Archive through December 17, 2002
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TV ClubHouse: Archives: Shopping Days Left till Christmas.......: Archive through December 17, 2002

Halfunit

Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 03:58 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Juju - at the rate I'm shopping, I'll need 40 of them Fed-exed to me, please.

Kady

Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 04:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Okay, this was a new experience for me....Self service K-mart. You scan and bag your own items. Work the cash register...then put your money in a machine and it gives you your change. There was like 1 girl overseeing 8 registers. Has anybody else seen or heard of this? It totally tripped me out. :)

Juju2bigdog

Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 09:05 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
We have that in our town of 65,000, Kady. Four machines, and saw it down here in the Brownsville Kmart, two machines. The ones at home work great, ones here were malfunctioning like crazy.

Zachsmom

Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 09:09 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Our K-Mart has that..so does one of our Ralphs (grocery) stores.

Fanny

Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 10:19 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Juju, I have a favor to ask of you.

I've not yet begun my Christmas shopping, nor am I nervous about it yet. However, in anticipation of a last-minute panic attack, I would appreciate it if you would put aside a couple dozen or so Jujugoat dolls for me. Once I panick, I'll need 'em shipped quick, so if you don't mind, go ahead and put mailing labels & postage on them. I'll let you know when you can take them to the post office. Of course I don't know what the overnight shipping charges will be, so you'll have to let me know and I'll pay you later.

Thanks so much. Smoochies.

xxooxxoo

Urgrace

Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 11:08 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Kady, they have that self-check-out system in Michigan at the Mejer department-grocery stores too.

Urgrace

Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 11:11 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Juju forgot to mention that you also get a free Tessangeldoll when you purchase three of the Jujugoatdolls, and the price is amazing - $0.00

Northstar

Saturday, December 14, 2002 - 11:50 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I'm having a bit of a problem here. So far I've managed to spend 600+ on myself, 30 on my sister, 12.50 on one stepson, 0 on my other stepson and 0 on my inlaws. I don't typically operate this way, so am a bit amused, yet confused. I really like my stuff though!!! Anyone else finding themselves in this pickle?

Earthmother

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 08:27 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I'm done, bought the last stocking stuffer last night (in a hurricane type storm I might add). I try to put my list together around Aug.

I find out one thing about each person's likes and then find something or make something that fits that theme. I had one person on my list who loves sewing, but what do you get that person? They really don't need another sewing basket..I found a wonderful serving tray on sale that has a glass panel which fits into the base. I took a piece of poster board, cut it to the size of the glass and downloaded color pictures of vintage postcards that the sewing machine manufacturers used to use for advertisement in the early 1900s. I painted the posterboard and glued these cards onto it then placed it under the glass for a personalized gift. It would cost $100 if I had ordered it done, but my way cost $15. and about 30 minutes of my time.

I have another person on my list who loves jewelry. So I purchased an unfinished jewery box for $9 and stained it mahogany (just brush on, rub off) then at Michales they had rub on transfers on sale for $1.49, knowing she loves roses I got a package and using a popsicle stick that comes with the transfers I put them on the stained box and for less than $12. I had a beautiful gift that only took about 1 hour during Suvivor last week. I saw one when I went to the mall yesterday and it sold for $60. Too bad I couldn't make an air compressor for my son..that sucker set me back a weeks pay...lol

Juju2bigdog

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 08:37 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Fanny, consider it done!

Phatcat

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 09:44 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I didn't know where to post this letter to the editor I wrote, but I wanted to share it with all my friends here at TVCH. I really love you people. Sure wish we could have a huge party somewhere so I could meet all of you. Thanks for all you are and all you do...and have a blessed holiday season.

Laverna (Phatcat)

Oh, and I didn't get to do Santa this year...the local Walmart decided they wanted to do something different this year.


Last weekend, I watched the televised broadcast of the Christmas parade in Nashville. At the end of the parade, one of the newscasters commented that Santa Claus would soon be visiting children all over the world..."if you only believe". What a crock! Obviously, this newscaster has never held a sobbing 6-year-old boy whose mommy told him Santa couldn't bring him the new coat he wanted, or listened to a weeping 7-year-old girl say that she just wanted her Daddy to come home from prison...or seen the hundreds or children who are being raised by their grandparents because their parents are on drugs. I've seen all this...and much, much more...because I am Santa Claus.

I am a grandmother, and for the past 12 years I have been Santa at the Hendersonville Walmart. I tell the children that Santa represents the 'spirit of giving' and that Christmas is the time we celebrate the greatest gift of all...the birth of Jesus Christ. God so loved the world, that He gave...and His love keeps giving every new day. His mercies are new every morning.

Some may say that Santa shouldn't be telling children about Jesus. But the critics haven't seen what I've seen, or heard what I've heard...a grandmother asking me to pray for her 3 grandchildren because their parents were killed by a drunk driver 3 weeks ago; a young woman who gave me her 9-month old baby to hold while she went shoplifting, put the stolen merchandise under the baby and was arrested as she left the store; a 45-year-old mentally challenged man whose dear mother brought him every year to see me before she died; a grandmother who drove from Florida to bring the granddaughter she was raising back to see me (this child's mother was on drugs). One young lady, who is now 19 years old, came back to see me last year to thank me and tell me that she would be spending her first Christmas with her mother that year. She had first come to ask me to pray for her mother, who was on drugs, when she was 8 years old.

One more story, and then I'll stop. The very first Christmas I played Santa, I was singing a song I had written and recorded as Santa. Several people purchased the tape. One of these people, a woman from Gallatin. called and asked me if my husband made house calls. She didn't know that this Santa was a woman. I asked her what she wanted Santa to do. She said that she had twin granddaughters who were on oxygen and she had been told by the doctor that this would probably be their last Christmas. After I told her I was Santa, I asked if she would mind if I brought someone with me to pray for the children. She was thrilled that we were coming and said her husband also needed prayer as he was diagnosed with cancer two weeks earlier.

We went, we prayed...we were blessed. Last year, two girls sat on my lap and had their picture made. As they started to walk away, the mother turned and asked if I had ever been Santa at the Gallatin Walmart. When I answered 'yes', she said, "Do you remember coming to a home one year and praying for twin girls?"

"Yes, I do," I replied.

"Well, these are the girls you prayed for," she said as she walked over to hug me. Old Santa lost it right there. I cried and shouted praises to God for the miracle of love He performed in the lives of these girls.

Well, I'm sure I've exceeded the 300 word limit, but I would like to also add that, as Jesus said, it is more blessed to give that to receive. My dad was a metro fireman for 48 years and the firemen used to collect old toys, fix them up and paint them like new and deliver them to needy families each year. Dad always took me with him to help deliver the toys and food. I thank God that I had parents who taught me the joys of giving at a young age. Parents, you may think your children are too young to understand, or you don't want them to be depressed at Christmas...but one of the most important life lessons you can teach them is the joy of giving. Love is the greatest gift of all.

Have a blessed holiday season.

Phatcat

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 10:09 am EditMoveDeleteIP
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Kstme

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 10:28 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Phatcat...wow! This brought tears to my eyes this morning!

When Thekid was little, we told her it was the "Spirit" of Santa Claus. When all the other kids found out he wasn't real and were in tears, she wasn't. We did the same for Easter Bunny and Toothfairy.

Juju...have any extra jujugoatdolls left? I'd like some with some SHARP horns to send to my landlady!! Three should do it! Thanks!!

Wargod

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 12:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Phatcat that was beautiful!

I need advice. My sis in law brought the kids their Christmas presents this morning, and had them open them. She got each of them a 20 dollar gift card to Target. Caleb pretty much understands money, but the coins and bills. To him as well as to Dakota these are just plastic cards. I'm thinking I'll go to Target myself and pick out something I know the kids will like, wrap it and stick it under the tree from her for Christmas morning. First of all, I don't like the idea of the kids going shopping for a toy a week and a half before Christmas, and second of all if they pick out something I've already gotten them, how do I say no? There's also the fact that I know if it was after Christmas, Caleb would ask for a game for his gameboy and the fact that the kids grandpas will be sending them money this week that I take shopping to pick them out a gift for Christmas.

If the kids were older, it wouldn't be a problem to ask them to either wait til after Christmas to pick something out, and wouldn't be a problem with them understanding the card works like money.

But, I'm feeling a little guilty that they may not understand the gift I buy and put under the tree is from their aunt. They may not connect the card to the gift. That's never a problem with their grandpa's since they send the checks to me and my husband to buy the kids gifts. Now I don't know what to do. Do I take the cards, pick out the gifts, and put them under the tree, or do I just take the kids and let them pick something out themselves?

Nimtu

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 12:19 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
War, I would give them two choices (stacked in your favor). For instance I would say - Wow, this is such a wonderful present Aunt ... gave you! Do you want Mommy to take the card and get you a toy to unwrap under the tree or do you want to wait until after christmas and go pick something out yourself....don't even give them the option of going now. JMO

Draheid

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 12:23 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
War: Along with Nimtu's idea, how about having the kids put the card (and any other money they get from relatives) into their stocking. I'd bet they would soon forget about it until they discover it again on Christmas day. Then they get the benefit of more 'buying power' during the after Christmas sales.

Just a thought.

Wargod

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 12:38 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
You guys are good! I like the idea of putting the card away til after Christmas. The grandpa's money they don't ever see. They just find gifts from them under the tree. Both grandpa's want us to pick something out for the kids and the truth is its easier for us to do the shopping for them since they don't have to mail the gifts and usually have no clue what the kids want. But, my aunt gives them money also. She's quite a bit eccentric and usually gives way to much money! So half of it goes into their savings accounts and the other half they get to spend.

I think I will put the cards up to stick in their stockings for Christmas morning. Then they can take that money and my aunts and get something they really want. Betcha a cookie though, that Caleb gets at least one game, LOL!

Oh, but how do you explain to a 4 and 6 year old that the gift card really is 20 bucks?

Draheid

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 12:45 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Well, War, if you think the physical appearance of 'money' makes a difference, give them a $20 and use the card yourself. Or, you could give them the cash and take them shopping, when they go to pay, take the money like you're going to pay for the items, pocket it, and hand the cashier the card!?!

Wargod

Sunday, December 15, 2002 - 01:12 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
True Dra. I guess the kids really won't care so long as they get what they want, LOL. I'll just make sure that the kids know their aunt gave them the money for their gifts.

Jkm

Monday, December 16, 2002 - 07:05 am EditMoveDeleteIP
8 days left. After I got the layaway out at wally world I'm broke again.....

I really have to get stuff wrapped!!! I haven't wrapped any yet.

Squaredsc

Monday, December 16, 2002 - 12:06 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
i wasn't sure where this should go so i am putting this here. my aunt just sent me this email and i wanted it share it with you all. hope this isn't a duplicate.

> T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
> HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
> IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE,
> MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.
>
> I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY,
> WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
> AND TO SEE JUST WHO,
> IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
>
> I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
> A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
> NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
> NOT EVEN A TREE.
>
> NO STOCKING BY THE MANTLE,
> JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
> ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES,
> OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
>
> WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
> AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
> A SOBER THOUGHT,
> CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
>
> FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
> IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
> I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
> ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
>
> THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
> SILENT, ALONE,
> CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR,
> IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
>
> THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
> THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,
> NOT HOW I PICTURED,
> A AMERICAN SOLDIER.
>
> WAS THIS THE HERO,
> OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?,
> CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
> THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
>
> I REALIZED THE FAMILIES,
> THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
> OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS,
> WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.
>
> SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
> THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
> AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE,
> A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
>
> THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM,
> EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
> BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
> LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
>
> I COULDN'T HELP WONDER,
> HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
> ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE,
> IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
>
> THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT,
> A TEAR TO MY EYE,
> I DROPPED TO MY KNEES,
> AND STARTED TO CRY.
>
> THE SOLDIER AWAKENED,
> AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
> "SANTA, DON'T CRY,
> THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE.
>
> I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
> I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
> MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
> MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."
>
> THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
> AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
> I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
> I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
>
> I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
> SO SILENT AND STILL,
> AND WE BOTH SHIVERED,
> FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.
>
> I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE,
> ON THAT COLD, DARK NIGHT,
> THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR,
> SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
>
> THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
> WITH A VOICE, SOFT AND PURE,
> WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
> IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."
>
> ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,
> AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT,
> "MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
> AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."
>
> This poem was written by a peace keeping soldier stationed overseas. The
> following is his request. I think it is reasonable.
>
> PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
> Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.
>

Spygirl

Monday, December 16, 2002 - 03:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
That was beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing it.

Sia

Monday, December 16, 2002 - 04:40 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Kady, I just read your post about the self-help checkout at K-mart. I've only used that lane once there, and it was so WEIRD that my Mom and I were hysterically laughing and crying at the same time. The computerized fembot voice kept telling me to "stop moving in the checkout area," but I had two freakin' toddlers with me. What did she (it?) think I was supposed to do with my two kids? Duct-tape them together back-to-back and toss 'em in the shopping cart?

It was the most surreal thing I've done while shopping, I swear. It was hard to get things to scan properly, and I had difficulty bagging things due to laughing at the stupid machine telling me to "put your LAST item in the bag." Did she/it mean the last item I meant to purchase, or the most recent thing I'd scanned? LOL, I know what it meant, but I thought it was worded in an ambiguous, weird way and it just cracked me up!! I had a ton of stuff, too, which didn't help matters. I think that lane will see me the next time that I have just three or four items.

Sia

Monday, December 16, 2002 - 04:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Northstar, I spend money on myself, too, when shopping for other people. If I REALLY like something that I'm buying for someone else, I make sure to buy at least TWO so I can have one!! That is why my motto is "Never Pay Retail!!" Always look for a discount.

My hubby has put three gifts for me under the three, and I know what one of them is. I will probably only get three gifts from him, but they will be things that I really like. My daughter bought me a $1 hand-mirror because I sent her into the dollar store with my husband and explicit instructions, and my dear son brought me nothing from the Secret Santa Workshop booth they had at school last week. Hey, Santa can still be good to me, right? Even if I have to help Santa by doing a little shopping for him. I work hard at home, and I'd like to think that I deserve a few special things. And I know what I like best, anyway. I never buy the wrong size, wrong color, or get something that I just hate!

I got myself two pairs of earrings, a gel-filled mouse pad and a $7 software program. Oh, and a few pairs of socks. I didn't go nuts or anything.

Jkm

Tuesday, December 17, 2002 - 05:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
1 week to go folks!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year -- I feel better today -- I finally walled my self off from the kids and dh - sorted everything we have so far and wrapped until midnight last night. (I started late, too)

Now I know for sure what I have, what I need and have all the exchange and grandparents gifts the kids can wrap! What a load off -- I will not be up all night Christmas eve wrapping presents -- now just have trouble still hiding them (some are pretty obvious what they are. Now I have time for fun wrapping - putting them other containers - or more layers or making a game of finding their presents.

Happy Holidays!!!