DH and I are very excited for her...as well as she is! She will be working at a movie chain. She had paperwork and some training on Thursday and today (Friday) is her first day!

There are some perks too....when she see's a movie, she can get 1 person in free....we also found out that her manager decided that if your child is working on a particular day, the parents can get in free! She says that extra perk seems to really help the kids (high school I imagine) really focus and are great workers...she wants to thank the parents for being supportive....I've never met her, but I think I really like her She also gets a discount on concessions.

She also gave everyone 2 free guest passes....we hope to use these this weekend to see Les Meserables....with the 2 free passes, and DD2 being able to get one of us in free...DD1 can come with us.

Once she gets her first paycheck, we will go to the bank and have her open up a student account.

We had a lovely Christmas and now are back in the swing of things. Everyone seemed happy with what was given and received. We still have another Christmas gathering to attend on New Years Day. DH's sister decided that this year she was opting out of Christmas on Christmas and wanted to get together with the family after. Her mom (my mil) puts alot of pressure on her to make the perfect holiday and this year she had had enough. She has decided that in the future, she will host Christmas on Christmas Eve and whoever can make it can come and celebrate. Works for me. We also decided that on some years, I can host. Also works for me

I had a 4 1/2 day weekend but so glad tomorrow is Friday. I have had a cruddy cold going on almost 2 weeks now and I am really ready to be over this. My co-worker I share my office space was nice enough to gift me with that for Christmas...lol. Now DH has it and has been thanking me profusely...lol...NOT

Friday (as always) was a 1/2 day at work...around 1:30, 3 other co-workers and I delivered gifts and food to a family we adopted for Christmas...they were so excited! It was so nice making the holiday a little brighter for a family in need. Saturday was spent finishing up the Christmas shopping...Sunday was grocery shopping and housework. Monday, Dh, the girls and myself along with my parents went to Olive Garden for dinner...we came home and opened gifts (DH, the girls and myself). On Tuesday, we went to my mom's for brunch and did Christmas with my parents and sister. Brother and his wife were not there as they are not speaking to us. We had DH's mom and brother over for dinner a bit later. I didn't want them both to be alone for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day since SIL opted out of both of those days. A nice time was had by all.

So I am back to work but DH is off until the 2nd.

Been thinking alot about goals...personal and financial. Hope to post those soon.

Laying low, trying to get rid of the crud....hope it ends soon!

As I mentioned in a previous post, DH's work is having a shutdown from the 24th through the 1st. We are not sure what will happen in the first quarter of the year...rumblings are happening that business will be slow.

So, we are preparing a bit for a possible furlough.....my bonus check of $1400 went directly into the savings account. DH's $750 bonus that will come sometime in January will also go into savings.

I have been slowing stocking up on things....mainly toiletries....we do not have a CVS so those awesome deals people get, well, they just don't happen here. However, I have been keeping my eye out for sales and when they happen, if I have a coupon, I am buying things such as bodywash, toothpaste, make-up, toothbruhes and the like. This way, if anything does happen, we will not have to run to the store if we run out of something like that. Spending can be kept to a minimum. I always have a small stockpile of these things, but it will be nice to have a bit extra just in case.

And hey, if it doesn't happen, well, all the better...we will still be able to use that stockpile...it certainly won't go to waste

Today was our office Christmas party....we also received our bonus's....I was really happy and excited to receive $1400! $200 more than last year.

Our festivities were dampened by the tragedy in CT. I am in just such disbelief. You may have heard about the shooting in the mall in Portland, earlier this week? That's one of "my" malls. A day later, my great newphew's high school (across the river in the Vancouver WA area) went into lockdown due to a gun scare.

I can hardly watch the news or read the articles on the internet...it just makes me so sad.

That is how much we owe on DH's new car that was purchased in March....I sent a large payment last month to DH's car loan and thought we would be under $6K....well....guess I was close!

Only 2 more payments on the SUV loan and we are done! Can't wait for that day.

Then we hit DH's big time (as long as things are well with his work). We will at least, send $350 which is still more than the actual payment, but hope to send $500.

I blogged a while back about rumors at DH's work. So far, it appears some of it may be true. For the immediate, they are having a shut-down from the 24th through the 1st. DH will be paid for the 24th and 25th, and also the 1st as holiday pay. He is planning on taking only 1 vacation day (the 31st) and unpaid the rest. He wants to hold onto his vacation, in case there are lay-off's...that way they have to pay that out to him if he was let go. There are also rumors of a slow down for the 1st and 2nd quarters of next year. No idea if there will be furlough's and/or lay-off's. For now, we wait. To be honest, I am not too worried at this point. You may wonder why? Well, we have a very healthy emergency fund. We are 2 payments away from paying my car off (Yay!)and we are ahead on payments for DH's car. Plus, he would get unemployment. With my paycheck, we would be just fine.

In other news, our office Christmas party is on Friday...fingers crossed for a bonus! The past 2 years it has been $1200.00....of course, anything is nice.

If DH can make it to the end of year with no sick time, he will receive a bonus sometime in January of $750....this is to reward people for not calling in sick...years ago, if you had all of your 80 hours (different than vacation)saved, you would receive the equivilant of 2 weeks pay...those days are gone, but again, anything extra sure is nice.

For now, these checks will go into savings....if everything ends up ok, DH and I will be planning a trip to Washington DC next year...that money will go towards that, and should help offset the cost.

DD2 had her semi-winter formal this past Saturday night....we gave her a budget of $100....this covered:

$39 dress
$25 tickets
$23 shoes
$8 boutineer
$3 earrings
$2 nail poish

I sprung for the "formal" pics at the highschool...$22 and her boyfriend paid for dinner. Another "last" in our household and I am mourning the days gone by....DH and I also headed out to dinner with another couple who's daughter also attended the dance with her boyfriend.....this girl does not go to our highschool, but is dating one of DD2's and her boyfriends friend....since they live about 30 min from us, they asked if we wanted to have dinner since they were coming out our way....of course we said yes! I've only seen my friend once since club soccer ended in the Spring (that's how we met). The husbands get along well so we had a great time....well worth an evening out.

DH and I also hit Costco to the tune of $183...stuff we all needed...well...except for the M & M's

We also hit Kohl's.....Got DD2 a fragrance set she wanted and I got 2 pairs of much needed jeans....we had a coupon for 20% off and if you spent $100, 25% off....well the total came to $99.73 and Kohl's was nice enough to give us the 25%! We also had $15 in Kohl's cash.

DD2 had her soccer banquet on Sunday night at a local restaurant....MUCH better than last years's AWFUL dinner at the country club....coach paid (out of team funds) for the girl's dinner and beverages and we adults and any other family members had to pay $12, plus our drinks....I spent $14 total for a much better dinner than last year...very well worth it!

We also went shopping at Fred Meyer's for the family my office adopted for Christmas....again had some great coupons....I've talked about the employee discount card my parents have, and that they let me use it whenever I want....Fred Meyer occasionally sends out a pass where you can save like an associate....it is the same discount employee's and retiree's of the company. We were able to get some good deals with the pass and also the coupons they had in the paper....even though the pass is expired now, I am hoping to get my parent's card and head back to get a few more things. It's a great feeling to be able to help a family in need...their greatest wish? Things to stay warm.....our office will definately help this family to have a brighter holiday season!