Nova, that custom is awesome! Anyone would be lucky to have him in their collection. I'm sorry about the pet woes. My mother's vet did something similar to her and tried to tell her to have an exploratory surgery for a couple thousand dollars on an old dog who was already blind, deaf, and on daily pain meds. My own little service dog just got all his shots updated and that stings all at once, but better than the trouble of getting there more than once a year. He's doing really well with his short leg, though.
CG, living a dream?! Congratulations! I'm sure you looked great. We're always harder on ourselves.
Pokeyonekenobie, I'm always amazed that anyone can get gifts out to everyone. The best I managed was 9 batches of cookies split between all my neighbors and the mail lady. I have ten aunts/uncles and 13 cousins. Plus my immediate family has so much more money than me that they only want/need gifts that are beyond my price range.
Personally, I was doing pretty well with meeting my goals. Then I got the news that I actually gained ten pounds! It's not that odd for my weight to fluctuate, but still a bummer. My daughter and I did boxes for operation Christmas child. She had a great time filling a box for someone else. I broke my budget a bit by finding some greatly desired dolls on sale. The upside of hurting the budget now is that I'm pretty much done shopping for her April birthday.
Sometimes I just can't pass on the lowest prices before they're off shelves. Last night I started coughing, so today hasn't been productive. We still managed some artwork. I just couldn't get my walking in. I'm hoping I'll be up and running again on Monday. I always take Sunday as a free day for my daughter and I.
Oh, also, on a completely different subject, my dad's birthday is Tuesday. He gets to retire officially on December 31st. I'm so happy he won't have such a stressful and physically demanding job anymore. He's planning on getting another job, but he has plenty of offers. It'll be great to see him more.