**Work is cray cray! I just keep telling myself I survive every year-end and somehow I will survive this one.

**Dh finished up a script this week and it is really good. That just makes my heart happy! I think him and his writing partner have incredible talent, BUT this was definitely their best script. The more they try, the better they get. The plan is to produce this one.

**As of today, financial goals are going really strong. Will see where the market lands 12/31. I am expecting some pretty large dividends and capital gains this week and next.

**Dh grew up in a household where Christmas was a BIG deal. I didn't. We had just gotten the kids one modest gift each and something shared. We also got them some candy, which I think will be a BIG hit. {Their junk food secret santa exchange has been like the "best thing ever". That's in a household that really doesn't keep a lot of junk around but probably also never says no to junk. As with anything, I think we are pretty moderate. You would think they never got any candy or soda with how excited they have been this week!} Anyway, so yay to the candy. BUT... Dh was feeling like the gifts we got were a little inequitable, and we discussed how BM is so much more about the experiences than the stuff. I told dh, "I really don't think the kids will care". But, you know they are at an age where we could ask them. So I asked the kids about it all and what surprised me was that BM said, "As long as I get the big present I want I don't care if I get anything else". Well, I knew Grandma was getting him the "big" present, and so case closed. I was proud though of his maturity on that matter. I didn't necessarily expect him to be quite that mature about it. I was thinking more, "We are saving up $3,000 for a trip abroad for you, so maybe you can be mature about your brother getting a gift he is a little more excited about". Didn't even have to go there.

Anyway, so dh can stop overly worrying about it. Yeesh!

**I took my car into the shop this week. I took it in a while ago and it remained undiagnosed. I wasn't about to take it on any long trips or anything and still felt something was off. Then the heat was not working. I waited a couple of weeks so I could push off the payment of that expense well into next year. (Weather wise it's been very mild and I didn't miss the heat). But I took it in Monday and got the heat fixed and now it is all nice and quiet again.

PHEW!!

It sounded just like dh's car (which has 165k miles versus my 115k miles) and I was starting to think maybe I should just get used to old cars being LOUD.

Not overly thrilled with our "forever" mechanic - I think their business is going downhill. I won't be surprised if it is just shut down at some point. I was fine to let them do the work but wasn't thrilled that they couldn't diagnose it before it got cold and I tried to use the heat. It seems that they didn't check the fluids at all when I took it in for "strange noises". Not that I expect them to just know, but I just didn't get the sense they looked over the car thoroughly. (I took it elsewhere for an oil change and basically all my fluids were low).

Anyway, so we are in early talks about shopping around mechanics. Dragging our feet because it sucks and is no fun, but will happen eventually.

I would say that having a trusted mechanic is very key as to keeping low car expenses. I have confidence that we will find a place that works for us. Maybe something more convenient - it's not all bad. This is just a shop my dad's cousin used to work for and they have always treated us very well. Clearly struggling in this economy.

I still have "old car" problems though. My van also has an oil leak. Oil leaks are something I have always inherited in 150k+ mile cars, and have only driven that or fairly new. SO... I don't know when that usually starts up. All I know is dh's older car has not developed any leaks yet.

That means we really need to slip back into "old car" mode. It's always wise to keep an eye on fluids, but after 10+ years of never having *any* problems I can't say we particularly bother any more. But I checked things enough when younger that it's no big deal. Just a shift from not worrying about it for 10 years. Lord knows it's probably a good idea to keep a closer eye on the older vehicle too. (We bought both our current vehicles at 1-year-old, 10+ years ago).

I am just so relieved that my car is QUIET again.

**One last thing...

Our favorite restaurant shut down. WAH!!! I think last we were there was about a year ago and it was the first time ever we had bad food and crappy service there. UGH! I predicted they would be shutting down. Just seemed like those kind of red flags.

It's not ALL bad. They do have another location. A little different, but mostly alike. Phew!! I haven't been to the other location in forever, but I guess we will start frequenting it more. We were probably going to go this weekend but the open location is in a busy shopping area with limited parking. It will have to wait. The open one seems to be in a much better (busier) location - hopefully they are doing better??

That is not all though. Our grocery store told us our favorite take and bake pizzas (very yummy and very CHEAP) were going to be discontinued. Took them about a year but it is true now. They are gone!! So bummed about that because it is our Christmas tradition. So we are scrambling a bit trying to decide what to serve for Christmas. (We can get other pizza, but none of us like other pizza!)

I suppose it's not all bad as it will probably force us to do some DIY pizza at home. But I will still miss the cheap convenience.