tracy0504

Happy May!!!! So far I’ve gone to Vegas (May 2-5) and celebrated a birthday (May 4)… next up is Mother’s Day cooking, baking and enjoying family!!!!

It’s also my son’s 30th birthday

The month is almost over already!!!!

One month down... Hope it warms up a little soon

My plans were to spend Christmas Eve with cousins, aunts and some of my kids at my cousin's home eating lots of potluck food (tacos, arroz con gondules y habichuelas guisadas, virgin coquito, ambrosia, cake and whatever else was brought) and Christmas was going to be just with my kids and grand with a nice dinner of ham, broccoli casserole, cornbread dressing, candied yams, collard greens, hot water cornbread... just food, family and fun... however, that was derailed by one of if not the worst snow storm in history... two and a half days of blowing, blinding snow (12-23 early morning -12/24 late night)... I was stuck in my house, literally, as the snow had blown up against both doors and I couldn't open them to get out... streets were not passable and stranded cars were all on the roads... a driving ban was in affect in the city from 12/23 - 12/28...and then we had Spring like weather by that weekend Christmas Eve I watched movies and finished wrapping gifts, Christmas morning I opened the only gift I had (from my GD Secret Santa), talked to all of my children and mom, made my Christmas Dinner and ate by myself and watched movies until I fell asleep... NYE was spent in church and the following day consisted of watching movies all day.

Due to the storm and mail not being delivered for several days, I received my last Christmas Card this past Thursday and I hung it up to enjoy with the rest of the cards!!!! Thank you, Bopeep for keeping this going ever year!!!! Some of us are presented with challenges around the holidays, but each year we manage to bring a smile to someone that we’ve never met and may never meet offline!!!! So thank you to everyone that participates each year!!!!

Yes!!!! Thank you so much!!!! I had to tell my daughter that same thing because she was so upset on Christmas Eve when she woke up and reality hit that we would not be spending Christmas Eve or day with each other, no exchanging gifts, no potluck and secret Santa with the family… sadly, lives were lost during this storm, but we were alive and could get together WHENEVER… and I forgot to add, your gift was the only gift I had to open on Christmas morning!!!! I was so excited and I love everything!!!! Thank you for being a part of this group and participating in Secret Santa!!!!

The snow is melting and it’s like 47 and raining today… we will definitely celebrate soon!!!!

Thank you so much jesusluvu!!!! This Christmas has definitely been different!!!! I live in WNY (yup, THAT city [emoji23]) and we were hit with that big storm!!!! I was literally stuck in my house by myself since the Friday before Christmas and not able to spend time with family or my kids… my daughter along with a neighbor’s son finally shoveled me out after the driving ban was lifted yesterday!!!! Annnnd this weekend is supposed to be Spring like weather [emoji19] (snow already melting)… It’s never about the gifts under the tree for me… But I’m grateful for the gift of life! I’m safe, my children/family were safe, I never lost power and had heat and plenty of food so I made my Christmas dinner and ate it while watching movies (I froze some for my son and his wife until they can get to me)…my daughter’s power went out, but she was safe in a house with power, heat and food… my boys were safe as well… I still have a ton of gifts under my tree, but I can celebrate Christmas anytime!!!!

Holiday themed Lottery/scratch off tickets, cold and flu themed gift (tissue, NyQuil, thermometer, cough drops, etc…), Christmas is finally over themed gift (Acetaminophen, orange juice, ginger ale…or a bottle of wine), a book of stamps and holiday cards for those last minute card senders… pancake mix and a spatula for a Christmas morning breakfast starter…

SS package received today!!!! I’ll be waiting until Christmas to open!!!! Thank you SS!!!!

My scratch off was not a winner either, but it’s always fun… I’m loving the cards I’ve received so far!!!!

Congratulations [emoji322][emoji323]

I'm still waiting on one more thing to arrive and they just changed the delivery date from Thursday to Friday

I didn't do as much BF shopping this year as in previous years, probably because my children are grown and I didn't need much. Mainly shopping for the grand this year...Here's what I ended up with Pre BF Online Walmart: 2 Rubbermaid container sets Towels, hand towels and washcloths Pioneer Women's bake set (first set the baking dish was broke on arrival, they sent me a new set and told me to keep, donate or trash the other set) Kohl's: 2 Big One Throws 6 candles 3 Sweater Dresses Bath and Body Works: 13 Lotions and 16 hand soap (pre BF) and 12 Sprays (BF weekend) Black Friday I ventured out to my usual stores... Lowes: Poinsettias Christmas Tree Shops: Rubbermaid containers Gift bags Cella's Chocolate covered cherries Oven mitts, pot holders and kitchen towels (Christmas themed) 2 boxes Christmas Cards I usually buy boxes of Victor Allen coffee (42 k-cups) for $10 every BF that lasts me practically a year, but this year I was disappointed to find out that they had been trying for months to get some in and were not successful... Carter's: 1 Adult/1 kid matching pj's Old navy: $5 pajama bottoms (the material seems really cheap and thin this year) Target: Candle $1 one spot items (stocking stuffers) Walmart didn't garner a trip instore this year... I wanted to go to JCPenney just to look, but didn't... I finished shopping early this year and headed home for leftovers, my couch and TV...

No cheap $8/$9 Rayovac batteries… I mean there’s no comparison to Energizer, but you can really see inflation if during BF you notice the sharp increase in batteries and poinsettias [emoji23][emoji23]

Hoping to find a newspaper on Thursday for the ads… I think they still sell newspapers around these parts [emoji23]

There are a couple stores that I have to do in person on BF every year so I will definitely be up, out and about even if I don’t buy much… it sets the tone for me and gets me more in the holiday spirit…

I need towels so I may stop in… I already bought the Pikachu toy they have advertised for 50% off so now I have to get the difference for that… but no Rubbermaid containers this year… unless that’s an unadvertised deal…

Meh… Rubbermaid containers and Anchor Hocking set…