Almost the New Year

Christmas feels like it's long gone already and it was only last week. Now we are already looking at New Years. I meant to do a blog post for after Christmas but either forgot or didn't have the time.

Today was the day that I had started to go through the massive perfume hoard in the guest bedroom. It wasn't so much to sort through to see what I wanted to get rid of and what to keep. It was the whole thing of what had evaporated and what I could really throw away. There were quite a few minis that I threw away, not because they were evaporated but they were ancient and really needed to be thrown out. I had to throw out a couple bottles that had gone off. But like I said earlier, I wasn't sorting to see what I wanted to keep and what to sell.

I had also started to go through my massive book collection to see what I can take down to Half Priced Books. I could donate them but most libraries in my area are not looking for what I read. The little library things in my neighborhood are very far and few. So it's either Half Priced Books or going in the trash. But I would rather try and raise some kind of monies and create some space in my house.

I keep saying that I am trying to make space and use things up and I swear that I am trying. Yesterday, I went through my bathroom and managed to combine half used shampoos and body washes. I also combined some face creams too. So I managed to recycle about 6 or 7 bottles along with throwing out some other junk. Every little thing that I can manage at any given time helps.

What is mostly good right this moment is that while I have been seriously working on clearing things out these past couple days, I really haven't been shopping. By not indulging in too much retail therapy, that means I am not undoing what precious little progress that I have made. Candle Day was a little bit of a bust for me this year and the Bath and Body Works Semi Annual Sale is lackluster. With the $40 Amazon gift card that my sister gave me for Christmas, I ordered Quake II for my Xbox, so I can start playing my Xbox a little more and not spend so much time with window shopping.

With it being so close to the new year, I am trying to make more serious changes. I would like to really start to crack down on my candle collection. By cracking down on my candles, that means actually using them. There is no need for me to have well over 100 candles. With the people that I live with, it is going to be somewhat of a tall order. They don't approve of having lit candles, even when there is a power outage. I want to spend less money in general as well. Eating out will have to be limited to once or twice a month and I am looking at quitting smoking as well. I know that not eating out much and quitting smoking will help my bottom line. I just want 2025 to be a good year.
 

Pre Christmas Stuff

It's coming down to the wire in terms of Christmas. I am sure that there is tons of panic going on in terms of shopping for presents right now. At this point, I am just waiting for my last one to show up and let's hope that it comes by Christmas Eve. If it doesn't, it's not going to be the end of the world. Sometimes what does annoy me is when a company says that when a certain day is the last day for getting a package by Christmas. I get that it is Christmas and lots of people ship lots of gifts from the week of Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. I am just hoping that the last gift that I had ordered will arrive tomorrow.

I did do some impulsive things with the back pay and bonus. I still paid that monster cellphone bill but I wanted to make a nice Christmas for my dogs at least in terms of gifts. I did go crazy with the treats and dog toys. I view it as since they didn't get a Barkbox this month, I did want to make up for it. The frivolous thing that I did for myself and I know that I really shouldn't have was ordering a bottle of Comptoir Sud Pacifique Vanille Banane, My perfume logic was that it 30ml for $50 and for perfume, that's pretty much free. It's not costing me a whole lot of money and what is the harm? 

But at the end of the day, money was spent a little too quickly. I made a resolution to buy only 1 candle from the Bath and Body Works semi annual sale and not buy anymore. There will always be other sales that I can go to and I can bank some rewards points from online surveys. But it is going to be a while before I do some fun things. I have more pressing matters at hand, like fixing up my teeth and getting more of my financial mess figured out. Nope, haven't filed for bankruptcy yet. There is something about pulling the trigger on that that's scary. Even though I don't own anything like a car or house, I am not a fan of what would be the invasive nature of the whole thing that freaks me out.

So the deal Christmas Eve is to work until 5, go home and finish wrapping my gifts. The dogs' presents are the only ones that I haven't wrapped yet and I am not quite ready to tackle that small mountain. For Christmas Day, my folks and I are going to my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate Christmas. I don't know if it is going to be a ham or a standing rib roast for Christmas dinner. All I know is that I am responsible for dinner rolls and wine. I already ordered the rolls and I have to pick out which wine that is needed. The wine selection is going to have to wait until I get off work.

I am trying to plan my Christmas Day perfume. Currently my choices are Theorema (tramatically discontinued), Lyric (absolutely adore) or vintage Shalimar (don't wear enough). I already wear a little too much Chanel no 5 and will probably be wearing it to work tomorrow when I brave my 12 to 5 shift at a grocery store. So wearing any version of no 5 on Christmas Day is a no go. I haven't made a decision on which one to wear yet.

 

First Day Back and Candle Day 2024

Today was my first day back at work since my surgery. I wasn't thrilled with going back to work but needed to go back to work. I didn't have a whole lot to do that was going to violate the restrictions that my surgeon handed me. I did what I could. There were things that I wanted to do but it wasn't a wise idea to do anything I really wanted to do. I am happy that I am easing my way back into work though. I figured with being off for so long, having surgery and with my restrictions, I figured it would be better to ease myself back into work. I didn't want to just jump in not exactly how I would be feeling after a short shift. So it's going to be some short shifts until Christmas.

Today was the first day of the Bath and Body Works Candle Day. If you already have an account set up with Bath and Body Works, you would be the first in line to shop Candle Day. Normally, Candle Day is the first Saturday of December. I think with the pandemic and how poorly the 2020 or 2021 was handled, I think they make it an all weekend type of deal. Since I was a member, I was able to shop the early access and get candles. After talking to my finances, I was only able to nab 2 candles. In some ways, I was a little sad that I couldn't get what I would have liked to get but my gift card only allowed me to 2. I got the Winter candle and Freshly Brewed Coffee. Maybe next paycheck I might get more or just give the candle buying a rest until next Candle Day. I am leaning towards just giving it a rest. I think that will be my New Year's resolution/challenge is to see how many candles that I can use up before next Candle Day.

I was a little surprised with our snow storm. Late Wednesday night to early Thursday morning I did hear some thundersnow and that is something that I haven't heard in years. When I heard the thundersnow, I thought that it would be much worse than it really was. Nothing good can come out of hearing thundersnow. The last time I heard it, our well pump decided to break and we lost electricity for a week and this was a week after Thanksgiving in 2020. I was hoping that I wasn't going to lose electricity and I didn't.
 

Snow Storms and Other Things

Ever since Thanksgiving in my neck of the woods, I have been living under the threat of a snowstorm.  For some reason, the first one had missed my area. Along the east coast of Lake Erie has been slammed with over 3 feet of snow with more on the way. But this time, it looks like I am going to get a little something more than an inch or two. At this point, I am seriously hoping that we do not lose our electricity due to the fact that the guy that we took our generator to for fixing can't figure out what is wrong with our generator. We got the generator to him in July and it's 5 months later.

So that means that I did spend some time cleaning up the house. I can't do tons of cleaning due to some of my restrictions but I made the effort to do some of them. Then it was the mini Costco run. There were things that we were completely out of and needed to get. So I think that I am going to be alright and I will just hope that I don't lose electricity. I don't want to be looking at a sink and dishwasher full of dirty dishes. All I really need to do is make sure I keep my cellphone, Kindle and iPod charged. I will have to take a look at my Kindle to see what books and movies that I have downloaded and see if there is anything that is under $2 that might be interesting.

The only thing that is in my favor is that I have more candles than I know what to do with in case we lose electricity. If we lose electricity, I am hoping that there will be 2 single wick candles that can be finished up on the first floor and I will finish one in my bedroom. So far, I have placed 12 candles in my room, in case I need them if and when we lose electricity. I am still waiting for my early access to the Bath and Body Works Candle Day sale that will be happening this weekend. I still am setting my limit of 3 candles and not one more. My record for Candle Day is an order of 9 candles in a single order. Since I have been on medical leave, I haven't been as stoked about Candle Day since I have started participating in Candle Day back in either 2018 or 2019. But I could never fathom or justify getting 20 plus candles in a single shopping run and then going back in the store or online and getting another 20 plus candles. Bath and Body Works always has candle sales through out the year and some of those sales are really good sales.

My medical leave is slowly coming to an end since I go back to work on Friday. In some ways, I want to go back to work and I know that I really need the cash but in other ways, I don't want to go back to work. I have gotten a little to used to doing what I want when I want and not have to keep an eye on the clock. I want to have a little more cash to get my 2 eldest nephews their Christmas gift and call it a day.