Christmas

I would be doing this at work, but I have a few minutes this morning to sit, while Chris is sleeping and Ben is just being Ben with all his new toys he has all over the living room floor. To be honest, I think the best Christmas I ever had, was a few years ago, finishing up a divorce, just getting home from work from Dennys, and spending the entire day, enjoying the quiet of my own place. Sure I called Chris and my parents and wished them all a Merry Christmas, and such. But I didn't go out to the crazy places to spend any money. I think I sent off a few cards to family and friends that I loved, but I got to spend that time contemplating on the true meaning of Christmas. It was not going out and getting the best gift for anyone, it was not maxing out my credit card to get the one gift that will out shine them all, but it was the simple stopping to remember what this was all about. I think President Uchdorf said it best in his talk for the First Presidency Devotional, when he said, "The economic challenges of this year may cause some to scale back their gift giving, but I wonder if this may be a blessing in disguise." I believe that statement. After hearing my MIL say she spent $4000 on her Discover card for Christmas I don't have to worry about why she complains that she never has any money. She spends so much on her credit cards that she never has any money to do anything else. Its all on credit. So all her $300 a month from working goes to pay the damned credit cards. Thank the Lord we don't have to worry about that. We just have a bank card, and if there is money there, we will use it. If not, oh well. I would rather teach my son the true meaning of Christmas, away from the influence of his Grandma. That will upset a lot of people, but in this world of buying on credit, it would be better to just go find a place and hide till the Savior comes again.
On a much crazier note, we had to have the van towed into the shop on Friday. It has been over heating for a few days. We were lucky to get it home Christmas night after our family dinner. It was a mix of rain and snow that iced the entire road all the way home. Plus the wind blowing the snow/rain mix sideways it was hard to see. They were supposed to call Friday night after they took a look at it. They didn't call until Saturday. Broken hose and all the coolant is out. So I called back our car dealer and the person who deals with repairs and such is out of hte office until Monday. So no vehicle the entire weekend. Just great. So Chris called her mom to come get her and go return a gift that we hoped to get exchanged. That was a mistake. Because of the holidays and the vehicle I was not able to make it in to work on Friday. So my MIL got all butt hurt that I didn;t call her to ask for a ride in to work. Yet she spent the entire night in SL picking up her sister and family from the airport, which had their luggage in a diff terminal, until 4am. Then she and Ricky go shopping at Wal-Mart til 6am. And I go to work at 7:30am. Hmmm, am I the type of person who calls someone after they get an hour of sleep to ask to help me go to work, or am I nice guy and let them get sleep, and not worry about work, since they aren't worried about me, and just blow another day? So she yells at Chris for nearly 4 hours about it. Chris tries to get some sleep this morning, and guess what? Her mom calls just 30 mins after I leave the bedroom to let Chris gets sleep, to ask about pants. There goes my MIL again spending more on teh credit card. Then complaining that she has no money again. Its just a vicious cycle that I hope one day to get out of. Maybe if I can find a job far away, then maybe we can have the family I would love to have. Just us. An eternal family. Still no word yet from the 1st Presidency. Maybe it was not meant to be. Maybe I need to ask the Lord what the problem is. We'll see. More to come.