My personal Christmas miracle

Merry Christmas Spirit

I am almost afraid to write this.  Afraid that writing this will jinx my luck.  Or worse, will incite hatred and jealousy in you all and I’ll lose all my readers.

And yet, I’m going to write it.

Because it’s Christmas.

And miracles, or unexplained magic, good luck, or wishes come true, whatever you want to call it, is not unheard of this time of year.

To say that 2010 has not been a kind and easy year for me is sort of an understatement.  I will admit that the problems I have gone through this entire year are mostly of my own making.  To say that my life seems to have come together is in fact true, but I’m afraid that dwelling on it will jinx it and my  luck will turn.

I have spent more than a few weekends in jail this year.  But that issue is resolved.  I was on probation at the beginning of the year, and now?  No more.  I started 2010 living in a hell hole I was embarrassed by, and now?  I live in a really cute duplex I am damn proud of.  I have a new writing opportunity at Buy-Her.com where I get to write with a group of fabulous women.

At the beginning of December, Christmas was just over 3 weeks away.  The girls wanted laptops for Christmas last year and at the last minute, Brian and I just couldn’t come up with the money to get them for the girls.  It was my hope to fulfill that wish for them this year.    If nobody else got a single present from me this year, my girls would get laptops.

Now I just had to find the money.

And somehow?  The money was there.  Just when I needed it.

And the price of the laptops?

Lower than I planned on.

And then, Brian’s birthday is the 20th.  In the 4 years we’ve been together I have never been able to get him both a birthday gift and a Christmas gift.

Until this year.

And not only did I manage to get him exactly what I wanted to get him. I managed to get him exactly what I wanted to get him, for less money than I planned to spend.

I don’t know how to explain it, but the money for the gifts was always there, just when I needed it.  I don’t know what to call it (maybe poor judging on my part?) but when I went to buy the gifts?  They were less than I expected.

Christmas has come together in a way I would have never expected, much like my life this year.

For the first time since I divorced their dad I am able to give the girls a real Christmas, instead of just buying them what I can afford, I was able to get them what they wanted.  In a big way.

So this year, when the presents are handed out, it won’t matter so much to me what I am handed to open.  The joy I will get from opening presents will be watching those I love open the gifts I picked out for them, knowing I was able to do all of that all by myself without cutting myself short.

And that?

Is the miracle of my Christmas.

No, really, this time it is you. Clearly.

Dear Best Buy,

I never thought I’d set down and put fingers to keyboard to write this letter.  It really hurts me to have to tell you that, you, my friend, have lost the Christmas spirit.   You and I (and Brian.  Especially Brian) have had a long and wonderful relationship these past few years.

It was tyou we turned to when Brian the kids were bored one Saturday night. A few clicks of a mouse, and a 30-minute road trip later, we were a newly formed band destined for greatness and world fame.

When it became frustrating to help our youngest daughters stay afloat financially while Slum Lord Brian kicked everyone’s ass in Monopoly, it was you who provided the easy to play Xbox 360 version.  Now Brian can take over the neighborhood in record time leaving us all in the poor house or on the streets.

When I went in search of my own laptop, I turned to you, my trusted friend because you offered the best warranty.  And since Murphy’s Law seems to start and end with me, I felt safe and protected. It’s turns out I was right to turn to you.  I had my laptop less than a year when the monitor when out.  You were there to fix it and keep my DT’s to a minimum.

Every time Brian has felt the need to increase the size of his HDTV (because, believe me, size does matter) he went to you.  When he added his surround sound stereo system to complete his in home theater bedroom, it was you who provided him the most bang for his buck.

We have given you thousands of dollars over the past several years, and you in return have given us endless hours of family entertainment.  So, this holiday season, when I went in search of laptops for my daughters, you were the first I turned to.  Sure I could have found what I was looking for a little cheaper, but I knew that should something happen to the laptops (and with Drama Tweens and laptops, you know something is going to happen) you would have my back.

Brian and I went Monday night to get the laptops.  We found the one we wanted right away. Sure it was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but it was something I could live with.  There were two left, so we picked them up and headed to check out when one of your helpful sales associates stopped us to ask if we had found everything ok.

It was at this point that he pointed out the orange sticker on the boxes, “Do you know what those stickers mean? They mean that these laptops are Geek Squad Certified.”  He went on to explain that they anti-virus protection installed good for 2 years, and that all the trials of the any programs installed by default had been removed, blah, blah blah.  And all of this wonderful certification was going to increase the price of these laptops by $200.  Each.

When I looked at the display model and the pricing card by it, there was no mention of Geek Squad Certification, or any additional expense.  When I looked at the orange sticker on the laptop, there was no mention of the increase in price for having software removed before I even had the opportunity to try it out.  In fact, if your salesman hadn’t stopped us and explained that to us, we would have had no way of knowing that until we got to the register to check out.

I think it is pretty underhanded to load an additional $200 expense onto a laptop and make no mention of it anywhere on or around the display or the laptop itself.  Also? It’s kind of presumptuous of you to just assume people don’t want the trial version of the software that comes on the laptops by default.

We walked out of there that night empty handed and with a very bad taste in our mouths.  I went out and found my daughters their laptops at another store, for a significant savings, and without any hidden costs or assumptions on their part.

I’m sorry it has come to this Best Buy.  Up until this past week, I would sing your praises, but after this little stunt of yours?  I’m not sure I’ll be giving you the attention and support I have in the past.

A few gift ideas, you know, in case I'm on your Christmas list.

Tis the Season...

It’s that time of year again.  We spend a 4 day weekend stuffing ourselves silly with turkey, stuffing, pie and goodies because we know we are going to spend the next month running around like idiots with no time to eat, trying to get all our holiday shopping done.  The challenge is, buy the most for the least amount of money.  Or find something that looks expensive for next to nothing.  As the days wear on, and time runs out, it comes down to Grab-what-you-can-find-price-be-damned.

I will admit to having most of my Christmas shopping done.  Brian has taught me the fine art of researching everything on line, and doing the whole In-Store pick up business.    Find what I want, at the price I won’t choke on, and schedule it for pick-up on my way home.  No fighting crowds, no worrying about getting to the store and finding it out of stock.  Simple. Done.  And leaves way more time for margaritas at home.

This week, I haven’t been writing here, because I’ve been at my other places.  Go check out my review of Crayola Color Wonder Magic Light Brush paint set that we bought for Brian’s niece.  She loved it, and her dad was fascinated by it.

Then, when you’re done there, go check out my wish list of DVD Boxed sets over at Buy-Her.com.  In the midwest snow is not uncommon, and what better way to spend a snow day than curled up on the couch with hot cocoa and your favorite show on all day long.?  Go find out what’s on my list this year.