Christmas

When we decided to move from Virginia to Florida it was a huge decision for the five of us. I was working a full time job (as an intensive care nurse), a part time job (adjunct nursing faculty at a private university), and a prn position ( as needed nursing supervisor). I was able to afford a bit more than we ever had and was "always working". We were able to move to a rental home in this area in July (my husband and kids) and I arrived in August.

I had a full time position waiting for me in the new city. I secured employment in June of this year but had ti stay behind to finish my master's degree in nursing first. My new employer was aware of that and she agreed to wait for my arrival. I was truly blessed in this because I was offered relocation bonus and a sign on bonus for two years.

My mother in law helped us with the moving truck and I used my relocation bonus to pay her back in full when she was visiting us a few weeks ago. I handed her 3,000 dollars cash and let me say that it felt very good to be able to give her the money back. I was very proud to be able to do that for her.

I took a four dollar pay cut to accept this job, but the shift differentials work out to be the same as my past full time job that I left. I worked all the time and am trying to get used to having only one job and right now there is no overtime available.

We sold our house in Virginia and it had a contract within two days of putting it on the market. It finally closed in August and we have that money in the savings since we close on our new house December 8th.

The new home is our family Christmas gift to each other. We have worked hard to get to Florida and I told my kids that their gift (my girls have always shared a room) was that they will have their own bedrooms. My son is thrilled to be in Florida because "Mom I can wear my shorts and flip flops in the winter and it is not cold". I love how simple things please my "adult children".

My work is going to have a christmas exchange. I was very hesistent to participate, but was asked to put my name in the drawing for secret santa. I put my name in and was able to select nurse to be a secret santa for. She likes the color green, dark chocolate, coffee, books, and Chipolte. She wrote on the slip that she does not like bath and body works. I am thinking that I can work with what she likes to have a small but nice gift for her.

My kids are getting stockings and we do this every year. They are getting one or two gifts each from myself. They understand that I am not working more than one job and that money is always a bit tight each pay period. They are very understandable and I am so proud of them. They do not need anything really and if they do my girls can get it with their own income from their part time jobs. My son doesn't need anything either and we are in the process of working with social security for him.

I wanted to get my husband a small gift. He is very easy to shop for and will tell me exactly what he would like. He understands that funds are limited and would be pleased with just about anything.

My cousins: We choose names for secret stockings. There is supposed to be an ugly sock party. The secret stockings are not be over ten dollars. This I can work with. The ugly sock party I can participate in as there are really fun socks at Dollar General where my girls work. The part that I am having problems with is a gift for the secret stocking that has to be a 50 dollar limit. There is also a family gift.

I love my husband's family and enjoy the times we are together. They are very different from us. There house is full of beautiful stuff. There is a lot of beautiful things there. We got rid of 90 percent of our "Stuff" when moving.

My kids have a dresser, a bed, and a desk in their rooms. They have all of their clothes. I didn't know how much clothing until we started packing. Jeesh!

My husband and I are sleeping on high quality air mattresses. We have to eventually get a new bed. We each have a dresser and there's one desk in our room. 

Our living room has a entertainment center. We have the sofa and one side table.

Our dining room has a beautiful ottoman and a straight back chair that was given to us by our cousins. We have our old fashioned dining room table that has been in my husband's family for a long time. We were given this about 20 years ago and love it. It has two leaflets in the table and we can sit up to six people. We have a hutch, a book shelf, and another old dry sink.

Our kitchen in the rental came with a stove, fridge, and microwave. The dishwasher, clothes washer, and dryer came with the rental. The rest of the kitchen stuff is ours.

Like I said we don't have much in the way of stuff. I guess Christmas is not going to be a "stuff Christmas" for my family. We are going to be in our new house. We are going to be unpacking. We are going to be able to live in a wonderful place with a brand new home. It will be finished building next week. The house will come with brand new appliances in the kitchen.

My mother in law ordered us a washer and dryer with the 3,000 dollars I gave her in cash a few weeks ago. The washer and dryer will be delivered on December 11th at our new home.

Christmas is going to be wonderful for my family this year.