Christmas Countdown - 2013

[sugar142286]

We turned our heating on last night for the first time in months! It is chilly in mornings and at nights these days.

I am looking forward to when we can turn the heat on in our house too.

 

[sugar142286]

Now that's a scary prospect.

It kind of is, but we have a lot of fun!

 

[Festive Spirit]

I am looking forward to when we can turn the heat on in our house too.

I don't look forward to that at all LOL! If I had a real fire then that's another story, I'd love that!

 

[made582]

It kind of is, but we have a lot of fun!

LOL!!! That we do!!!

 

[sugar142286]

I don't look forward to that at all LOL! If I had a real fire then that's another story, I'd love that!

We have a fireplace, but our's is a gas fireplace. I love having it, but my house heats up quickly.

 

[made582]

I love having it, but my house heats up quickly.

Not my apartment!!! My electric bills are usually $50 dollars more a month when I turn on the heat compared to running the A/C.

 

[sugar142286]

Off to eat lunch! Be back later! Hope you're all enjoying your day! :hi:

 

[made582]

Off to eat lunch! Be back later! Hope you're all enjoying your day! :hi:

Have fun!!!!

 

[Festive Spirit]

We have a fireplace, but our's is a gas fireplace. I love having it, but my house heats up quickly.

I would love a a ''real'' fireplace like yours. They are rare to have here now. Ours was sealed over by the previous owner. I would very much like to refurbish it one day! :razz:

 

[Festive Spirit]

Not my apartment!!! My electric bills are usually $50 dollars more a month when I turn on the heat compared to running the A/C.

Tell me about it. That's the only thing about winter time for me......the HUGE (and I mean HUGE) Gas/Electric bills.

 

[Christmasstar]

When I got to work this morning the Kiplinger Holiday shopping forcast was in my email:

The outlook for 2013 holiday retail sales?
More ho-hum than ho-ho, unfortunately.
So no big boost for the economy from it,
though we still expect fourth-quarter GDP growth
to top a sluggish 1.7% third-quarter rate of gain.
About 3.5% more sales this year than last...
about one percentage point slower growth
than in the 2012 Thanksgiving-to-New-Year’s span.
One reason: A truncated shopping period.
A late Thanksgiving and midweek Christmas Day
this year mean consumers will have a mere 26 days
to load up on gifts, decorations, entertaining, etc.
Last year, they had an exceptionally long 32 days.
Each day can represent about $10 billion in sales.
Plus all the preexisting dampening factors
that have been curbing consumer spending all year:
High unemployment, meager wage and income gains,
anxiety about government fiscal policy decisions,
and increased 2013 payroll and other federal taxes.
Helping to offset those curbs…
Easier credit and a greater willingness
to use plastic. Consumer spending is growing nearly twice as fast as wages are.
Reduced savings, too. From just 1% in 2008, the savings rate rose to nearly 8%
near the recession’s end. Now it’s slipped below 5% and will continue to drift down.
Retailers will try to gin up buying especially early. Some stores,
especially those online, will start promoting holiday deals right after Halloween.
And look for Black Friday sales to pop up days, even weeks, before Thanksgiving.
Among those that will fare the best: Electronics stores, as technology items…
smart TVs and phones, tablets, e-readers and gaming consoles…fly off shelves.
Plus discount retailers and mass merchandisers…Costco, Kmart, Target,
Walmart and the like. All will benefit from consumers’ cautious spending this year.
Online sales will climb 20%, with cyberstores nabbing a 6% market share.
In 2012…5%. Half of all shoppers will buy something online this holiday season.
Expect retailers to fight hard for sales this year, offering plenty of bargains
to entice shoppers into stores and then providing better service to get them spending.
Many will equip aisle-roaming sales staff with tablets or smart phones.
Among their jobs: Show buyers alternatives that aren’t in stock and place orders
for them, with free delivery to home or store. Watch out for showroomers…customers
who look over products in stores, then buy elsewhere for less…and offer to match
or beat prices. And process sales on the spot, letting customers avoid checkout lines.
Look, too, for more innovative e-marketing: Notices of flash sales…discounts
available for 24 hours or less, personalized recommendations (à la Amazon) and more.

that was a mouth full!

 

[Christmasstar]

i'm sorry, did you say something else? I couldn't get past this part.

lol

 

[Christmasstar]

I am caught up on posts through Saturday morning! Geesh... :lol:

Check out our temps this week. High of 94 on Tuesday & a high of SIXTY SIX, low of FORTY TWO on Friday! :cold: Talk about a drastic change in temps!!!

nothing quite like variety! This way you will not get bored with the temperatures

 

[HomemakinGirl]

Here's to a great first day.....

Hope the girls have a great first day back!

Thanks!!!

Hello everyone

How is everybody? I was away a couple weeks, as life was interupting my plans to show up here regularly.

In the last couple weeks my parents had to untertake some serious medical examinations and on top of that we all felt ill. Luckily the results aren't as bad as expected.

My father has sleep apnoe (as we expected since some years, but he refused to check it out) due to the fact that his throat closes up during sleep. Despite the condition he does have enough oxygen. Therfore he needs a vacuum device which should make sure that his throat won't close up. Hopefully this device will help him rest better.

On top of all those examinations we also had to put our tomcat to sleep. He started to eat less and less and became very quiet. On a Wednesday two weeks ago, my father went to the vet (our old vet retired and a vet corporation took over) and they said he had a kidney and a liver tumour. They also told us that he didn't have any pain at that time and gave us some drops which should make him hungry again. We were suppose to give him this drops once a day. But he refused to eat on Thursday and on Friday mornig he breathed very heavily. My father called the vet corporation again and they told him to bring our tomcat over as he now need to be put to sleep. Otherwise he would get a cirrhosisofthe liver, which would be very painful. My father wanted to make an appointment on either friday (the same day) afternoon or saturday afternoon, as due to work those were the only times he could go. The vet corporation told us, that they are only aviable on friday morning and saturday morning (there are tree vets in that corporation!). So that afternoon my father drove to the other vet, who was aviable. After looking at our tomcat she said that he was in real pain and has been for a couple days. My father was shocked. If he knew this on Wednesday he would have put Benji to sleep that day. Never ever would he take him back home again!

Now, we are happy that he is without pain, but we miss him dearly. He was with us for sixteen years and lived a good life. We also decided to change our vet. Not just because the vet corporation wasn't aviable when we needed them but also because they are more expensive than the other vet. They also want everything paid in cash right after the examination. The other vet still offers invoices. Which is much better.

Hope your dad feels better, so sorry to hear about Benji (((Hugs)))

Merry Monday Morning to you all! How was your weekend? Isn't it crazy how quickly we get through a week? I bet we will be welcoming October very soon!

On Saturday we ended up doing some work around the garden, my eldest had his hair cut, I ran a few errands and later in the evening we cooked a nice meal and watched the second Star Trek movie, we enjoyed it, my eldest loved it.

It was a long day yesterday. I was up early this morning to take my son to school. My toddler keeps waking up at around 3am every night for the past few weeks so needless to say I am not sleeping well at all these nights. I managed to walk to the shops after the school run and I was delighted to see Halloween decorations and candy out! Everywere was busy moving things around, so I bet within the next couple weeks christmas will appear!

I would very much like to veg out on the couch now with a tea and a movie and recover from yesterday but ofcourse no such luck!

Have a wonderful start to the week everybody! Before we knwo it Friday will be here again!

I hope you get some rest!

I will do a thread, absolutely!! I'll work on that sometime this week!

I am looking forward to that too, your decorations look beautiful!!!

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Not my apartment!!! My electric bills are usually $50 dollars more a month when I turn on the heat compared to running the A/C.

It's funny how different it is depending on where you live. In the summer here our electric bill is usually $150.00 higher than it is in the winter. That is including in December when I have all my Christmas lights up along with running some heat, summer is still way higher. We have even seen it up to $250.00 higher in the summer! Ahhh!

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Also forgot to mention that my gas bill is only about 15 to 20 bucks higher in the winter. Not bad!

 

[MerryCarey]

It looks fantastic! I am dying to come over and nosy through all those books. I would be in heaven!

I'm looking forward to rediscovering what's on the shelves! Mr. and I both brought a huge number of books when we got married and combined households. It's nice to have a cozy place to read other than bed!

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Great job on the 10 mile bike ride!!! Yep, next time you go all the way around!!! :grin: We haven't rode around our lake yet this year. Normally we try to do it at least once. It is 27 miles around. Wew! Need a nap after that one!!!

I'm caught up to Sunday morning....

Wow! That's a great bike ride!!!

 

[Christmas-A-Holic]

Snowflake, I will be praying. It is just so darn hard and stressful to watch your pets get ill. My little Chico keeps me worried all the time even though he has decent energy and eats well, he still has issues with his heart. Give Harlowe a hug from me! Hugs to you too!

MerryCarey, I just saw the pics the sitting area and all your books. Impressive!!!

 

[HomemakinGirl]

Good morning everyone!

A new workweek means a week closer to Christmas! That final window can't come soon enough. It's a beautiful morning here in Canada's capital. Temperatures are to reach the lower 20s/mid 70s with a little bit of wind. A perfect way to celebrate the final single digit day of September!

Today is my first official day of job searching. If you all find something, let me know! ...Kidding. I am searching in full force. I hope you all had a great weekend and are looking forward to the next. After all, a milestone will soon follow!

Good luck with the job search!

Good morning, friends~

Happy Monday!

Hope you guys had a nice weekend!

I have a busy day ahead. My oldest & dearest friend and her fiancee are stopping by later this afternoon, they live in Washington now. It'll be nice to catch up.

Unfortunately, Harlowe has been having trouble again. She was sick all day yesterday, and I am feeling so worried & stressed. Breaks my heart. Can you guys please continue to pray for her?
Thank you

Sending lots of hugs and prayers to both you and Harlowe xoxo

Your floor looks absolutely gorgeous! He did an excellent job! Your kitties made me smile!!!

Thank you Holiday!

Caught a cold....hope it wont be too bad and that Kandice wont catch it from me

Hope you are feeling better soon!

Here it is:

Looks beautiful, MerryCarey :-D