Black Friday???

"Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps, means a little bit more." The Grinch

BLACK FRIDAY!!! As an accountant I get why it's called black. When I first started learning accounting it was literally at the knee of my father. And back in the dark ages, we used these things called ledgers, and pencils (pens if you were very, very good at numbers), and scratch pads. If the number was a loss, you used red so it stood out. But if the number was a gain or a profit - BLACK, baby.

Now I have nothing against a company making money. I'm rather partial to it since they tend to lay off fewer of us when they are profitable. But I'm rather disgusted by the spectacle that the holidays have become, and that the stores believe they should open on THANKSGIVING DAY!

I tried Black Friday, but like a reformed smoker, I abhor it. Getting up early wasn't a problem, but the crowds, the pushing, the shoving, the meanness - the person I became as my natural competitiveness was sparked - uh, no, not for me. And now, they want to open on Thanksgiving Day. 

So we can't even give it the one day waiting period?? I understand the need to show others our love and appreciation. I sorta want some of that directed my way, too. But the bigger, better, more...the cheaper, quicker, gotta have...it just doesn't seem to be the way these holidays were intended to be. At Thanksgiving, we should give thanks - for love, for health, for family, for friends - not for beating down someone to the last blue light special. And the employees made to give up their day - maybe they'd like to give thanks at home, too.

My Thanksgiving Day will be spent muttering over how the men don't help in the kitchen enough, and then realizing how much I love every one of those incompetent, err unaware in the kitchen, guys (must point out that my older brother will be the exception here). My Black Friday will be spent in PURPLE since my beloved ECU has a home football game, and we're all going together. So the only numbers involved will be on the backs of jerseys and on the scoreboard. My early gift will be just that - together with family, and maybe a new ECU shirt along the way. Maybe it's just me...but no thank you, I don't want more. Well, maybe more touchdowns...

A List For My Children, On Mother’s Day.

Understand that I am your Mother. I will never hold the place of friend while you are growing up.

I am human and I make mistakes, but I eat my vegetables and so should you.

I love you beyond anything I have ever known and I will fight for you, but I will not lie for you or buy you out of scrapes.

I will call you out when you haven’t done your best, because I know you’re worthy and so very full of potential. You are a wonder and unique in this world. When you do not do your best, you cheat yourself above all others.

My past is mine; I will not lay it on your future. Yours is a clean slate, and you should follow your heart.                 

I do not command respect; I have earned it with every late night filled with worry, with every wipe of a tear from your faces, with every diaper change and so much more.

Each time you mutter under your breath as you walk away, or roll your eyes, or think I don’t get it, is yet another battle scar that I wear well, and I find worth wearing.

Each accomplishment is your own, and I revel in it with you. I applaud the loudest because I know how you worked hard. No one will ever revel in your glory more.

No matter what the future holds, I will always be there for you, as long as God graces me to be here.                                             

Finally, for Mother’s Day, the best way you can honor me, and those who came before, giving me what I give you, is to be loving and kind, thoughtful and giving. To find happiness within yourself and to know you have always been loved.

Bah, Humbug...Let's Ban a Few Things....

I'm just not a big fan of the holidays. There I said it. I could do without all the guilt and pressure. Nobody is ever satisfied. Either you spent too much or not enough, it's not the right color or size, or they wonder just how you could possibly have missed the hints they've dropped for the last six months - and that's just how I feel about my gifts. Who knows what others are thinking about what they get. 
I think there are too many expectations placed on women during the holidays, and I don't see where that has improved over the last few decades  centuries. We do the baking, cooking, cleaning, shopping, wrapping, organizing, and we write the obnoxiously upbeat Christmas letter leaving out just how much the sales clerks, and our families have frayed our last nerves.
So as we all start to prepare for the gauntlet of holidays extraordinaire, I would like to ban the following:


All holiday themed commercials - is there anything worse than the beautifully decorated home and the missing son/daughter at the door while the parents cry beautifully? I just love being made to cry. We all know the holidays do NOT make anyone overly sensitive and emotional so let's remind everyone out there what their holidays are missing, while also reminding us to buy a turkey. How about the incredible luxury vehicle in the driveway with that over sized bow that I've never found at Target? While hubby stands there beaming over the gift he's given - oh, bite me. Yes, indeedy, every woman I know gets gifts like that. It helps make up for the ones we buy ourselves, wrap ourselves and pretend to be surprised. 


Black Friday - good grief! I've never met a crock pot or video game worth getting up that early for (or is it staying up that late, I can never figure that out). Maybe it's just me, but I'm only a fan of big crowds at football games. The mall scares the dickens out of me. I tried it - I think a lot of the people I saw could scare Seal Team Six.


Christmas Letters - honestly, nobody believes Little Precious is that perfect. I tried those, too. It was harder trying to strike the right note of condescension masked with humility than making my way through Target on Black Friday. 


Martha Stewart - that food, that decorating - I'm more interested in buying her daughter's book about her - now that tell all sounds delicious.


I could and will come up with more...there's just so much to enjoy about the holiday experience....how about you??