Christmas past and present.

I hope everyone is enjoying their preparations for the upcoming holidays. I have most of the Christmas shopping done with the exception of a couple of items. I do know that one special present I am working on will have to be a late delivery. Shhhhh, I know my family is reading this so I can't tell you what it is.

Funny thing is, I don't even know where I will be celebrating the holidays. I have family but they are all going to be at other places celebrating. It is not the first time that I have been by myself for the holidays. There have been many times where I will work overtime so someone else can spend the holidays with their family. When I am working then I will either stop by my sisters house after I get off work in the morning or at night after I wake up and have a nice little visit. When I am not working I just relax at home, enjoy a little meal, and watch Christmas movies. To some it may sound lonely or boring but after being single for so long, I have gotten pretty used to it.

It was weird when Max moved in with me and I actually had to do up the house and everything for him. It ended up being fun with him there. I upgraded from a little tabletop tree to a regular tree. That led to more ornaments, Christmas lights, etc. Every year it got bigger and bigger. Now that I am back in a little place I gave the Christmas decorations to my Nephew to use in his new place. He got a HUGE red rolling tote filled with everything he needed. Tree, lights, decorations, wrapping paper, and even Christmas cards. Instant Christmas in a tote. Hmmmm, maybe this is an idea that could sell.

Now don't get me wrong, I am no scrooge, I love celebrating the holidays. But I don't let being alone get me down. In fact, I haven't celebrated new years in ages. Why? Because when you are single you really don't have anything to do because everyone I know is out with their husband/boyfriend celebrating. That is OK. Sometimes being alone can be a benefit. Nobody to pick up after, nag you, or fight with. LOL

So wherever, whenever, or with whomever you celebrate, I wish you a happy holidays.

Elf on the shelf

I was reading on the hot tips message board that I follow for good online deals and I read one where they were discussing Elf on the Shelf. I wish I had found this years ago when the kids were little. It has become a great holiday tradition for many and the parents have fun with it.

The elf shows up the day after Thanksgiving and disappears on Christmas day. Each day the kids look to see where the elf is each morning because when he comes back from reporting to Santa how the kids are doing he is sitting in a new place in the house. Kids will even leave their letter next to him to take to Santa.

He moves around during the night and sometimes does mischievous things. Some of the fun things that elves have done are:

Toilet-papered the living room
Switched the collars on the dogs
Wearing a doll dress and sitting at a little tea party set
Head first in a VCR
Left a cereal trail down the hallway
Ate some cookies and left a crumb trail
Floating on a boat in the dogs water bowl
Changed the language on the TV to spanish
Turned the couch upside down
Sprayed silly string in the kids room while they were sleeping
Built a pyramid of Dixie cups in the middle of the living room
Each night he nibbles another piece off of the gingerbread house

Of course you can have one that just perches in interesting places and is not mischievous. For example they can be found hanging in the chandelier, on top of the doorbell, on the entertainment center, in the table centerpiece, on the fireplace, or sitting reading a book. It is great for keeping the kids motivated to be good and gives them something to look forward to each morning. I plan to get this one day when I have grandkids.

It can be found at many places or you can just buy an elf and make up the story yourselves. Here is a link to the storybook and elf. Elf on the Shelf

Back to the dreaded four letter word "WORK!"

I am sitting here writing this while my cat Sweetpea is eyeing my lunch of cheese and crackers. She is waiting for me to look away just long enough to grab a bite. I am dreading going back to work tonight. This feeling is also compounded by having a great time on vacation and seeing all of the RV's on the road doing what I want to do right now!

Normally I usually like to get to where I am going as soon as I can but this time I was able to sit back and enjoy the trip, maybe not the traffic jam though. Mom was a great partner to have on the road and we spent the time chatting, looking at other RV's, her taking pictures, and funniest of all getting her addicted to Angry Birds on my phone.

We chatted about going on the road full time and how we both are dying to get started. We even talked about maybe even doing it together since a little thing called finances has been keeping the plan on hold so far for both of us.

Next week I am getting started on Plan A of my list to go full time someday. I know that I am not old enough to retire and collect Social Security, and it may not be there when I do want to collect. So for finances I am starting to work on a couple of areas that hopefully will provide an income while on the road. Need to make some calls, network, and pray that the ideas work. Will let you all know what they are and if they work later.

Trying to find a source of income on the road is challenging. I want to do something that won't be in competition with other RV'rs who are working on the road. It is out of respect and helps when you are providing a service/product that is unique. I have read many books that other full-timers have written and many of them have provided great ideas and tips. Granted each situation is different and some of the ideas are more geared towards someone with an income already and want to supplement it.

So with fingers crossed and a bit of luck, I hope things will start happening sooner than later.

Have a great day.