holidays

The $1 Christmas tree.

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I’ve felt oddly detached from the holiday this year, to the point where I didn’t have the motivation even to put up my Christmas tree. Normally that’s pretty important to me, but this year I just wasn’t feeling it. Knowing that, DF politely offered to help me set the tree up – which is silly, really, since this is a two-foot tabletop model that takes all of five minutes to decorate. (Not counting the lights, of course, which take 15 minutes just to un-knot.)

Still I demurred, until I noticed that on Friday he’d cleared away his Advent candle wreath and draped a white tablecloth over a box to provide a great place for the tree. He suggested that it would be easier to reach this way; normally the tree is set atop a cedar chest.

Sometimes a partner just knows what you need. That clean, conveniently vacant pedestal was the gentle push I needed to get going. And he was right: It was easier to reach, and to decorate even though the lights were still a pain to un-knot. It’s just their way.

Decorating the tree got me humming carols, and before I knew it I was finished. As always, we turned out the indoor lights and plugged in the Christmas tree lights in order to get the full effect.

Not bad, for a Charlie Brown tree (apologies for the dual image created by our double-paned window):

And here’s a daytime view, which doesn’t have the double image and which better showcases our ultra-white Christmas:

 

Just got back from my niece’s house, where I watched as she and her kids opened their holiday gifts. My own contributions to that celebration were, of course, almost completely paid for through gift cards from rewards programs, a bit of judicious re-gifting and the Expo Hall** at the Financial Bloggers Conference. I love giving presents, but I do need to keep an eye on the bottom line as I approach retirement.

My niece’s Christmas tree is much taller and more impressive. It’s also pre-lit, which is something to keep in mind if I ever replace my own tree. Somehow I doubt I will, because that  tabletop model means something to me. I bought it for $1 at the annual rummage sale held by the Lakeside School in Seattle, shortly after I had fled my marriage. Dropped another buck on a sandwich bag full of small Christmas tree ornaments, too.

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Giveaway: Alaska-made jewelry.

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I wanted to give away some more Alaska-made jewelry for Mother’s Day, but figured I had plenty of time. The other day I realized that the holiday is early this year: May 8. Yikes!

In order to allow a week for the giveaway to simmer, and then a few days to get the pieces mailed plus and a little time for those who don’t win to buy something else for Mom instead, I’m putting the giveaway up now.

Before I talk about the Alaska-made jewelry, though, I want to emphasize that this doesn’t have to be a Mother’s Day thing, for several reasons.

First, not everyone celebrates, because their moms are dead. Others have reasons not to want to give their moms the time of day, let alone a present. (It’s hard, but it happens.)

Finally, some people either believe in experiences rather than Stuff, or have been asked by their moms please not to send them any more Stuff. Clutter is a thing, especially as we age; we want to pare things down, not add to the problem. That’s why this does not have to be a Mother’s Day gift. Take your mom to lunch or gift her a massage, then use the jewelry as a gift for someone’s Confirmation, birthday or, heck, for next Christmas.

You could also choose to keep it, because why not give yourself a little somethin’ sparkly???

But back to the giveaway.

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Had a hibernating Christmas.

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The song “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” has been running through my mind since Dec. 25, probably because a Sam the Snowman chew toy was waiting under the tree for my niece’s dog that day. The Burl Ives version of the song was featured in the Rankin-Bass animated special, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” so it’s been his voice singing the song.

Except I changed the title a bit. “Had a hibernating Christmas” is the way it plays in my head.

DF and I did go out the afternoon of Christmas Eve to meet up with his son, daughter-in-law and their kids for a couple hours of carol-singing, Chinese food and opening a few presents. (Let me say that we never opened gifts early when I was a kid, but life is about adapting, right?)

On Christmas Day, DF had to show up at church as cantor for a mid-morning Mass, so he dropped me at my niece’s home to watch her kids open their gifts. And, of course, to see the dog toy that inspired the earworm.

This morning, I dropped him at church for his usual 8 a.m. cantor gig, and headed off to see if any post-holiday specials were good enough to tempt me into using some Shopkick points. Short form: Nope. In fact, the two stores I visited had relatively little left to be marked down. Supply-chain issues strike again, I guess.

So we were back here by 9:30 a.m. and did more of what we’ve done since Friday evening: hibernate. No visiting with family or friends, no movies, no nothin’. A whole lot of reading napping has taken place in the past few days, though.

It felt pretty good, I have to say.

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Giveaway: Two $25 gift cards.

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I’ve been trying to focus on Alaska goods for my giveaways lately, in order to support the local economy. My idea is that some of the folks who don’t win might decide to check out these the Last Frontier economy* on their own. I even had an Alaska item picked out to give away – but then I realized it might not get to its recipient before Christmas. That’s why I’m doing something non-local today: gift cards.

Which gift cards? Whichever the winners want, provided I can obtain them electronically. 

Drugstore? Discount emporium? Office-supply place? Home improvement center? Supermarket? Bookstore? Massive online retailer? It’s your call, if you win. 

Two winners get to use these card to finish up their holiday shopping. They could opt to give the cards themselves as gifts. Or donate them. Or, maybe, use the cards for something they themselves need.

Again: Your call. Provided you win, of course.

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Six pics of Talkeetna.

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For the first time in three years, Linda B. and I are attending the Talkeetna Bachelors Auction and Wilderness Woman Competition. The drive up was smooth sailing, with hardly anyone else on the road. It was also gorgeous, once the fog burned off – especially the eye-popping vistas of Mt. Hunter, Mt. Foraker and Denali (see below).

It’s 13 degrees below zero right now, but that’s all right because we’re indoors. If anything, it’s a little too warm in our hotel room. Pretty sure I won’t be needing the blanket and comforter tonight, or maybe even the top sheet.

Thus far we’ve viewed the annual parade (made up mostly of emergency vehicles, plus a flatbed truck with some shivering bachelors), eaten not wisely but too well, and chatted up some of the old-school auction folks. One of them pointed out that this is the 40th annual event, out of 41 years (the pandemic nixed large indoor gatherings last year).

The Wilderness Woman Competition is a large outdoor gathering; it takes place tomorrow. The Talkeetna Bachelor Auction will be indoors, but tickets were limited. They sold out in six minutes flat. Fortunately, Linda B. was ready to pounce the moment they went on sale.

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Monday miscellany: Porch pirates edition.

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It’s not enough that inflation and supply-chain issues are putting a crimp in preparing for the 2021 holidays. Those dirty rotten porch pirates are back in business, too. According to a study from SafeWise, more than 60 percent of U.S. residents have had a package stolen in the past year. Obviously the holidays are prime … Read more

Holiday 2021 giveaway: Scented candles.

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We have one month before Christmas and a little more than that until Kwanzaa, so let’s keep these giveaways coming! This time around, the holiday 2021 giveaway is sponsored by Abigail Perry of I Pick Up Pennies, whom regular readers will know is my daughter. These highly scented candles could become four or more holiday gifts for some lucky reader, or maybe a really nice self-gift.

The backstory, as I recall it: Abby had written about the importance of supporting local and small-biz economies. One of her readers mentioned that she had an Etsy shop called BettysOnly. Abby visited and spent a little money, and decided to donate them to my holiday giveaway series.

As you can see from the photo, there are four good-sized scented candles and four little tulle bags. The bags are full of what I initially thought were small, flat candles, but which on closer inspection  proved to be wickless. I concluded that these are fragrance blocks, designed to perfume a room. Put one or two of them into a dish in a musty-smelling room, closet or dresser drawer and they’ll change the dynamic pretty quickly.

(I brought them home wrapped in plastic bags in my suitcase several weeks ago, and that Gladstone still smells sweet. Since I’m heading for the Talkeetna Bachelors Auction and Wilderness Woman Competition next weekend with Linda B., I’ll be even more irresistible than I usually am. Or my clothes will, anyway.)

You could give this prize as one great big holiday or birthday (or Valentine’s Day) present, or split it up into individual gifts. Three of the four candles are heart-shaped and one is a tall, square pillar. The smaller bags would make good stocking-stuffers, or little gifts to someone you’d like to treat but with whom you don’t want to provoke a gift war; such a small remembrance shouldn’t make that person feel, “Oh, but I didn’t get you anything!”

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Dr. Demento and the desecrated turkey

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(Happy Throwback Thursday! This article is from WAY back in the day: May 10, 2010. It was the eighth piece I published. Since the article has a Thanksgiving theme, sort of, I thought I’d re-run it in honor of turkey day.)

About five months ago I walked over to the Asian market to buy carrots and came home with a turkey. Yes, I know the difference between root vegetables and edible fowls. But the bird was on sale for 25 cents a pound. The whole thing cost only $2.65. I’ve paid more than that for a soft drink at a ballpark.

(What does this have to do with Dr. Demento? I’ll get to that.)

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Win a $100 Macy’s gift card.

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Win a $100 e-gift card from Macy's.

I didn’t set out to be a giveaway site, and thus try not to post too many “win this” articles in a row. Right now I have the Alaskan art jewelry giveaway* going, so this will make the second post in a row that lets you enter to win a prize. But the holidays approach, and I would like for readers to have a chance to win a $100 Macy’s gift card from Savings.com. which is giving away five of them. So here we are.

Macy’s has a wide variety of products, from toys to toasters, to go along with its clothing items. Having a $100 head start on your holiday shopping could be a nice boost to your budget. So what are you waiting for?

Not shopping for the holidays? Already finished your buying? Well, then, you could spend the money on warm items to take to a shelter. If you’re in a warm climate, use it to buy necessities like socks and underwear because I think most (if not all) shelters can never have enough of such things.

Spend it all on playthings to donate to a toy drive. Contact a nursing home to see if you could play Secret Santa to someone who has no family; a hundred dollars could let you buy slippers, PJs, comfortable loungewear for someone who otherwise would not be remembered on the holiday. 

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Holiday 2021 giveaway: Alaska art jewelry.

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I’ve been doing intermittent giveaways of Alaska-made items, in order to support the local economy. Today I realized that Hannukah starts on Nov. 28, and that we have only about five more weeks before Christmas and Kwanzaa. Clearly it’s time for a holiday 2021 giveaway, no matter which holiday(s) you observe.

My friend Linda B’s jewelry has done so well in the past that I’m putting some of it back up for grabs. You can read more about her backstory in the first giveaway write-up. Short form: She’s talented in fields other than jewelry, and she’s also awesome.

As is her jewelry. She started out with beading, and has lately become entranced with metalwork and resin capture. If you want to give gifts to a spouse, lover, friend or, heck, even to yourself, I can guarantee that these are one-of-a-kind pieces. Linda never repeats herself, so every jewelry work is unique and never to be repeated.

Her work is arresting, and it’s hard to pick favorites, but here are the items I will be giving away this time around.

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