Bah Humbug!!!

It started off as a beautiful day for me. It had poured early this morning and when Steve left to go to work he opened the door to find this beautiful rainbow across the street from our house. I grabbed the camera and got a decent shot of it in between the rain dripping off the eaves of the house.

Then later I opened the front door to go run those myriad of Christmas season errands and found a white egret running away. Now some would say they're good luck. I say "YAY! Less lizards!" These egrets are everywhere and can often be found standing on top of hedges, cars, etc. So I gave the poor guy some room and let him leave peacefully without startling him any more. But at that point I should have known...
So I go on about my business. First stop was the post office to mail all my Christmas cards. Most were the same but not all so I had to measure a whole bunch. Thanks to the rain not many had ventured out (those snowbirds and the elderly drivers don't like the rain you know...) and I was able to get things done without too much of a wait and without too much hassle. And I was blessed in that every single card was only one stamp! YAY!
Next stop was Starbucks. I LOVE Peppermint Mocha Frappucinos and I also love their marble loaf. I needed to take some medicine so I thought I'd treat myself. It was a beautiful day by now and so I sat outside and listened to a bunch of old men shoot the breeze. It was quite relaxing. When I was finished I went off to my favorite grocery store - The Fresh Market - for some unusual and unique stocking stuffing candy and some Jelly Belly jelly beans for the kids. Cost more than I expected, but oh well. It's Christmas right? Next stop was the regular grocery store. Busy, crazy, but what else is new? It's season in South Florida. Hehe! Chatted with my fav grocery bagger who's an 80-something man who just lost his wife a few months ago to kidney disease. Today he informed me that his other lady he'd been "staying with" and who was also sick had died on Thanksgiving day and that he was gonna be alone for Christmas. So I gave him my number and told him that we'd at least have him over for some dinner. This guy has been bagging my groceries for years and always has a smile on his face so I feel like it's safe - especially with Steve around. Anyway, off I go on my merry way with my groceries. Unload the car, clean out the trunk for Suzann and Bob's visit on Saturday, and come in for a bit of a rest. Bax is quite happy to see me!
But then it's time to be on the go again. This time it's AC Moore for a couple of little things for making gifts, the Dollar Store for a few other gift-making things and the bank to make that all important deposit. Stop at McDonald's for lunch and then off to the car wash to get the car cleaned up for Suzann and Bob's visit on Saturday. (I CAN'T WAIT!!!) This is when the real trouble started as my ATM card wouldn't work and I didn't have enough cash. Grrrrrr! So I deal with it, get a lesser cleaning on the car and off I go on my merry way oblivious to the future...
Arrive home with a few more bags and take Bax for a short walk since it's looking quite ominous for rain now... Of COURSE! I got the car washed! Sheez!
Well, I had bought some bulk candy and wanted to separate it out for all the kids and decided to taste one of the watermelon Jelly Bellies.... BIG HUGE MISTAKE! CRUNCH! WHAT WAS THAT????!!!! Yep. It was a crown off my tooth. Grrrrrrrrrr!!! So I get the phone and the dentist's number and make that all-important call bracing myself for the cost. WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT??????????????? Yep. She really did say almost $1,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm barely holding it together and said "I'm sorry I can't afford that." We chatted for another minute with her telling me he might be able to give me 10% off and I can make it it two payments. Yeah RIGHT lady!!! All I can think is there goes my trip to Virginia! By the time I hung up the phone I was in tears! And there went that happy go lucky Christmas mood. Then I remembered we have a plan which is supposed to help with dental costs... That part was cancelled by the company in September. I cried some more. Then I did some research online and found a dental school nearby. Still gonna be a LOT of money and it'll be 2-4 MONTHS! Now I'm REALLY upset! But what can I do??? So I decide I'm not doing anything for now. I'll discuss it with Steve later and pray a LOT in the meantime...
Well, he calls later and says "I won't be as late as I thought I'd be." This means he won't be doing the job which also means he won't get paid as much as he thought he would. So I have to tell him what's happening and I started crying again. Poor guy! He's already having a bad day and now his wife is crying and needs dental work! And to top it all of it is absolutely positively horrendously storming out there! It looks like it's midnight and I'm worried the power will go out.
And if you've read this far you're probably saying "Poor Ginni!" Well, yes and now. You see, I am DETERMINED not to let this rob my joy! I'm done venting and now I'm gonna go wash my face, check on my homemade spaghetti sauce and pray it tastes better than it did awhile ago and then I'm gonna drown myself in scrappy goodness tonight and try to forget this afternoon happened. :)
And here's the start of that forgetfulness. I finally got the tree decorated and even got a decent picture of it! YAY! So let's get back to the Christmas spirit and put a smile back on our faces. And thanks for being such a great friend because only a great friend would really have read all this! {{{HUGS}}} and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!