Trixie

I was really surprised to see the Sears in Ridgmar Mall(Fort Worth, Tx) to close, it was always busy. When I was a kid I remember being excited when the Christmas WishBook came out. By December it would be worn with the pages folded to mark our place. We haven't had KMarts in the Dallas/Ft Worth area since 2001 or 2002. Anytime I went to Austin I would stop in the one near Ft Hood. But, I've heard it's now closed

This year will be very slim, unless I can find a fulltime job soon! I work part-time doing product demos in a grocery store. My daughter (who is 27) and I live with my grandma. We were both out of work for over 2yrs, so its been a struggle trying to play catch up on bills. The only presents we exchange is the family gift exchange. There are 15 of us that live near by & we just buy 1 gift for the person who's name we draw. The limit is $10 & no more then $20. So it's fun to see what I can buy during the sales to make that liimt.

The last few years Christmas has been a really hard time for my family money wise. So we draw names from the oldest my Grandma age 85 to the youngest which this year is my new great-nephew Sammy who will be just 5 months on Dec 21. If all the bills are paid & there's enough left over my daughter & I are buying a new computer as a shared gift for us.

There's several reasons why I'm not excited this year. First I lost my job in JUly 2009 and have just worked a few part-time seasonal jobs since then. Currently I'm doing product demos which helps some, but not enough. Next my dear grandpa ( mom's dad) died on April 27 after having 3 strokes in less then a month. However, on the bright side my oldest niece gave birth on Sept 21 to her second child a girl. So baby Moriah has helped to ease the loss some. I'm a single mom to an adult daughter and we both live with my grandma. I've never married so I don't have the "inlaws" to worry about. My dad's family quit drawing names years ago when the family got really big, if everyone showed up there would be close to 60. We do try to get together during December for a potluck meal and to visit. When my imediate family of parents, siblings & their families along with my grandma & my daughter get together there are only 15 of us. Even so we draw names from the oldest grandma at 83 to the youngest baby Moriah who will be 3 months at Christmas. We keep the cost of the gift low $10-$20 so that my grandma who's on a fixed income feels she can buy something without going in debt.

I am submitting a recipe I got from a friend. Though when I made it I made a few changes that I'm noting at the bottom. ~~Holiday Gingerbread Trifle~~ 2(14oz.) boxes of gingerbread mix (* or 1 spice cake mix) 1 small box instant vanilla pudding 1 30oz can Pumpkin Pie Filling 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/3 tsp ground cinnamon 1(12oz) tub Cool Whip 1/2 cup gingersnaps crushed Bake gingerbread according to package and let cool. Mix pudding according to package. Next, add punmpkin, brown sugar & cinnamon to the pudding. Layer in a large trifle bowl by crumbling 1 gingerbread cake then spread a layer of pudding mixture, top with cool whip. Repeat using the second gingerbread, pudding, cool whip. Garnish with the gingersnaps. Refrigerate overnight. * If using the spice cake cut the cake in half, crumble for bottom layer. This is the method I used a few years for a holiday party and it got rave reviews. I felt the gingerbread mix was a little pricey. You could also make your own gingerbread to use from scratch.

This sounds like fun, I know its too late to join this year, so I won't even ask. But, I know what to look for next year

When my daughter was in 4th grade instead of exchanging gifts with classmates during the Christmas party they had them donate. That was hard to explain to a 9yr old special needs kid that there are some kids who don't have Christmas without the special Santa helpers. This year I have a Secret Sister from another group that I've been sending things to all year. Her husband decide he wanted a divorce right before their anniversary. Since this will be a hard year for the kids, I've decided to do something special for them. My family won't be doing to much do to some unexpected bills. But, when my daughter was young we were adopted at Christmas through her school districts Christmas Connection program. So I've been trying to find a way to pay it forward. I just started back to work after 3 yrs off due to a knee injury so I'm still playing catch up with bills. Though with all the great info on the sales I can stretch my money a little bit more.

Orginally, I got my second job which is just on Saturday nights for the month of October to have money for a trip to Vegas. Instead of going to Vegas I'm putting that money towards home repairs. I work for Dillard's distribution center and our busy time I'm told is October & November. So I might try to get a second job for December. I worked Toys R Us in 1999 as an overnight stocker. Last year I was there as a cashier until I got them to switch me to night stocking. I went from 5 hr shifts to 12-14hr shifts!