Why Bother?

As we all know, this Barefoot Gardener really goes all out when decorating for the holiday season.

Usually.

This year, I just can't seem to get excited about it. I would like to blame it on the argument that Mr. Barefoot and I had on Thanksgiving (the same one we have every year) over how to decorate and what belongs where, but....

The truth is that I just can't bring myself to care this year. Well, that isn't true either. The thing is, I am irritated by it this year. Maybe it's because my Barefoot wallet is suffering from malnutrition this year, maybe it's the annoying holiday commercials on the TV that started weeks ago. I dunno.

I put the decorations back in the garage today. Really. I put up one tree, some garland, set up a tree in the kitchen for the Sprouts to decorate, let Big Sprout deal with her tree, and still have Little Sprout's Ducky Tree sitting in the living room to be moved to her room...... that's it. Oh, and I set up the snow village. Well, part of it anyway.

I guess when I write it out like that, I did a lot. But compared to what I normally do, this is small potatoes.

I just want the season to be over, already.

I tried going into one of the local stores the other day, and there were so many people there! I hate that part of the season, even on my best years. Really, where are these folks the rest of the year, and why aren't they there now?! Why do they have to get into my space?

Ugh. I give up.

I am going to crawl into bed.... wake me the first week of January.....

The Day After

I have been going shopping on Black Friday for the last few years. This year, I didn't go. The thought of fighting all those people for a few deals just seemed like too much work.

I must be losing my touch.

Last night, after the last of the turkey was put away and the house had fallen into a wonderful quiet, I loaded my million boxes of X-mas decorations into the house from the garage. I put up one tree, and the snow village. I discussed tree placement with Mr. Barefoot, we had the same fight over decorating style that we have every year. Finally, around midnight, we crawled into bed.

I woke this morning to Little Sprout squealing in glee "It's a Chwistmas Twee!" She was awed by the pretty lights, and the shiny ornaments. She loved the little snow village, and immediately began digging through the boxes in the living room to find more fun things to play with.

I had better hurry up and finish so I can get that stuff back out to the garage.

I am planning on spending the day stuffing myself on T-Day leftovers and resting. I work tonight, and am hoping that my clients have wound down from their holiday excitement.

Big Sprout just left on her first hunting expedition with Grandpa and Bro, and she is terribly excited. I hope she has fun.

So that's about it! Barefoot Manor the day after a holiday....

The Day Before

Tomorrow my house will slowly fill with the tantalizing aroma of roasting turkey. Mr. Barefoot will get up early to spend the morning hours slaving away in the kitchen to provide our extended family with a Thanksgiving dinner that can't be beat.

As more and more people walk through the front door and cram their bodies into my house, the heat and noise will rise. I will most likely take refuge in the work room off the back of the house, and listen to the chatter from there. My Grandmother will eat barely enough to keep a fly alive, and I will entertain myself by taking advantage of her memory loss and repeatedly putting fresh plates of food in front of her (she won't remember that she already "ate", and I can get a few more calories in her this way).

The kitchen counters will groan with the weight of all the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, green bean casserole, etc, etc, etc. WE will groan with the effects of stuffing ourselves.

Then, after the last drop of gravy has been scraped off the last plate ~ after the last dollop of real whipped cream has been licked off the last clean fork in the house I will break out the x-mas decorations and work long into the night to transform our humble Barefoot Manor into a x-mas Wonderland.

But today I will rest. Today I will enjoy the last moments of quiet before the Holiday Chaos descends on my home. Today I will enjoy a long nap, and later watch
Biggest Loser with a plate of leftover pasta on my lap.

Life is good....

A Note to Dog Owners

I don't care if you live in the "country". I don't care if you don't believe in restricting the movements of your animals. The bare fact is that, unless the only road within 5 miles of your house is a minimum maintenance DNR road, you NEED to keep your pets on your property.

Especially if they are huge, black dogs.

ESPECIALLY if it is after dark.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, last night I peeled about 2,000 miles worth of rubber off my tires while narrowly missing the largest, blackest dog I have ever seen. The stupid thing just stood in the middle of my lane and looked at me like it was of absolutely no concern that a car was barreling down on him at 60mph.

Grrrr....

I missed the stupid pooch by literally inches, and still wasn't sure that I didn't clip him.

So I pulled over (as did the lady who graciously did not rear-end me when I slammed on the brakes) and got out of the car to see if the stupid thing was hurt. The lady in the car behind me rolled down her window and said that she had seen it head down into a yard just down the road from us. The yard lights were on, and I did see the idiot mutt sauntering around the yard down there with absolutely no show of concern over the fact that he had almost been smeared all over the road not more than 5 minutes before.

I got in my car and left. It was the only option I had. If I would have ventured down into that yard, I would have peeled several layers of skin off that poor dog's owner.

And that is all I have to say about that.

My First Weekend Day Off.

I think it has been well established here (through my incessant whining) that I work EVERY. SINGLE. WEEKEND. That is all fine and dandy for paycheck purposes, but it really puts a damper on one's social life. I think it has been almost 3 years since I have been able to do something on a weekend without jumping through more hoops than your average circus tiger.

It has been a pretty constant source of frustration for me.

I have missed birthday parties, weddings, graduations....it stinks. So I finally took steps.

I worked it out with another staff at Job #1 to switch some of our shifts around, giving me every other Sunday completely off work. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but having two days a month when I don't go to work is the most AMAZING feeling right now.

Yesterday was the first Sunday of the new schedule. I was so excited for it to come. I couldn't decide where to start! There are so many things I would like to do....visit with family, take the Sprouts out to do something fun, leave the Sprouts with Mr. Barefoot and go spend a day by myself or with a friend.... The possibilities are endless.

So I know you are all just DYING to know what I did with my day. I will tell you: I ate brunch with my folks and Bro, cleaned my car, and had Loop and Mr. P over in the evening for a visit.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but this was the most relaxed day I have had in ages! Mr. Barefoot was there, so I wasn't spending my day off trying to run herd on two insanely energetic Sprouts by myself. I could up and take off to run errands at any time. There was no nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me that I had BETTER get my butt to bed for a nap.

It was beautiful.

I am going to enjoy this so much!

Movie Night

Thursday night, Mr. Barefoot was watching wrestling (as usual) while I was getting ready to head out to work. I was doing my best to ignore it when the phrase "Have fun stormin' the castle, boys!" broke through to my brain.

I stopped what I was doing and looked at the TV with my jaw hanging open.

"They didn't even say it right" I grumped. Mr. Barefoot looked at me like I had lost my mind and asked what in the world I was talking about. "That line!" I said, "It's from The Princess Bride. You know, Billy Crystal plays the Miracle Max....."

Mr. Barefoot continued to look at me like I was speaking in a foreign language.

"Wait. You have never seen The Princess Bride?!" I screeched. I couldn't believe it! My movie-buff hubby had never ~ EVER ~ seen the most important movie of all time? How could this be?!

So yesterday, after everything was done for the day, I pulled out my copy of the movie and got out my secret stash of potato chips. There was no way that my hubby was going to make it through another night without seeing one of my favorite movies of all time.

We settled in to watch the movie, and within moments Mr. Barefoot realised that he actually HAD seen it. I decided that he had to watch it again, though, because obviously he hadn't seen it enough if he didn't recognise on of it's most memorable lines when he heard it out of context.

I mean, I can do dialog for the entire film verbatim. Don't judge, cuz there is nothing wrong with that!

Within moments, the Sprouts had joined us for their first viewing of this classic film. I actually shared our little loveseat with both of them, which made for very cozy (if a little crowded) movie watching. Little Sprout was terribly excited when the "Pwincess!" made her first appearance. It was adorable. She even tolerated my mouthing the dialog right along with the movie (I was quiet, I promise!). Big Sprout seemed to really enjoy it as well, though she was quieter with her appreciation.

The best part, though, was when the duel between Inigo and Westley at the top of the Cliffs of Insanity came on the screen. Little Sprout jumped up off the couch and started screaming "Sting! Sting! I Sting you!" For those of you out of the loop, Sting is the name of Bilbo Baggins' sword in The Hobbit. Little Sprout has her own sword that she has named Sting, and I think fencing lessons are in her future. That girl really loves a good sword fight.

Anyway, it was a fun night. We all enjoyed spending some rare quiet time together.

I am definitely thinking that this Movie Night thing is going to have to happen more often!

Lovin' Those Thanksgiving Sales

I am shameless. I know it. I am taking terrible advantage of the grocery store sales going on in my area now that Thanksgiving is fast approaching.

This week has been AMAZING for sales. I found turkeys for $.37/lb, pork for $.99/lb, 5lb bags of taters for $.68/bag....it has been awesome! The problem with all these sales is that they usually have limits on them. Like the store selling the turkeys clearly stated "2 per customer". What was I to do?! I took my two turkeys out to the car, then headed back in for more.

And don't you judge, cuz I wasn't the only one doing it. We actually were all kinda laughing about it as we passed each other going in and out of the store.

The best part was walking out of the local grocery store and looking at my reciept. Right there, in black and white, it showed that I had spent $20.64 and SAVED over $21! I had to call my mom at that point and gloat a little.

Our cupboards had been getting a little bare here at Barefoot Manor, so since today was payday I spent every spare penny I had on filling up the freezer and cupboards. Now I am hoping to get back to my coupon clipping, stockpiling ways. It is a lot of fun to play the shopping game and win! And that is the way I have come to look at it. Things are getting so expensive, and my wage is nowhere near keeping up. So I have made it a game to get the most food I can for the lowest price.

I suppose I am tapping into the old "hunter-gatherer" instincts.

Anyway, I am feeling pretty darn good about myself and my full freezer, and I thought I would share....