Don't let this happen to you!

Two years ago, my mom bought my oldest son, Michael, a $50 gift card to Sam Goodies for Christmas. A week after he went to the store to use it and the store was empty. Not only did they sell my mother a gift card, knowing that that location would be closing, they also did not inform their employees before hand. Instead they just told them all to go home as they no longer had a job as they showed up for work. My son had to use his gift card on line and he was charged $5 for using it over the Internet instead of going to a physical store. If he had gone to a actual store, he wouldn't have been charged!
Stores that are planning to close after Christmas are still selling the cards through the holidays even though the cards will be worthless January 1. There is no law preventing them from doing this. On the contrary, it is referred to as 'Bankruptcy Planning. Below is a partial list of stores that you need to be cautious about.

Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine's to close 150 stores nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots)
Pacific Sunwear (also owned by Talbots)
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores mo re to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Lowes to close down some stores
Dillard's to close some stores

Tis the season to be jolly....

Let me start off by saying that Christmas, by far is my favorite holiday. The is no other time of year than can hold a candle to it.

I love every aspect of this wonderful holiday season. The sights, smells, and sounds delight the senses.

Despite the bitter cold we experience where I live,I enjoy the crispness of the air, the crunch of freshly fallen snow underfoot, and the icicles glistening like diamonds in the morning sunlight.

Wood smoke wafts on the air, children laugh and screech as snowballs fly, snowmen are laboriously and lovingly built, and sleds race down hills.

Homes are filled with the smells of fresh pine, ginger bread, cookies, turkey or ham, and pumpkin pie.

Nothing compares to sitting in front of a toasty fire in your flannel jammies, sipping steaming mugs of hot cocoa topped with floating clouds of whipped cream or pillows of slowly melting marshmallows.

Lights and garland adorn the main street and it's shops that could rival Vegas. Thousands bundle up and stand in the frigid cold for the annual Holiday parade.

Street after street, houses are lit up a la National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.

Church bells ring, calling their parishioners to midnight services.

I love the exhilarating rush of fighting the crowds the find the "perfect" gift for each person on my list.

The excitement, joy, and fun of the season dampen my sorrows temporarily, filling me with a sense of peace and hope for a better tomorrow. Human kindness abounds, in all it's glory.

Best of all, who can possibly forget the music? From the canned music piped through department store speakers, to the beauty of watching The Nutcracker live on stage. I have never seen The Nutcracker performed and would love to experience that pleasure but there is actually ONE thing I would love to see even more so. My greatest Christmas wish ever is to see the Tans-Siberian Orchestra perform at Christmastime. The power and passion of their music and the dazzling light show that accompanies it speaks to my soul.

check this out, it is so cool!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkjX9pdhQU4&feature=related

Don't get me wrong, I love the traditional carols and hymns but being raised by a rock musician...welll......lets just say there is a reason why Metallica is one of my favorite groups.

Here's wishing all my readers a wonderful holiday season this year no matter what religion you practice may it bring you love, peace, joy, and warm moments with good friends and family.
stop by sometime and I'll have a a nice steaming cup of cocoa waiting just for you!

See ya later alligator

When you go into the health care field, one of the first thing you are told is "Don't become attached". It is also the most impossible advise to follow. Anyone who is in the health care feild will most likely agree that there is no way you can avoid becoming attached to certain patients. There is always someone who weaves their way into your heart and sets in permanent roots that blossom into an overwhelming love for them. If you are that rare type of person who can avoid becoming attached, then most likely, you are not working in the health care field at all. Your typical health care worker is the type that love people and helping then in any way possible.
I work in a nursing home and yes, there are patients I have become attached to. I know that they are not going to be around much longer. I care about them all and have lost some that I have liked alot. While I find all the residents at the nursing home special, Lester was beyond special to me. I never knew him before he came to us. He could not walk, and said very few words with great difficulty, most days he could not speak at all. When he could speak, it was always jsut one word repeated 3 or 4 times. He could not feed himself or care for himself in anyway. Yet he found his way into my heart and put down those roots. Every time I spoke to him his eyes would light up and he would give me a big face splitting lopsided grin. He would grab my hand and laugh when I spoke to him.
I always ended my conversations with him with "see you later alligator". It was my special thing for him and nobody else. He always responded with a huge smile and a laugh, sometime he would even manage to say "awhile, awhile, awhile". Every time he did, it made my heart soar. It was wonderful knowing that despite all his limitations, he knew I was there and understood what I was saying. He was just one of those special people you can help but love with all your being.
On Wednesday, I left work with a heavy heart. Although he was doing well, and was not sick or visibly failing, I just "knew" that when I returned to work on Friday that my "buddy" Lester would no longer be there. I wouldn't see that silly grin, hear the bubbling laugh, or hold his hand ever again. I don't know how I knew, I just did. I wanted to be wrong, how desperately I wanted to be wrong, but I wasn't.
On Thursday (my day off) , The world lost a very special person and God received a very special angel. I returned to work Friday evening to find the spot in the hall where he sat empty, and a new man sleeping in his bed. I was not surprised but my heart broke just the same. Silent tears coursed down my face on and off through the night as I worked. I tried to hide my grief from others but they noticed that I was not as 'peppy" as I usually am at work. I did my work with a lot less enthusiasm and it showed.
Please pray for Lester's wife and childen for thier loss. Send them good thoughts and strength to get through their pain and sadness.

and to Lester, my good buddy:
"See ya later alligator"