Winner is jennygreen84 RAOK: 10 Days Till Christmas Day... ends 12/18

[cybilx10]

Are you excited?? I am, but just to get the hustle and bustle over with and get back to a normal schedule. Working in retail at this time of the year really isnt a fun thing.

So for this mixed potluck tell me if you are excited?

Ends Sunday 12/18 in late evening

[XUfan]

You know what? I really AM excited this year!!

I have no idea why, though!! LOL! If you consider:
-Hubby and I don't give each other presents (so it's not the gifts that I'm excited about.
-Daughter is 1000 miles away
-Son (with 3 kids) is broke and depressed
-Teenage stepdaughter would rather spend her Christmas in Florida with her friend's family (still being discussed).
-No decorations are up yet
-Haven't mailed the Christmas cards (I only mail a few...I'm doing them tonight!)
-We're not even having a traditional Christmas dinner.
-The grandkids are moody because their mom just bought a house and is moving them out of the neighborhood where all of their friends are.
-And let's face it...my siblings haven't gotten together since Mom passed away 10 years ago....this week.

But, for some reason, I'm walking around singing Christmas carols in my head...driving around to look at the lights at night...and just can't wait until I get to see the kids open their gifts!

I don't care how many things are going wrong...Christmas is always a magical time for me!

[MsSweetCheeks]

I'm really not that excited this year. Don't get me wrong I do love Christmas time, but things have been so tough this year. My plans for Christmas weekend will be me and my hubby will be doing a sitting job to earn extra money. I may try to find some Christmas music and cook a couple of holiday dishes to make it feel more like Christmas.

[shans3boys]

I am excited! My vacation time from work starts tomorrow at 4 pm, and I can hardly contain myself. I've only bought a couple of gifts so far, but have made my lists, and am ready to head to the stores! I've gotten some great deals online thanks to HCW, so I don't feel too far behind.

We barely have the lights up on our tree, but it still looks beautiful. We can take the next week to have some breathing room before Christmas, and have some good quality family time. I know I will have coupon withdrawal when there are no inserts, but maybe I can clean out my office finally.

I am very grateful for my blessings!
Thanks for the chance!

[rebate_queen]

Yes, I am excited for my DD to have time off from school so we can just spend some quality time together. Seems like schoolwork is all she (we) do anymore! I also love getting together with family and seeing how much my DD enjoys her gifts. Since she was little, she has always been so grateful for everything she gets and I love seeing the wonder in her eyes when she opens something :-)

[jennygreen84]

I am so excited this year!!! My family has struggled the past few Christmases. I became disabled three years ago and lost my job. As the bread winner for the family we took a pretty big hit. Last year we had the smallest christmas tree ever!!! 6 inches!! My kids did not get very many gifts at all and although Christmas is not about the presents, they just were not used to it and my oldest thought that he was "bad" and Santa was "mad" at him. So after Christmas last year, I bought a 6 foot tall christmas tree for $5, and bought a bunch of ornaments. Through out the year I have been buying gifts, putting 2 gifts each on layway and paying them off in time, buy clearance and just stocking up for Christmas.. Needless to say I only bought my kids one HUGE gift each as they have some many gifts already. Couponing has really saved my family. When I first was disabled, my family went with out a lot of necessities. Toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, milk, almost anything you could think of. Now things have worked themselves out and couponing has been such a blessing for us. My family will never go without again, and I have been able to help people out along the way that are not as fortunate as I am. I have been trying to teach people how to coupon and how to help themselves and it has been working out. As for Christmas, I will not be cooking this year as I am having health issues, but a plus because we will be going to in-laws christmas eve and my parents house christmas day and I can't wait to see my kids face light up when they come running down stairs christmas morning. I can't wait to drink cocoa and read twas the night before christmas, and this will be the last christmas I will spend with my sister because she is running off to scottland to be with her boyfriend and then moving to australia to go to school (with him) so this will be a special holiday season for us. I want to wish everyone a happy holidays and thank you for the chance to win this RAOK

[smughis]

excited for all the sales and good shopping

[Miki808]

i'm excited about this year because i get to spend it with DH since we missed last year's due to military duties. also this will be our daughter's first christmas. what i'm looking forward to more is dh will be getting out of the marines a few weeks after christmas and we finally get to go home.

[BostonRed]

Not excited. I've never been a big Xmas person and I won't be doing anything this year (until after when I travel to see some family). But I enjoy a very quiet December 25th, wondering why no one is posting on HCW.

[ffagirl15]

I'm mixed this year. I am very excited because I think I found some great gifts for my family and I can't wait to give them to them. Once I get my decorations up I'll be even more excited (nooooooo I wasn't procrastinating! It rained every day I wanted to bring them in from the shed)
But this year is the first that I won't be able to even talk to my grandma (she passed away in May). Plus my bf is all the way in Georgia while I'm in Arkansas and will be farther away once I get to my parents' in Texas.