Merry Christmas Baby... Let's Hope 2026 Cuts Us A Break

I am starting this a couple Days before Christmas but it will Publish Christmas Morning.   I jazzed up our Chili to make it last a whole other Days worth of Meals for the Crew here.  I put some Vegetables and more Beans in it, so it's more a Vegetable Chili than Meat Based Chili on Day Two.  But, still has some Chorizo in it and tastes even better when simmered a whole other Day in the Crockpot, was even better Today than the Day Before actually, Nom-Nom.  

That's why I like making Chili, you can throw anything in it and make it Feed the multitudes and taste delicious and different every single time, while being nutritious and everyone Loving it.  Some of the Young folks who work with Princess T still tell me how much they enjoyed it, I think they may be fishing for Seconds?  *LOL and Winks*  Hey, I remember being Young and Living on inexpensive Top Ramen and 25 Lb. Bags of Asian Imported Rice, so any Home Cooked Meal is appreciated even if the Chef is no Culinary Jedi.  *Smiles*

I don't know if Princess T is taking me out to Eat if I Uber her Ass around to finish up her Christmas Shopping?   In Real Time it's the Day Before Christmas Eve and she wants to hit at least a Dollar Store and TARGET, which, probably both will be Madhouses right about now I suspect?  Normally I wouldn't venture near any Retail Establishment this close to Christmas.   Not even a Temptation to, since there's no Money now 'til we get Paid again anyway.  We've been at the Wire since Mid-Month. *LOL and Le Sigh* 

 Retirement should have had the Paid Off Home we had, which was The Plan and I'd attained it.   Then things would have met at the Ends.  But, shit happens, Life happens, and this Mortgage is never getting Paid Off, but it is at least only 2% Interest.  This is also Why those who Scored the record low Rates or have Paid Off Homes aren't Selling, they can't replace it now, out of reach for the Average American or Retiree now.  I wouldn't wanna try to do nor fund a Big Move now again in our Lifetime.  Hell to the No.  For what it Costs now to Hire Movers, you used to be able to Pay Cash for an actual Property!!!  My first couple of Properties didn't cost me that much and were given Time to Pay Off!

Thus, most folks can't afford to Move either.  I've told it before, but we did a Self-Move to here out of necessity coz to Hire a Moving Company, the lowest Quote, just to move a few Miles Southeast from where we were already Living, was $35,000!!!   Even those U-Boxes for small Households like The Young Prince's worldly possession from New Mexico to Phoenix, will be excessive and overpriced IMO.  The Niece backed out of driving a U-Haul Van for him, he can't Drive, someone with Schizophrenia can't drive safely, most can't even be Licensed to Drive.  So, he has to rely on Allen to fund a U-Box and get it here or leave behind everything he owns.

The Son isn't working right now so if I could afford the U-Haul and to have him Drive it there and back, help his Nephew load it, and trust he wouldn't get into a Situation with The Young Prince's Husband, I'd have him do it.   But that would be a lot of IFS, ANDS, and BUTS, so I wouldn't risk it even if I could afford it, which, we can't, so it's not even an Option actually.   Plus, The Son and The Young Prince together on such a long Interstate drive, might be like a Thelma & Louise Situation risk without a Mediator to ensure nothing goes Off Rails or into The Iconic Movie's Abyss of the Grand Canyon?  *Winks and LOL*

This Morning when I dropped Princess T off at Work it was still Dark so I drove around our Mini Farms Community to look at Lights.   Hadn't done that and didn't realize how many of our Neighbors had actually done some pretty Extreme Christmas Decorating on their Acreages.  Some of the folks in the Lakeside Subdivisions around us Decorate the Backs of their Properties that face out onto the Lakes too and that's quite Lovely if you can see it from the Road, reflecting off the Water.  We almost bought a Lakehouse in one of those Lakeside Subdivisions near where we now Live, before Buying the Villa McManse.  

It was a Short Sale and we were the Backup Buyer, but the Bank dallied with the Original Buyer, who ended up not Qualifying.  We were VA Approved and Pre-Qualified, so could have Closed quickly.  But, by then I'd JUST Signed for the McManse THAT Day when they Offered The Lakehouse to us!  Dammit, we'd waited almost a full Year, but they were a fucking Day late, Hours actually, the Ink barely dry on our Paperwork for what we ended up Buying!!!  The Man laments we didn't get that Home, but I kinda don't.  It was even bigger than the McManse, still had an HOA {tho' a better one}, needed Upgrades that were Costly, Short Sales generally have Owners in Crisis, and the Master Bedroom was Upstairs, The Man can't do Stairs.

Plus, I was still fighting The System to get The G-Kid Force Adopted and Living ON a Lake, with a Lakefront Property, might have been No Bueno with the fussy Adoption Board?  After all, they wouldn't Approve my Paid Off Historic Home coz of Lead Paint, as if a 10 Year Old and a 15 Year Old would be eating Paint Chips!   *Eye Roll*  I mean, they were Special Needs Kiddos, but not THAT kinda 'Special'... and they'd Lived in the Historic Home since their Birth and never eaten Paint Chips.  But, Social Services often makes no sense in how they structure Placements or disqualify you, whether permanent or temporary.  So, now here we are, after a lot of Hoop Jumping, they're now Grown and I don't have as many Caseworkers to pacify or up my Ass.  

But, that Lakehouse did have a Fireplace AND a Wet Sauna in the Master Bathroom and the Walk In Closet with Cherrywood Custom Cabinetry to Die For, like the Size of a Room!!!   And a MIL Suite on the Ground level with separate access.  The Ground Floor Kitchen and Den with Fireplace also looked out to the Lake View.  The View out the Master Bedroom Windows looked out onto a Rooftop Patio and The Lake.  It was a lot of House tho', bigger than the Villa McManse, but their HOA Maintained the Front Yards, or so I was told, so wasn't as inclined to Harass their Community.

 It also came with a Pontoon Boat, Pool & Spa, and was the largest Lot in the entire Lakeside Community and the largest Home there.  The Equity skyrocketed, and I could have Scored it cheaper than I paid for the McManse, which was a Deal but not as good as a Short Sale Deal.   So if I'd of Sold it, I could have Paid Cash for this Home... so... there would have been definite Upsides to it.  If only... *Ha ha ha*  But, everything Is as it Should Be, Destiny takes its turns as it just will, I'm a firm Believer in that.

I'm waffling right now on going into The She Shed to Price some Inventory coz it's still only up to 65 Degrees and it's almost 11:00 a.m. now.  Too chilly for Yours Truly even tho' that Space warms up pretty good coz it's small and has a Window to look out towards the Street, which is South Facing.   Not sure when Princess T gets out of Work, some Tuesdays they keep them Late coz the Back Room Staff didn't Work Sunday and Monday, plus Mondays are Half Price Day and that Store gets wrecked by the Crowds.  

 You'd think some of those Shoppers were fucking feral, how they act and tear shit up.   I have never made a mess in any Store or acted the Fool in one, even when I was a Small Child, I was Raised better and Knew better.   Some of these folks must have been Dragged Up, as my Mom would call it, by ignorant or unfit Parents or Guardians not up to the Job of Raising them Right?

 

Sometimes Sales are Soft yet your Space is wrecked and you're like, really, you can't even have been Shopping to Buy nothing and leave such a Mess behind in your wake.   And Honestly, when I was coming up I don't recall Stores being tore up like that, not even the Five & Dimes where Bargain Shoppers frequented, like Ben Franklin and Woolworths.  People just didn't act the Fool like they do now when they went into any Public or Retail Space, they knew how to Act. 

 Now some Act like they've lost their Minds, any Respect, and all Decorum.  I don't even wanna attract that kind of Feral Individual who can't Behave or Control their Feral Acting Spawn either.  Be Well and Be Gone, don't Shop here.  Security or Management ought to Escort them out 100% of the time so they know and Learn that they're not Welcome anywhere to Act like that.

 

I may be Old School about it, but I Believe in Public Shaming anyone whose a Grown Ass Adult who can't Act Right in Public.  If all of Society put the Pressure upon them en mass to Act Right, I think there would be a Shift in the Right Direction of more Positive Behavior.  Humans are basically Social Beings and Herd Creatures Naturally, unless they're terribly defective to where Socialization isn't possible for them.  That's Why Isolation is hard and if prolonged, makes a Human start losing their Minds, which is Why Solitary Confinement and no Human Contact is so damaging and detrimental to the Psyche.  And any Behavior Tolerated is Behavior Accepted, never forget that.

Okay, so enuf of my Bitchin' about pet peeves of Joe Public who've gone Feral and reverted to their Wild State.  *LOL*   They seem quite oblivious that Polite Society and those who know how to Act and Behave Socially, find them to be Nuisance Animals in a very Primitive State of Being like Neanderthal Humans or the Denisovans Subspecies of Humans.  Mebbe they do have too much Neanderthal or Denisovans DNA, who knows?  *Ha ha ha*  I got a Banana Box full of Inventory Priced in the She Shed, it was actually very nice out there once it cleared over 70 Degrees.   Some of the Clothing I'm taking in is pictured Below:

The Punk Denim Vest is Cute, but Princess T doesn't like Punk Genre like that so she Passed on it when I Scored it and said to just Sell it.  The Young Prince felt the same about the Devil Face Shirt, usually he'll wear something like that, but it was big on him, he's Slender and likes things to fit in a more Tailored way.  I should have no problems Selling both of these to our demographic that Buys from us now.  The Shirt still has the original Tags so it's New Old Stock.  I have another Arted Up Custom White Denim Child's Jacket that looks like a Mom made it for her Daughter by Painting on it with Fabric Paint.  But, the Art is good and has a lot of Alice In Wonderland and other Trendy Graphics Tweens like that she Painted well on it.

A lot of Vendors are Selling Trendy Stickers now and Customers are eating it up.  So, I had some very X-Large 3-D Holographic Rock & Roll, Smiley Faces, Low Rider Babes, Aliens doing Crazy Things, and Car Club Stickers that I'll only ask a Buck apiece for.  {See Below}   The Vendors at our Mall are asking much more for tiny little Modern Stickers.  Mine are Vintage from the 1990's, New Old Stock.   I have a Bulk Lot of them that I Scored from a Vending Machine and Gumball Machine Vendor that was going out of Business and Selling what the Contents of his Machines used to be back in the 1990's. 

  I think he was Retiring and I only Wish I'd also Bought Out his Vintage New Old Stock of Posters from the 1970-1990's Eras.  I did Buy a few, to Keep tho', not for Resale.  Eli fucked our Favorite one up, for some reason he did not Like that Poster and used to attack it... Odd, it's a Hand holding up a PEACE Sign Black Light Poster.  We Framed it behind Plexiglass to protect it now.

If you look at the Lefthand Bottom Corner you can see where Eli jumped up and Clawed/Shredded the shit out of it.  *Le Sigh*  He did that twice, never bothered any of her other Posters, we do not know why he disliked this one so much, the Word PEACE perhaps?  *LOL* He thought, I'll show them PIECE by Shredding it to Pieces, forget about PEACE!!!  *Bwahahahaha*  Now it hangs outside her Room in the Hallway coz we're sure he'd still try to knock it off the Wall? 

 He was just too aggravated by it and he's a Weirdo Cat that does Strange shit like that when he doesn't Like something for whatever his Reasons are.  *Le Sigh*  There was one of her Fabric Tapestries he Hated too, so she had to take it off her Wall and hang it on her Ceiling instead.  He hasn't figured out a way to jump up on the Ceiling yet.  *Ha ha ha*  He doesn't mind or bother any of her other numerous Tapestries, go figure!?

    

We dropped off the Merch at our Showroom, it was relatively busy, TARGET and the Dollar Store were Surprisingly NOT!   But, a Customer had broken about $25 of Glass and Porcelain Merchandise I'd just put in recently and didn't pay for any of the damage they caused.  I had it up high, so I know it was some Adult that did it and not a Child, and they were back far enuf of a Shelf that they weren't close to an Edge, so, somebody was being Careless or heavy handed and like a Bull in a China Shop.  Sometimes they crash into things with their Carts too, I don't know what happened to knock so much fragile Merch off a high Shelf Unit?

  Sometimes Shoppers act like they're at a Carnival and it's a Midway Game to knock shit down and break it for some Prize or sense of Satisfaction?!  *Le Sigh*  Staff had called me about it and said they don't know who did it coz after they heard the crash and breakage, whoever it was split from the scene.  I'm sure if they looked at Security Surveillance they'd see who did it tho'.  Not that it matters, one was a State Vintage 1950's Glass from Utah, almost 70 Years it stayed Mint Condition 'til that Shopper showed up and broke it to smitherines, didn't even get a chance to Sell it, only stocked it the other day!  The other was a Vintage small Chalkware Virgin Mary Statue they snapped the Head off of!  Both a total loss.

The Good and unexpected News tho' was I finished out the last Pay Period Super Strong on the very last Day of the Two Week Period my Sales were outstanding.  That would have been last Saturday, enuf that I will get a decent Check that will be SO Helpful, coz Payday is this coming Friday, right after Christmas.   I Wish we got our Checks before Christmas so I could just deposit it in our Household Account and have more Peace of Mind about having enough in there for Gas and Checks that need to Clear, without cutting it too close that it's nerve wracking.

  But, it was such a relief to finally have at least One Day of very Strong Sales during the Holidays.  Someone bought every single one of my Old WWII Magazines that focused on Military Planes of the Era mostly.  My Vendor Friend Cigar Hugh had given them to me when he closed out one of his Booths Years ago.  I had them in a Box so long in Inventory at Home, not sure if they'd languish or appeal to a Militaria Collector.

 

Everyone was glad to see Princess T with me, tho' we Share our Spaces there, I maintain it mostly now coz she's Working Full Time now and doesn't have the Time anymore.   She Treated me to Dinner at "Wildflower Bread Company" and the Manageress came and talked with us.  She'd just returned from Chicago where her 3rd Grandchild, the first Granddaughter, had just been Born.  She said everyone in the Family was down Sick with Flu, so she was the only Healthy one and spent Five Days Caring for the Newborn so her DIL could Heal from being Sick.  And nobody could hold the Baby coz they all were Sick.  She showed us Pixs, what a Pretty Baby she is, with a lot of Hair and just very lovely Features.  

  

She has Two Grandsons who are Toddlers, she has Two Sons and each Son has a Son, now One has a Daughter too.  She's the Manageress that wanted to Hire Princess T to work there for her.  Both of her Daughters, who don't have Children, work for Chase Bank and keep bugging her to Retire from the Restaurant Industry coz they think she's too Old, but she enjoys what she does.  She doesn't wanna Retire and doesn't feel too Old.  Above is a Pix of the large Gift that our Next Door Neighbors Sylvia and Tom got for us.  The Man has been chomping at the bit to Open it prematurely but I told him to wait 'til Christmas so we have something to Open.  He doesn't know he's getting Gifts from me or the Kids you see.  *Winks*

And Princess T said she was Surprised her Grandpa didn't know who the other Guy was with Matthew when they came over to get her, it was Timmy!!!   I guess she and Matthew have extended him some Grace about the remarks he made that they found offensive and Racist, it was apparently about a Van full of Mexicans and Princess T had to remind him, Hey, I'm Hispanic Timmy, I found that remark to be Offensive and she was just shocked he'd said it in her presence.   Plus, his Boyfriend is Latino.  So, I asked her, well, was what he said Racial... or Racist?  There is a difference and intent is everything too.  If what is said is meant to be hurtful or deliberately insensitive then that's one thing, perhaps no Offense was Intended? 

 She mulled that over and said perhaps, and anyway, now everything is Good between them.   And I'm glad, they've been so close since Grade School and it did seem totally out of Character to me for Timmy.  Like I mentioned before, almost all his Friends are People of Color, he's the only White Boy in their Group of Friends actually, he's only Dated Men of Color... that doesn't line up with being a Racist to me.   Anyway, they had a good time, went out for Dinner to "Olive Garden", went to The Retail Mall to Shop, and are going to First Fridays the 1st Friday of January.  That Trio always has a Big Time when they go and do anything together, they're like the Three Musketeers.  

Remember I told you about the one Neighbor in our Mini Farm Community that always did Extreme Christmas Decorating and had a Vintage Airstream he lit up too, then stopped doing it for Two Years, we thought something had happened to him?   Well, he resumed this Year, tho' he now has a Modern 5th Wheel he Lights up and I don't know what happened to the Vintage Airstream?   I'm glad to see him doing it becoz we'd thought perhaps he'd Died or become very ill, it went from this to absolutely nothing, not a single Decoration for Two Consecutive Years.  His Property is on the outskirts of our Mini Farm Community and faces a Main Road {107th Avenue} that doesn't have the Access Road in front of it like our Home does on the other Main Road of Thomas that runs on the other Side of our Community.

  I'm glad we have our Access Road with a low Block Wall, it buffers Noise and Traffic considerably and affords more Privacy and less risks of damage from Vehicle Accidents.  The Mini Farms facing 107th Avenue didn't get that from the City when Urban encroachment and Sprawl happened.   This Community has been here since 1960 and used to only be Dirt Roads around all of it on Two Sides to the West and South, and the Main Open Irrigation Canals on the other Two Sides of it, which are very Wide, like a River, to the East and North. 

 Our Home is South Facing, that Guy's Home is West Facing and a Corner Lot up against the Main Irrigation Canal on his North Side.  He has a massive Custom Home, not all of it showing in the Photo, and a Casita in the Back Acreage as well as a Barn and Commercial Sized Garage for his Vintage Car Collection.   The Guy is a Serious Collector of Big Ticket Items in Transportation, clearly.   And he drives all his Vintage Cars and Trucks and they are Primo, the Airstream was one of the largest ones, I think he still has it, but now parked out on his back Acreage.  I wanna BE that Guy when I Grow Up.  *Winks*

So, we did make it thru to Christmas intact my Friends.  Princess T had me drop her off at Work Christmas Eve Morning and then go Buy her Boyfriend Two Holiday Scratch Tickets to put in his Christmas Stocking she made up for him.  She chose the Deep Red low pile fur fuzzy one I'd bought, it looked good, he'll like it.  I didn't know they won't Sell Lottery Tickets quite that early, so hadda buy a Coffee and wait around the Convenience Store a bit 'til they'd Sell a couple of Christmas Dollar Scratch Tickets to me.  *Eye Roll*  

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So, Merry Christmas Baby, from me to you... Dawn... The Bohemian