What to Give, What to Give? That Is The Question.

As the holidays come upon us (Hey, Thanksgiving is just a few days away, folks. After that you KNOW it's HoHoHo all the way!), the question of what to give comes to the forefront of everyone's minds. No matter how much you want to think "you've got this", I know you, like me,  have had to mull  it over. You know it's NOT about the present, it really isn't. It's  the thought behind it. Once you know what you want to give, finding it is not that hard. Use google, trust me, they can find anything! 

Now, if you could ask for anything, anyTHING at all, what would you ask for ??? Within reason, of course. How about thinking of what you would never have thought to ask for but received anyway. What were those? I'll tell you about two gifts that changed my life.

First, on my second wedding anniversary my husband bought me a cordless screwdriver. I swear, he did. I can't believe he did that! I almost cried (He actually bought me a sapphire and diamond ring too but it was being custom made and was delayed so all he had to give me was the stinkin' screwdriver, I didn't find out about the ring until a few weeks later because even as I "gave it to him" for his unthoughtful gift, he didn't tell me about the ring until he presented it to me... shame on me. I know) But here is the lesson I learned. It's NOT about the gift, it's about the thought. 

What Gino tells me, as we laugh about the stinkin' screwdriver (yeah, I will forever pay for my ungratefulness), is that the reason he bought me the freakin' thing is that he noticed that I liked to fix things (I never thought that I LIKED to fix things, I thought that I NEEDED to fix things which is TOTALLY different from liking, in IMHO!), and he wanted to make MY job easier by helping me work smarter, not harder. GASP! OK, so that just shut me right up. I was young, I was stupid, and many years later, almost twenty to be exact, I have to admit, it was the best freakin' gift he ever gave me. Yes, there were trips, there were diamonds, there were watches, there was a house, BUT the best gift is the one that that that tells you that this person KNOWS you and knows what you do. I FIX things, and once I had that stinkin' screwdriver I was the Queen of DIY!
There was nothing I couldn't fix with that baby. LOL

But wait for it, just a few weeks ago Gino brought me something in a Home Depot bag and gave it to me, telling me, "I know  you hated the last one I gave you but this one isn't as heavy as your new one and and you said your wrist hurts, so I bought it for you anyway. Don't hit me with it!" 

Yes, it was a new cordless screwdriver!

Mind you, we are now divorced but he still gives me the most amazing gifts... 

Lesson here? It's not the gift, it's the thought behind the gift. So before you go out buying crazy expensive gifts, think about what to give. I'm working on that question myself. 

What to give, what to give?  that is the question! LOL

I'll tell you about my Second gift in my next post... that one also changed my life, and I would have never thought to buy it either.

Guilt is Not The Way Into My Wallet!

This holiday season I will NOT buy local, I will NOT eat local, 

I will NOT give my money to ANY business just because they are LOCAL.

I will however, shop at any and all shops that acknowledge that my business is why they are in business (and  by MY business I mean the walk in customer who is interrupting their conversation or that busy work that they can finish when we have left their store, which should be in two minutes flat if we can't find someone to help us, duh!), and treat me with attentiveness and respect. I will eat only at restaurants where servers do not talk down to me, or my son, and who understand that good service is more important than the food. I can probably cook just as well as they do, but I'd really like it if someone else did the dishes for a change...

I will not be guilted into shopping locally. I work hard for my money, and so should they... that's all I'm saying.  It'll be hard to beat the service at Longhorn's where the servers know our names and have never asked me, "You know we don't use regular lettuce to make our salads, we use fancy greens" (true story, local restaurant), or have tried to excuse the 50 minute steak with "at fancy restaurants it usually takes longer to get your food because it's made to order", (I SWEAR this IS a true story, This happened to me at a local restaurant. I can't make this s*** up!, Main St rest in downtown Nashua!)... I will eat where the food is made well, the servers are attentive and I can still have money in my wallet after I pay the check... 

I will not shop local just because it's local. I will only shop local if local is better than the chain or the online retailer. I do not expect anyone to shop at my shoppe just because I'm an online retailer, what makes them think I should shop with them just because they are on Main St.? 

Not gonna happen... My two cents.

By not shopping local I am still very much supporting my local economy, I am still keeping my neighbors employed, I am still keeping my city viable. 

Do you think I have seen one too many "Shop Local" ads? I think so. 

And although my local farm is wonderful, $5 for a pint of Strawberries in June seemed a bit excessive to me; and the $1.50 for the tiny pumpkin I picked up at the spmkt for 69cents also seemed a bit much, so I had to leave those and shop "not local", sorry...  

The folks that work at the Hannaford's need jobs too, so I'm supporting them. And man, I can't remember EVER seeing a special needs person working at ANY of the local shops in Nashua, and that alone is a good reason for any mom with a special needs child to shop at Walmart! Just sayin'...

Not Again!

Yep, it's that weird time between Halloween and Christmas where we're not really sure if we should be embracing Fall or just going full steam ahead towards Christmas. 

Just last Sunday GP came home with this picture (where he is concealing his  braces, mind you). I almost had a stroke. Where did this guy come from and who told him he could be agreeing to anything GP asks before discussing it with me? Note the thumbs up, folks!

 Talk about bypassing the middleman. Geez! Give a Mom a break already! I think the little white envelope on the counter containing these damaging images might be why Gino dropped off GP and called me while on his way home to ask me if I had found the envelope on the counter... coward. Men have no backbone, I tell you. It was like a hit and run. Drop the kid off, and run for the hills before Mom (who is responsible for finding out what was discussed and what sort of damage "HE" will cause this year is left to wonder, "Who told you you could take him to talk to Santa? What were you thinking????" LOL. Yeah, we've been trying to wean him off Santa but he's having none of it. Mom has the "we'll see" and "He" nods and says he'll talk to the elves. This is the third year he pulls the "I talked to Santa, for the very last time" script. AHEM... All I have to say, is "Santa, you have some 'splaining to do!" 

Stand Up For What You Believe, VOTE!

In this day and age when there is a rampant sense of entitlement, many women forget that the right to vote was EARNED, not given to us. It was a right we had to fight for. It was less than a hundred years ago, ninety-two to be precise, when women were finally granted the right to vote in all the states of the union. It took a constitutional amendment to give us that right, yet so many squander it. It baffles me when women say they are not going to vote. When they use the "It doesn't matter who is in office, it's all the same" adage.
I just don't get that thinking. 

I cannot understand people, especially women,  who do not value the democratic process enough to get involved. Democracy is what makes this country so great. It gives us a say in how our country is run. It's your "two cents".  Your contribution to the decision making process.  Don't you have an opinion? Don't you KNOW where you stand and what you stand for? I sure do. 

I make it a point to vote in every election. My candidates may not always win, but I know that my voice is heard. I know that I did not stand by the sidelines while others stood up for me. I stood up for myself. I put in my two cents and let my vote be counted among those who had a say in how their country was run.
Tomorrow is election day and I truly hope that you too will stand up for what you believe in and get out there and vote for your candidates. The people who you feel will do right by you, for you. Don't let others talk for you. Don't squander this right that so many women fought so hard to earn...
get out and vote!
And may my candidate win! =)

"You have a blog, but you haven't blogged in a long time!"

I just got back  from market on Wednesday. I know, I know, market ended on Monday but for those of us in the Northeast getting home was a bit of a challenge. You've heard it all over the news so I'll spare you my ordeal. Suffice it to say that by the time I left, I was on a first name basis with the concierge at the Hyatt. We're like "THIS", (crossing fingers, as in "tight", LOL)

I found tons of great stuff at market and the goodies have started  to arrive (more on that on another post), but I wanted to check in this morning because my Facebook feed is loaded with Market recaps and it reminded me that I too have a blog that needs a recap, and more importantly, that I wanted to check in and recount the meeting I had with someone at market.

Here goes; Me: "Hi I'm Brenda, from Pumpkin Patch Primitives." Stranger: "Oh, I know who you are. You have a blog, but you haven't blogged in a long time." Me: (eyes like deer in headlights) yeah, I guess you could say that..." >>Awkward<<<

So, here I am blogging. See???? I'll try to work on my blogging. 

Man, I can't believe she called me out like that...