Is there a point coming?

Thanks for all of your nice words and well wishes for my birthday! It made my day!

I've been a little out of the blogging loop for a day or two because I found a new blog to read, and it's addicting let me tell you! The blog is called Ask and Ye Shall Receive, and they are blog reviewers. These people are seriously snarky, and at times, downright mean, but they are a good read! It's fun to read all about how they rip apart other blogs, and it made me wonder just what they would have to say about mine, so I submitted my blog for review. I know, I'm asking for a beating, but that's OK. I can take a little harmless criticism. From reading past reviews, I can tell that they hate the 3 column template, and they hate buttons and things like that, so I'm sure they will have a lot to bitch about. We'll see. It's all in fun anyway; I do not live and die by this blog. I do have a life. Besides, check out the actual URL of their blog. What more can I say? I'm asking for it.

On to other things. I am making progress on the Christmas shopping front. On Saturday, Wonderdad and I actually drug our asses to Wally World and did a little shopping. We probably got about 80% done, and the rest is fairly easy. Thanks to my mother (all hail), who sent us a few really great gift cards to Wal-Mart, we didn't even have to spend all that much. We decided a good budget was to spend about $100 per kid (total, including the gift cards). That sounds like a lot to me as I see it in writing, but it's so easy to spend that on only a very few gifts! My oldest boy had a PC game he wants, and he needed a new pair of jeans, and wanted a DVD game. Well that's about $100 right there, isn't it? But we really did pretty good. My middle kid is the hardest to get presents for because there is so little he ever asks for. He and Babygirl wanted a Webkins (Google it of you don't know what that is). He also wanted a Lego Starwars Legacy game for the X-box. Do you know how hard that is to find? They don't make X-box games anymore, only X-box 360. So at first we went to about 4 different stores to look for a used copy, but no dice. We ended up finding it at Target brand new! Can you believe it? What luck! So I think we will be able to stay on budget for the most part. Yeah, there won't be mountains of presents under the tree, but there never was, so they don't know any better. Few military brats really know what it is to be spoiled, and my 3 are no exception.

I really have mixed feelings about Christmas shopping. I used to love it, back when I had money to spend, and I could take my time and maybe go with a girlfriend or my Mom. Now it just seems like a chore. I would love for me and Wonderdad to be able to go shopping alone, take our time, maybe eat out, and have fun! But it seems like for a few years now we have had kids in tow, crowded stores, bad drivers, and flaring tempers. Yes, I said kids in tow. How? We are masters of stealth shopping, and are skilled at the art of distraction. Actually this year, we let the 13 year old watch the 9 year old at home, and we took Babygirl with us. I think we actually were able to get a whole trunk load of stuff without her seeing anything! It's a time honored tradition of hiding things under the coats in the cart. Ooonagi....(bad Friends reference)

And the Christmas cards? Geez... Isn't it nice to get an extra card a few days after Christmas? Like an additional surprise? I'll just tell myself that's true so I won't feel so guilty.

Why does working one extra day a week seem to make the whole week drag? Is it only Monday? I swear! Work is still crazy. My boss is on emergency leave because his father is 96 and had a stroke. So while he is in Chicago I am in charge. Not really a tough thing to do, just keeping me on my toes. What has it taught me? That this Tech Sergeant is OK with stress, and I think Master Sergeant is a possibility. It has given me renewed motivation to study for promotion; I have been miserably lax in that department lately. It has also made me want to get my ass back in school, because that management degree isn't going to earn itself. I have 18 classes to go, and I am just tired of waiting! I'm starting back in the spring. There, decision made!

I know this post has been all over the map, sorry. Maybe I'll write something that has a point tomorrow. Have a good week everyone!