What happened to Christmas?

If you have every watched the movie of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, (the one with Jim Carrey) you will know what I'm talking about in this post. This is how I feel every Christmas. Little Cindy Lou Whoo keeps trying to figure out what Christmas is all about. She watches everyone around her running around to buy truckloads of gifts and throw up as many decorations as they can on their homes. Is this what Christmas is about? Especially in these times. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with any of these practices, but on the other hand, our we maybe going alittle overboard? Today I was driving down a street and came across a house with a huge blow up Santa on a Harley. What? Why? Can anyone explain to me when Santa gave up on Rudolf and started hitting the rooftops on his Harley? It just seems to me that we have really forgotten the whole meaning of Christmas. Not only the religous angle but  the childlike belief part of it also. I have been really thinking about this alot in the last few years. It ends up putting me in a very bah hum bug mood and I am already  tired of the music the gift buying and want  December 26th to be here. Kady comes home this week for the holiday and once again mom is being a "Grinch". Kady is so into Christmas.   I think part of my "Scrooge" mentality is due to my financial situation. It could even be caused by the fact that the place I work will be open on Christmas because of it being in a casino. Which it's just another work day for me. It even could be the fact that I have been watching people buy so much stuff for themselves instead of loved ones. That really could be it. Isn't Christmas suppose to be about giving? After seeing Santa with his Harley I decided to do just that. I have been giving change to every little box on every counter I was near. Hopefully the whole idea of monkey see monkey do hit some people who watched me donate money and put their two cents in. If you want to start a little charity work for the season why don't you try this website for http://www.spreadtheglow.org/ I am going to start doing this for the next couple of weeks. This might bring me back to feeling that this is a wonderful holiday. I'll let you know.

Carol Betz

My Dream Home

Everyone has at one time or another talked about what they would do if they won the lottery. Well of course I am no different. I use to always say that if a bag of money fell in front of me I would with in a matter of hours be on the next plane to Santa Barbara, California. As I have gotten older and having a mother who needs me I would stick around NJ until a later time. Well with that in mind and my current financial woes I have found a house that I think about almost every day. It's my dream house. No it's not some huge mansion but yes it is big especially for an empty nester like me. I came upon this house on the Internet while browsing at homes in the area about three years ago. At that time I was about to send my one and only child across the country to college and was absolutely broke. Duh! Doesn't everyone start looking at homes they can't afford when they're pretty much destitute. I guess my reasoning at that time was something wonderful had to happen because things seemed so bleak. You see, I totally believe in "The Secret" and Kabbalah. It has proven true to me time after time.So maybe that is why I was looking at homes. No major miracle ever came, but one thing did happen I had found very cool. When I found this house on the Internet it did not give an address. I had no idea where in our township it was. One day before I moved out of my rented town home, avoiding the whole packing process (which was pack a box and cry) I decided to just go take a ride.  As I was driving around I decided to turn down this street I had never been down. Well as I got toward the end of this of this street, there it was my Internet "dream home"! I sat there for about 5 or 10 minutes just staring in complete amazement. What made me get here I kept thinking. Then I realized the neighbors were peering out their windows and probably wondering why was I sitting there so I slowing drove away.
 I have been thinking about that home now for the last three years.The other day  I decided to take a detour from my errands and see my home which more than likely would have been sold and some family was contently living in by now. Well was I wrong! The home has still not sold. I think the contractor is using it as the model home. The advertising is still on the lawn. Now when I have that bag of money fall in front of me I can go live in my "dream home". It's just sitting waiting for me to come move in. I hear how people want expensive cars and trips around the world and all kinds of things. All I want is to cuddle up on my own couch in my perfect home. I want to have a place so that when Kady comes back for her breaks at college she has a place to call home!

My Bad Habit

I hate to admit this to all of you but I am a smoker. I know it's a disgusting habit! I started smoking at 14 years old and I am going to be 50 on January 29th, so I've been smoking for 36 years. OMG! That does sound horrible! Well the reason I am telling you this because about 3 years ago when I was in San Diego I came across a kiosk that had the electronic cigarettes. I, of course had to try it out. I was in shock of how much it tasted like a real cigarette. I even made Kady try it. Kady, who is not a smoker and hates the smell of cigarettes agreed.  You should have seen her face when I asked her to try it! The look of this is horrible was proof positive that it did taste like a regular cigarette. By the way I knew she had attempted  smoking. (because of course like a lot of teenagers she thought it looked cool) Kady tells me everything, and when she did try smoking she came home that night and asked me if I was nuts because cigarettes tasted terrible. Mom was not the best role model.  I guess watching her mother puff away just added a bit more glamour to it. Well thank God she hates it. So to get on with the story,  I wanted to buy it on the spot but of course like always I really didn't have the money. I was trying to furnish Kady's dorm room and get her all comfortable with her new surroundings. So I promised myself that someday I would get this. Well it took 3 years to finally break down and spend the money. I have been going out to my car and smoking because I won't smoke in my mother's home. The other thing that you need to know about me is I hate cold weather. Not that New Jersey is the coldest place in the world but it might as well be Alaska to me. I finally was sitting in my car the other night and freezing my little tushy off and thought about these electronic smokes. Today as I was cleaning out a drawer I found the card the man had given me at that kiosk 3 years ago. I went on the website and found that they where having a sale. I cost me $60.00 instead of the 190.00 it would have cost me that day in San Diego. See the universe does work in mysterious ways. Maybe someone out there heard my plea or at least the chattering of my teeth.