Favorite Christmas memories

I have a lot of fun childhood Christmas memories -- in part because my parents are really into celebrating the season. My mom goes all out with decorating, and my dad basically loves everything about Christmas (I'm not sure how I wound up with such a ho-hum attitude toward the holiday season). My favorite memory of all, however, involves our annual Christmas tree search. Actually, I'm not sure if we did this every year or just a couple of times -- but I like to think it was an annual event. Anyway, my parents would pick me up from school at Carl Cozier Elementary and we would ride in our blue Ford Comet out to a tree farm where we would search and search until we found the right tree. I believe it was almost always a Douglas Fir. On the way home, we would stop by the Mt. Bakery for a treat (we lived in Bellingham, Wash. near Mt. Baker at the time -- cute name for a bakery, huh??). This kinda goes to show that Christmas isn't about all the stuff under the tree, doesn't it?

What's your favorite Christmas memory?

Gift cards!

Who doesn't love receiving gift cards??! And for that matter, who doesn't love giving them? It's so easy -- you go the store, plunk down some cash (or, plastic -- which I totally don't recommend unless you intend to pay it off as soon as the bill comes) and your gift is ready to go. Nonetheless, it is important to equip yourself with some knowledge about gift cards before going out and getting one for every single person on your list. That's why, today, I am sending you all over to Leah Ingram's fabulous Lean Green Family blog, where you can read up on Five Tips for Buying Gift Cards.

I'm dreaming of a lean Christmas

I knew weeks ago that Carl and I had to cut back on spending this Christmas. We had a fun, busy and expensive year. We bought a sailboat. We went to Maui. We had to fix our car. Now that the end of year is approaching, we're out of disposable income. And, thanks to the economy, our usual source of extra funds has dwindled to the point that it isn't even worth dipping in to. I'm not complaining -- I know we are all in the same boat. It just means we have to make concessions.

So, we set a strict budget for Christmas. $50 for each of our parents. $25 each for our two nieces. $50 for Carl's sister and her husband. $25 for my grandparents. $100 for everything else, like hostess gifts, small gifts for friends, etc. etc. Total budget this year: $400 (gifts for each other don't fall into this budget -- that's separate).

Two weeks ago, that sounded completely reasonable and doable. However, I am now looking at slashing the budget even more. Why? Because I totally misunderstand the pay rate on a very time-consuming project that I recently completed. I thought this check would cover my Christmas budget and the 10 personal training sessions I just signed up for (with some $$ left over). Wrong. Now I'm not sure yet where my Christmas money -- or the money to pay the trainer -- will come from (since I freelance, I never really know when my checks will arrive).

PS: On another note, I want to say thanks to Sarah Jio who blogs about health and fitness for Glamour.com. She mentioned my blog on her blog, Vitamin G, last week and I can see that quite a few of her readers clicked over. Thanks to all of you for stopping by. Oh, and if you aren't familiar with Vitamin G -- it is an absolute must-read blog. Perfect for when you need a break from work or kids or whatever. Definitely check it out!

Last year's Christmas mix

A few days before Christmas '07, I decided to throw together a collection of seasonal tunes. I wanted to burn CDs and use them as stocking stuffers (you know, kinda like a mixed tape -- only not). Here is the mix I came up with (plus my impressions of said songs).

1. Jingle Bells by the Puppini Sisters. I have heard a zillion versions of Jingle Bells, and this is my all-time fave.

2. Ding Dong Merrily On High by Chanticleer. This was a free I-Tunes download, and while it is the type of song I appreciate musically, I don't really want to listen to more than, like, twice. No offense to the BeeGees, but I'm not really into the whole men-singing-first-soprano thing.

3. Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland by Michael Bolton. Yes, I actually downloaded a Michael Bolton song. I said I liked it, but I lied.

4. Carol of the Bells by The Bird and the Bee. Another free download. Kindof a trip, too.

5. The First Noel by Josh Groban and Faith Hill. A song that really exemplifies Christmas.

6. All I Want For Christmas by Joss Stone. I totally regret paying 99 cents for this song. Nothing is wrong with it per se, I just don't like the whole sultry/whiny style of singing that I'm hearing in this one.

7. O Come O Come Emmanuel by Carter's Cord: A country version of the classic carol. I love this song. Listen to the lyrics. This is what I really want for Christmas.

8. Messiah Part 2, No. 44 by the London Symphony Orchestra. Two years ago, Carl and I went to a Handel's Messiah performance at a theater in Portland. I'm not going to out the orchestra here, but oh-my-gosh the entire thing was dreadful. I love this one because it reminds me of the moment we realized that horrible concert was just about over.

8. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow by Michael Buble. A song that makes me happy. It makes me want to put on a cute dress and go to a holiday party.

9. Little Drummer Boy by Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra. Hilarious. Groovy. You must download this song!!!

New poll: If you had to pick just one Christmas album ...

We have another new poll! Please cast your vote (the poll is in the green column on the right side of the screen).

Holiday tipping: yay or nay?

When I go to a restaurant, I leave a tip. When I leave my salon, I leave a tip. And I almost always toss some change into the tip jar at my favorite coffee shop (I say 'almost' because sometimes I just don't have any cash on me!). This seems like a pretty normal tipping routine to me. But am I forgetting someone? Should I be tipping the garbage man, too?

According to some sources, yes -- especially around the holidays. The December '08 issue of Consumer Reports has a short article on the topic (page 10). While it doesn't come right out and say "you must do this" it does quote an etiquette expert who urges me to tip any and all service providers that I use regularly throughout the year.

I've been thinking it over, and I'm not sure I can fit this in the budget. Especially when the recommended tip is the cost of one session. Yikes. Let's do the math (note -- I am only including the ones Consumer Reports listed in the article's tip sheet).

1. My (fabulous) stylist: an average of $150 per session for cut and color.
2. The girl who cuts Carl's hair: $40 per session.
3. Esthetician: $25 per session
4. Pedicurist: $45 per session (they listed manicurists, but I don't get manicures often)
5. Lawn-care crew: I'm guessing $20 -- I pay the HOA and they pay the lawn people.
6. Fitness instructor (aka trainer): $75
7. Sanitation worker (aka garbage man): $10
8. Mail carrier: ??? Let's say $25.
9. Cat sitter: an average of $30 per session

The grand total: $420. That's a lot of money. I don't have that kind of money available for tipping. In fact, that is more than my entire 2008 Christmas budget. And while I absolutely love the service providers I hire, I think they would appreciate smaller gifts (like wine or cookies or a coffee gift card) just as much.

As for the mail carrier, garbage man and lawn-care crew -- well, I just don't see any reason to tip them. I have never spoken to the mail carrier. The lawn-care crew changes every week (and plus, they are hired/paid by the HOA). And as for the garbage man, well, he has a horrible habit of throwing our trash and recycle bins out into the middle of the street. He also charges us $5 if our can is even 1 ounce heavier than it should be. As the soup nazi would say: "no (tip) for you!"

Tag, you're it

So, in three years of off-and-on blogging I have never been tagged. This week, two friends (Erin and Jaime) decided to tag me. The theme is "seven random things about yourself." I'm going to alter it, just slightly.

Seven random Christmas-related things about myself ...

1. I have never seen It's A Wonderful Life in its entirety. Whenever I hear that little voice squawk the words "every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings," I want to throw a brick at the TV.

2. I love the song Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses. Is there even one girl out there who can't relate to the lyrics??

3. If you ever come to our house for Christmas dinner, don't expect to see turkey or ham on the table. The turkey is simply an act of rebellion against tradition (we really don't see what is so special about it). As for the ham, well, we don't eat pig -- ever.

4. Our great room is fairly small, and we have big furniture (our old house had more space, and we bought the furniture when we lived there). What does this have to with Christmas? Well, it means I don't have a lot of flexibility as far as where I put the tree.

5. Carl and I have been known to finish Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. The fact that we have no kids and small families makes this pretty simple.

6. Even though Payless (the drugstore) has been out of business for years and years, I still can't get that jingle out of my head. "Merry Christmas. From Payless. Merry Chriiiiistmaaas."

7. I cannot wait to see Four Christmases starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn (watch the trailer -- it looks hilarious). I'll be there on opening night if at all possible.