I have been out to the store for various things & observed the influx of cheap gifts in the stores. When will it ever stop? This year we decided not to exchange gifts, rather spend time with each other and do things like go out to dinner together. The gift buying pressure is OFF and it feels really good. There is SO much STUFF in the stores, do we really need all these things? It is no wonder that the economy is collapsing. Anyway, I will pass along this video that I found quite funny. It is called "Cheap car made in China".

I had some friends over this past weekend. I rarely do this. I sometimes "get together" with friends, but usually not at my house. As I have told you before, I live in a little "cracker box" of a house, and I never feel like it is big enough to entertain. Over the past few weeks the bathroom remodel has been going on. I expected that it would be completed before the company came over. You know what they say about the best laid plans - anyway, the tile people were STILL working in the bathroom on Sunday when my company was here. Finally, tomorrow, the toilet is scheduled to go in. (I will believe it when I see it) In the meantime, four of us have been sharing a small bathroom and shower. In the remodel we took out the bathtub and made it into a shower. Most people are worried about the re-sale of the house when you do that. I think that if I ever sell this house that it would only cost a couple of hundred dollars to drop a bathtub back in there. We have never used the tub, because we all take showers. The new tile is bigger than the small little 4x4 tiles that came in the house. It will be nice if it ever gets done. We had a "cubby hole" built into the wall to store shampoos and soaps. I hope the boys like their new bathroom because that is all they are getting for Christmas!

Nervy neighbor

I have a new 6 foot white vinyl fence around my corner lot yard. I put Christmas lights on one side of the fence. The new lights are high efficiency, cool burning, & multi-colored and they look great. When I went to hang them on the other side of my yard, I noticed that my next door neighbor had already hung lights, with garland and red bows, on my new fence. My neighbor came out and was bragging about how good the decoration looked, and said to me, "You know you like it - admit it!!!" I just thought that it was very nervy for her to take advantage of my good nature and just hang lights on my fence without asking. Sometimes I am too nice, but in the spirit of the holidays - I let her keep them up. I am a push-over I guess, but in the long run I guess it doesn't matter. People never cease to amaze me.

I had a nice visit with my brother and his wife over Thanksgiving. They came down for a few days. I had them stay in my travel trailer because my house is a little "cracker box" with not much room for company. They seemed to like it though. They had room enough to retreat to their own little space. I took them to some of the local activities, it was nice for them to enjoy this great weather.

I have been neglecting reading/writing my blog, so I will have to catch up.