mother-in-law for the clear gender bias, but then everyone but my dad did it, too. (Dad was the only one to buy off the Wishlist, but then I left the gift back at home 150 miles away.) We got both kids RC cars so they wouldn't fight and hers was a dud out of the box. Poor kid needs a Christmas do-over.NO LIE-NOTHING but clothes? That BITES. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Ray Kenobi Posted January 8, 2020 Share Posted January 8, 2020 For the first time in forever, I feel like I really surprised the wife and spoiled her for Christmas. It had been a challenging year for us in a lot of ways, and we've both been really lucky and blessed. I felt like she was due. Feels good man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts