What do you get for the Toddler who thinks she has everything? This is raising it's head again this morning because it was cold outside and thus I started thinking ahead to Christmas. And there's this fantasy running through my head that the house will be clean, that the family room will be cleared of junk and festooned with all sorts of glittery tinsel and evergreen, that the kitchen will smell constantly of cinnamon and spice instead of tough'n'tender cleaner...

I can do some of it. Not all of it. I can make smells happen, at least, with the aid of any number of great products (available for low, low prices at most retailers...) and I can get a few great gifts under the tree at Christmas time. Darn those toy catalogs that have started to appear in our mailbox, free of charge. I started lusting after the gigantic hardwood block set that I used to play with at doctor appts when I was a little girl- one of the catalogs had that set, with the expansion pieces, and the wooden shelf/cubby holes for storage.

If only I had a credit card. I'd get in so much trouble with it (sigh) so it's a good thing I don't have one. It's easier to stick with a budget when there's no easy credit to be had. Of course, that works both ways. If there's no easy credit card to pull out it makes it harder to squeeze pennies out for a gallon of over-priced but necessary milk towards the end of the pay period. What's up with the milk price? It's almost getting as painful as gas around here, and that's saying something. I've gotten used to the pinch at the pump. Do I need to be feeling the same pinch here at the supermarket? Later today my mission is to start writing that article/paper I have meaning to write. I just read a book that lends itself to a whole series of posts-as-commentary (should that be commentary-as-posts?) and I'm all excited about it. Finding the time, though, is likely to be a small challenge.