The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Raising Values: The Season of Giving

Episode Date: December 8, 2024

https://www.facebook.com/RaisingValuesPodcast/www.pbnfamily.comhttps://www.instagram.com/raisingvaluespodcast/http://www.mofpodcast.com/www.prepperbroadcasting.comhttps://rumble.com/user/Mofpodcastwww.youtube.com/user/philrabhttps://www.instagram.com/cypress_survivalist/https://www.facebook.com/CypressSurvivalistSupport the showMerch at: https://southerngalscrafts.myshopify.com/Shop at Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ora9riPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/mofpodcastWith Thanksgiving in the bag, and Black Friday kicking off the holiday shopping in earnest, the topic of giving gifts is one that is on everyone's minds. For this family, this has always been a tricky endeavor. Between a husband that wants very little and a wife that is always so selfless she thinks of others before herself, the task of making everyone's Christmas special is always a tricky one.Raising Values Podcast is live-streaming our podcast on our YouTube channel, Facebook page, and Rumble. See the links above, join in the live chat, and see the faces behind the voices.family, traditional, values, christian, spiritual, marriage, dating, relationship, children, growing up, peace, wisdom, self improvement, masculinity, feminity, masculine, feminine

Welcome to the Raising Values Podcast, where the traditional family talks. You can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify, and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. You can support the Raising Values Podcast through Patreon. Bill and Gillian are behind the mic, and we hope you enjoy the show. welcome back to raising values good morning everybody we excel in keeping keeping people waiting apparently just stewart just stewart we just wait we just we just like hold out as long as we can yeah i actually have a little button i can press that makes the show intro take longer just for him i'm glad you're waiting in the comments it makes me happy to see you i mean not see you sorry yeah second cup of coffee i've only been up for an hour

as you can tell my voice like my throat still hurts. So I'm not feeling great. So we've had, I've had a week off of school. And of course, I'm sick as a freaking dog. Cold and flu season kind of kicked the Radley family's butts this week. Well, they started early in the holiday. They, you know, we had nine days off. So they started early, like day before we got out. I'm like, okay, I just have a little sniffle. I'm gonna, I'm gonna beat this. No, mama comes down with fever and can't move her body because it hurts so bad. So I'm in bed for two days, like Phil's waiting on me and I'm yeah this is this is still it that was Monday now I'm here but I'm trying guys I'm here I'm dressed and I have makeup on but the day after

Thanksgiving she did rally enough to uh Christmasify the house so I mean I did yeah so the house looks nice um I don't I don't like to do christmas after we start school like i have to do it the week we're off for thanksgiving because i just won't have the strength in the next two and a half weeks and if you've ever worked in a school or been a teacher the the the time between thanksgiving and christmas break there's there's nothing getting done. There's no learning happening. And I absolutely refuse under any, there's no threat that will make me cave to this. We are not doing Christmas before Thanksgiving. We are not decorating the house before Thanksgiving.

It is law. See, I am a believer in thanksgiving is a day christmas is a season and the season starts the day after thanksgiving season starts november first thanksgiving listen i don't i don't i even get irate when i hear christmas music played before thanksgiving because like thanksgiving i agree let Let Thanksgiving be Thanksgiving. I think, yeah. It's too early. What?

So, all right. So, tradition. I know we have listeners all over the country. And we do have a couple of listeners around the world, I think. I'd say 10 to 15% of our listenership is actually international, yes. Okay. So, this is the season. This is how it goes here.

You have Halloween, right? Okay, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Christmas is the long season, right? All right, so in South Louisiana, and I believe most of the South that celebrates Mardi Gras, you keep your Christmas decorations up until Epiphany, which is January 6, King's Day. And that is the day that the three wise men made it to Jesus. So you keep your Christmas decorations up until then, because that is the first day of Mardi Gras. Well, you're supposed to keep your Christmas up until then. A lot of people just transfer.

They just kind of switch. They go from red and green to purple, green, and gold. So they just make their Christmas decorations, Mardi Gras decorations. Y'all, we just had a firehouse built half a mile down the road. And they are open and ready for business. They were getting a workout on Christmas Day. I want to say we had like two call outs within an hour of us waking up. Yeah, so I don't know if y'all can hear the sirens as they pass, but it's been busy.

There are worse problems to have. We go straight into Mardi Gras season. So this is the season from October till Easter that we eat our weight every day in king cake and sugar and cookies and whatever. And then we always wonder, why didn't we have hot girl summer? No. So I'm not a big Mardi Gras girl. I don't like to go to parades. I don't see the hype.

In fact, I would rather get out of town or hide away in our house for Mardi Gras. I'm not a big Mardi Gras girl. But I will not keep my Christmas decorations up past the first weekend after Christmas. I'll take all that shit down. Like, I'm done. Christmas is over. I don't like the clutter. I love, I love, like, the music and the, I do love the decorations, but the four weeks of it, mama's done.

It's time to go back up in the attic, and I need my house back. So, anyway, all that said, we do have to open the show. Six minutes in. Well, that's ok we were talking about fun things like king cakes and Christmas brownies we haven't even mentioned the brownies but the brownies are on the table already

they're already over there it's the recipe I shared with those of you who are patrons that recipe while you do that I'm going to do this so you talk and i'll do this part okay so we we still have merch available from the southern gals crafts the links down in the show description if you would like a fun cheeky t-shirt or something to help support the show it's more to support small business, that's where you should definitely be looking.

I'm sorry. You ran out of breath. I'm still fighting this congestion in the back of my throat. Bright lights, big cities. Yeah? No? No. You have to turn it on within so many seconds of plugging in,

otherwise that port goes to sleep. Ah. Now you have to turn them. They're both on, but you have to turn it on within so many seconds of plugging in. Otherwise, that port goes to sleep. Ah. Now you have to turn them. They're both on, but you have to turn them on before. Oh, goodness. I told you. I'm getting there. It might need to stay that bright, too, by the way.

No? No. Turn them all the way down. And then up three clicks. All the way. Anyway. While we make a complete hash of this whole podcasting thing. Right.

I told y'all we were off. There is a signal chat for the patrons, for Raising Values, and for Matter of Facts. If you're curious and you are a patron, you can reach out to me through Patreon or any other way you can manage to get in touch with me. And I can get you dropped into either or both of those chats, depending on what your interest is. Raising Values is very wholesome and thoughtful and sweet. And Matter of Facts is a wonderful mixture of nerd stuff and mayhem. Is that about the best way to put it? It is the largest gathering of nerds I've ever been a part of. I know that it's not the largest in the world, but it's the largest I've ever been a part of.

Yeah, so I do love being a part of the Matter of Facts group. Y'all are on mute. So if you want to talk to Gillian, you have to at Gillian or private message me but raising values is not on mute because they're much more laid back yeah it's not as lively

I can put a couple people into that chat to liven it up hey you know I think we're alright we're doing okay they know how to get in touch with me and lastly Cypress Survivalists Hey, you know, I think we're all right. We're doing okay. They know how to get in touch with me. And lastly, Cypress Survivalists. So for anybody that hasn't been paying attention for a while,

this is the nonprofit that me and Gillian started with my sister and my brother-in-law. We're going to try to take kind of like the mission statement from Matter of Facts, which was always about educating people in in like practical preparedness and survival topics and we're going to take that into an in-person format it's the long and the short of it um yeah i mean it's moving along um we will well we've kind of like done some soft announcements of the first event that we're going to hold, which is March 8th here in Mandeville. But all of those like big announcements are going to happen in January. So I've got to get working on that. My work is never done. I'm joking. As I say that to Phil, who put this whole thing together today, because I was in my pjs in the chair last night anyway um yeah

cypress survivalist it's it's been interesting um we are learning a lot about owning a non-profit we are learning a lot about government governmenting government and governmenting yeah um i learned last night that if you want to be tax-exempt as a nonprofit, because not all nonprofits are tax-exempt, you have to pay the government $275. Sounds like a tax. For your tax-exempt status. How about that? How about that? Yeah, so I was like, negative.

Not right now. Maybe later. Uh, negative, not right now, maybe later. Um, but where they, where they get you is if you don't do that, then when you get a donation, the donation's not tax exempt. So kind of holds you up there, but we're gonna, we're gonna make it, we're gonna do it. I think we'll kind of, um, be coming in on three wheels just to only because we won't have the fourth one set down does that make sense i know that's not how you use that phrase i understand where you're going yeah on our first event but anyway um i think really right now we just ask for everyone's support in that so if you even if you're not in the mandandeville area, please just go to all of our social media.

The links are in the show description. Yeah, so go to all of our social media. If you're on that platform, please like us and give the page a like, follow, and even just a like on any of the posts. That will help us get more. It'll reach more people. If they see that you're interested, then other people will be interested. And then we can all be friends. But especially if you have friends or family or people that you know that are in southeast Louisiana or the surrounding areas.

Yeah. Where we're going to host this event in Mandeville is, I mean, it's within a couple hour drive everywhere from Lafayette, Louisiana, all the way to Biloxi. So like, it's certainly, and it's going to be formatted as a day event. You know, it's not going to be like a multi know people that are like all across the southern chunk of Louisiana're going to try to leave enough meat on the bones that if you've been in this lifestyle for a while, you're going to find something that you hadn't thought of or just hadn't taken the time to learn. Yeah.

And each event will be a little bit different. So, yeah. Anyway. We have to find a shorter way to do all these announcements. I mean, we've got to tell the people. I know, I know, I know. So, the season of giving. A week ago, we were talking about being thankful for all the blessings we have,

and then we charge headfirst into hurry up and buy hurry up and buy stuff for people we i mean yeah christmas season comes this time every year and we know that we're gonna have to buy gifts and everything but i never i never think in july oh why don't I just go on and buy those little soaps or whatever from Math and Body Works for the teachers in July when they're $1.50 on sale or whatever. I always wait until the last minute. And then it's like I always get Christmas out and go, oh, crap, I meant to throw this away and get a new one for this year and so now we're using twinkle lights that don't twinkle anymore or whatever but i just don't have an enemy to go out and get anything but the funny part is is that i were we both remember last year we were talking about getting rid of our old christmas tree and we didn't because you know

illness and sickness and extended family in the hospital. There's been a lot going on the last several weeks. So, like, that didn't happen. But what did happen, apparently, is that the tree skirt got thrown away. So we have a red and green Christmas blanket, like, wrapped around the bottom of the tree as a tree skirt this year. You know how much I care? I don't. 0.0.

I don't care. It's going to be a different Christmas for us this year. This is the first year that. Well, wait a second. Okay. Because I know that sometimes we have little ears listening. True. So Piper has graduated into big girl at christmas and so some of the things that

you traditionally celebrate with children um are no longer a thing in this house um part of that makes me sad bigger part makes me go okay phew we can do this as, you know, semi-adults now. Well, semi-adult for her. I'm an adult. Are you an adult? Semi-adult. Semi-adults. But it's funny because her elf still arrived.

She's sitting over there. She's in the same position as she was when she first got here, which is great. Mama is not losing sleep over the elf. Yeah, I think it's going to be, it's our first different Christmas. It's also the first Christmas that our child texted us a note from her phone that had all of the wish list items that she wanted for Christmas. So all we had to do was click on links, which, yeah, I love that, 21st century. The other funny part was, I don't know if you remember,

but there was a year where we had to convince her to write a letter to Santa to say what she wanted. where we had to convince her to write a letter to Santa to say what she wanted. Because she had either derived this idea on her own or been told, oh, Santa just automatically knows what you want for Christmas. Yeah. And then I had to convince her to write it down. Yeah, I do remember that. A couple of years, because she wasn't giving it up. She didn't want to tell us what she wanted for Christmas because Santa

already knew what she wanted for Christmas. And I was like, well, Santa needs a letter or something. Let me just say that recently when she announced to me that she was interested in possibly pursuing like a degree in the legal field, like she's, she's,

she's flirting with the idea of going down that path to being a lawyer. And she's, she's 12. But I tell Gillian all the time, I'm like, by the time I was 12, I knew what I wanted to be like as an adult. So I wouldn't totally dismiss this. Yeah, she's definitely you on that. Because, I mean, she's already started researching various tuition at different schools. She's got her eyes set on Harvard.

And she's already trying to math out how long it would take her to pay back her student loans if she were to go to Harvard Law. And I'm sitting here going, how many corners can a mother legally work? No, I'm joking. Yeah. So she's got her eyes set high. And anyway, that's where we're at. And our 12 year old who's looking at Harvard law for school. And she might change her mind next year, but. Never know. I mean, bear in mind that when I was 12, I wanted to be career military. And then something happened along the way that convinced me that I didn't want to spend my life in a foreign country. And, you know...

You know what I was thinking at 12 years old? You're planning your wedding? Yeah, I was thinking of that boy that probably sat three chairs down from me in math class and how cute he was with the blonde hair and the blue eyes. And how could I get him to like me? I was not thinking about what I was going to be when I grow up. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. And then you wound up with no hair and brown eyes and beard. You had blonde hair at one point. When I was like eight. Yeah,

well, you know. Prince Charming walks in. You didn't have a beard though. Anyway, we're not even on topic. Oh, we're so off topic. But the point is, this is this is yeah this is like our first this is our first christmas with a teenager if we're being honest well yeah she'll be a teenager in may 13 she's already a teenager she's a teenager but yeah i've all i've always like is there more well no i was i was gonna go back to where i started before we went off on a tangent. But that's something that's always kind of caught me off guard about Christmas is that it follows a holiday that is all centered around being thankful for what you have.

And then it immediately progresses towards, oh, what am I going to get now? And then it immediately progresses towards, oh, what am I going to get now? And it's always felt very odd to me, but part of what I front-loaded in the... Excuse me one second. Kyle, don't worry. We've been taking a lot of unkers. Your unkers has come in handy. She's been rubbing herself down in it every night. No, I have not.

Anyway. Weird. has come in handy she's been rubbing herself down in it every night i have not anyway but weird but like and this is part of what i put in the uh the front load for this topic was like the the act of gift giving is a little bit fraught with danger in this house because like pipers made this very easy for us and in a very transparent way said, I would like any of these things. She's even put them in order of her desire. I want this one the most, this one the second most, and then it trickles down.

Boy, that little Phil nerd brain is like... It helps. Yeah. But then you get into you and me, and I feel like we always run into this difficulty. Because most of the time, this year you were very forthcoming with, I would like any of these things, just like Piper did. And I was like, oh, thank Christ. But normally, under normal circumstances, you're the person that doesn't buy stuff for yourself very often.

And you always prioritize. No? No, I'm agreeing with you. I don't. You prioritize everyone else ahead of yourself. Ahead of myself. Literally the other day, the socks. Oh, yeah.

I do a majority of the laundry in the house. Oh, yeah. I do a majority of laundry in the house, and I was pulling socks out of, Gillian's socks out of the laundry, and they have holes in them. And I'm like, babe, do you think you need some new socks? She was like, yeah. And I was like, do you think we should go out and get you new socks? Probably. So when we were out that day, like, I had to take her to a place to buy socks.

But let her little girl say, just mention in passing, I kind of need a new sweater for school. And Gillian will go sweater shopping that moment to make sure her little baby has whatever she wants. I think that's a lot of parents. I think especially maybe moms. Dads fall into this. parents, I think, especially maybe moms, dads fall into this, but yeah, I mean, we just,

we get into where. Do for everyone but yourself. Yeah. I'm not the only one who does that. I'm sure there's some ladies listening that are like, yeah, I can, I fall into that too. I do. It's just, well, I think that also comes from the the type of person i am you know i want to make sure everybody's happy and healthy and peacemaker and all that stuff and so i i i can come i can come later like i can i can work with the holes in my socks kind of thing now i have an abundance of

socks and nowhere to put them but they're so nice you can get rid of the old ones and that'll make room yes i could but i love them so much anyway where i was what he has to live with y'all but where i was going with this is that this this has in the past made gift giving a little bit tricky because first of all i i am the worst gift giver on earth. Like if you tell me specifically, I want that, I will bust my butt. I will save my money. I will do whatever I have to do to make it happen. But if I am told, just give me something, you know, I would like, I will run around in circles like a dog chasing his tail and have no earthly idea because I haven't been given proper direction and

because at least once or twice in the past i bought something and the look on her face told me loud and clear that was not a good gift and i was just like oh swing and a miss and it's usually okay i'm not a numbers person i'm not but phil will buy one single gift there's one single gift under the tree for mom phil has a couple piper obviously has more than that um i'm having a total willy wonka moment how many gifts are there or no that's harry potter um mama stocking is empty, but everyone else's is full. I don't know where I'm going with this. Men, it is your responsibility to fill your wife's stocking. Fill your wife's stocking.

Also, men, last year I tried to fill her stocking, but the things I got to fill her stocking wouldn't fit in the stocking. So, you know, just like plan ahead and we don't always want chocolates no we don't women are freaking complicated i also sent him the list and i said do not deviate from this list do not get on a website and think, oh, well, that looks similar. Or that one kind of looks good. No. Go to the link.

Click on the link. And follow the provided instructions. Don't deviate from this plan. But here's the thing. When I'm given that explicit instruction, I follow that because i have a i'm a very goal-based person and i've been given a goal and i can accomplish that goal with the exception of one thing that was on your list that is going to be problematic because it's currently out of stock so i know which one it is you just got gotta keep watching i'm already on the list yes

i love it look at you i'm so proud of you but anyway it's one i know what i'm getting it's the only one that's out of stock but it is one of those things where, like, gift giving for a person who is very selfless is insanely difficult and tricky. And on the flip side of things, you have a problem gift giving for me because I am simultaneously not extremely, there's a word, materialistic. Mm-hmm. There's a word. Materialistic. Like I value things because of what they enable, if that makes sense. Like I value this thing because it allows me to do this other thing.

Or I value this thing because it allows us to have an experience together as a family. It's the end result of that is what has value to me. And the material item only has value because it has utility. But that makes it – and the other problem is that I'm so hyper-independent. Like, usually if I want something, I'll save my money. I'll go out and get it. So by the time we get to Christmas, you're like, what do you want for Christmas? And I'm like, I have everything I want. Yeah.

Or I can't afford it, and if I can't afford it, no offense, you can't either, unless you're selling feet pics I'm like I have everything I want yeah or or I can't afford it and if I can't afford it no offense you can't either unless you're selling feet pics I'm not aware of I'm gonna have to start some feet pics or something to afford this next year the next five years or even Harvard Law we're gonna have to start selling feet pics. Hey, that'll work instead of work in different corners. Anyway, I digress. I'm just kidding, Mom and Dad. I'm really not doing those things. What was I going to say?

Because that totally threw me off. You threw yourself off. Well, you started with the feet pics thing. Me not being very materialistic. me getting things when i want things not oh yeah that's what i was gonna say there we go that is where the matter of facts patrons come in very handy um because i i get messages from friends of ours that are like phil would really like this for Christmas. Or why don't you look at this for Phil for Christmas? I've talked, Joe was my man last year.

I talked to Joe last year. This year, well, and last year. Stuart, he always comes through with an idea. So I got to order some stuff from what he said. And then Critsburg, man, was it? Yeah, it was Matt. Matt Critsburg, like five years ago? Five or six years ago, I had him make a custom Bowie knife for you.

See, and that's my thing. And I do this to myself, especially with you. I have to get unique, crazy, off-the-wall gifts. And they don't always have to be really expensive. No, they don't. But you're right. It usually has to be something that I wouldn't think of. Although, in the case of that Bowie knife, that was a Bowie knife I had literally tried to contract Matt to make me and he told me he was too backed up on work which to be fair at the time he was and then you reach

out to him and he was like okay I'll slip it in yeah and it was beautiful he even made the sheath for it and everything it was it was a beautiful knife it still is and you still wear it, especially when we go camping and stuff. Every camping trip. But I like to get you weird, crazy, unique gifts. Got you the, what is it? The Viking ale horn. The Viking ale horn, which sometimes you use, I think is great. Yeah, this year, you have no idea what's coming and i never do i am so excited i'm so excited about this one gift um but then i'm really i'm really happy about your friends on

mof um patron feed the the chat that comes through and it's like hey phil phil could use this or phil talked about this or phil needs this. Or whatever. Yay. Yay, friends. But see, my problem is that, like, I don't want to say guilty. I always feel sheepish. Why? Like, asking for gifts.

I'm not going to rake you over the coals. Why do you feel sheepish? Asking for gifts. i don't know um because you don't like the attention on you well i don't like the attention on me that that's just an overriding feature but it's i think it's a lot of it also comes from the fact that like you know like i can remember i can remember growing up like i've talked about before like. My family, we were certainly not poor. Not in the least bit. I would say at that point, we were probably middle class to lower middle class.

We had everything we needed. We were never like, oh, I better roll these pennies so we can pay for milk or keep the lights on. But I can also remember having to go shop at oshkosh bagash and wow you you really went back yes and and uh going to the bread store where all the local grocery stores sold their bread that was like a couple of days away from expiring and we'd go get it there and you know like keep an airtight container to try to keep it fresh a little bit longer because when you're trying to feed two boys on one salary with a stay-at-home mom, you've got to find a way to make the ends meet.

And so, like for me, it was certainly never anything like my parents put on me. But I always looked around and kind of read the room like I just felt weird asking for expensive things. of read the room, like, I just felt weird asking for expensive things because I, I, I, out of, even at a very young age, I knew what was going on, which, you know, my dad and I have talked about that for years and he's, he's always kind of like quietly lamented that he couldn't, couldn't give more, couldn't do more because of where we were in our lives at that point. But I've always told him, I'm like, I never felt like we had less or were less. Yeah. But as you have pointed out on multiple occasions, I was a weird kid.

And how many eight, nine-year-olds can just read the room and be like, we don't have a whole lot of extra money. But that was my thought process back then. Yeah, kids know. Well, and for that for that reason though i think that's why i was never i never grew up a materialistic kid like i can remember getting the family nintendo and then the the game system itself wasn't the selling point to me. It was the experience of playing and being able to, like, you know, trade controllers off and play with the other neighborhood kids

or not my brother so much. Because, I mean, Mike and I are five and a half years apart, so we didn't interact a lot together. You know what I'm saying? Because of the age difference. Except for when he would, like, pull a controller out of the machine and run away laughing. he thought that was hilarious but anyway so I don't know like I always feel weird asking for things I always feel weird asking especially with something

expensive because to me it's just like that's money that could be spent somewhere else I don't I get that that's why I'm like well I won't tell you how much the Bowie knife costs. I got a pretty good idea of at least what he had to charge you to cover materials. Yeah, he didn't charge me like regular paying customer price for that, but it was still a pretty penny. It's really pretty on your side, that penny. I did ask him i'm like don't i don't want to know how much of what how much you charged her because that's that'd be rude

it's between you and her but just tell me you took care of her she yeah he and he told me he told me he said i gave her the friends and family special and i was like okay i just i just wanted to make sure like you know this was a friend of mine you're my wife just wanted to make sure, like, you know, this was a friend of mine. You're my wife. I wanted to make sure he hadn't, you know. No, he didn't. It was really nice. But, see, and I, so I grew up in a household where my mother would spend us into the poor house

to make sure that we had giant Christmas under the tree. There were three of us, three girls. And so, and everyone had gifts to open. And I know that I'm not, I'm not expecting that level of Christmas commitment under our tree because there's only three of us. And like three of us is in one child. And I don't and i don't i don't i i was always that the kid that go that was like wow this is a lot and i was thinking of well weren't we just

like looking for pennies in the couch cushions so we could get bread and milk. And I was also the child going, doesn't dad make a lot of money? Why are we pinching pennies to get bread and milk? And then here comes Christmas and Christmas is up to the ceiling. And it was always great. And that was always, my mom has always shown her affection for us

by buying us things. That was always a thing. Like, as a child, I don't have a lot of memories of her responding to me saying, I love you with, I love you too. That didn't happen until my 20s. But Christmas was always big. It was always like huge. And she had, they had, mom and dad had three girls to buy for two a set of twins and then one who was five years older so it wasn't like um she could just buy one thing of this she had to buy well i guess she didn't have to but if gillian got the newest Barbie, Gabriel wanted the newest Barbie too. We couldn't share the newest Barbie. Actually,

Gabriel was more into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the G.I. Joes and I was into the Barbies but only because I like to... I didn't like to play with Barbies in the way that Mattel wanted us to play with Barbies. You lit them on fire and shaved their heads. I shaved their heads, lit them on fires.

And G.I. Joe and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would often have to rescue them from whatever. Boys. Their fingers were always, like their hands were always melted into these little black, like, post things, like boxing gloves. So, boys, there's a whole host of things you should find out about your potential spouse before you marry them. I found out about all this closet sociopathic behavior after we had signed the marriage license. So, you know, just food for thought. Yeah. Anyway. But she doesn't torture animals, at least. So, you know, just food for thought. Yeah. Anyway, so yeah.

But she doesn't torture animals, at least. So, you know, we're doing okay. No, I won't go down that road. I was about to say, talk about my squirrels in the back. But, so yeah, we always had these big, big Christmases. And then we would leave our house and we would go to my grandparents' house, her parents, grandma, yeah, her parents' house. And it was also big Christmas. I mean, there were, there were things on the tree, there were things under the tree and you, you literally had no room

in the, um, in the trunk at the end of the day because there were so many gifts. I can remember one Christmas going to my room. It was like days later, and I found gifts that I hadn't opened yet. There was just such an overabundance of gifts. But I will tell you this. This will always stick with me. And if my sister's watching, she can attest to this that was my mom's side of the family that was how they did things it was it was always big when grandma came and visited grandma had a trunk full of gifts for when she

visited my nana sweet little Sicilian lady she was um she was born in the States, so I'm third generation Sicilian. She was born in the States. Her parents came over from Sicily with no money in their pockets, but spoke English because that was her father. Her father said, if we're going there, we have to speak the language. They had no money, none. I remember always getting one gift from my nana, and that was it. And it was a traditional Sicilian gift. It was a stocking, not even the big elaborate stockings you hang from.

Literally a stocking. It was literally like a sock and and they got a little bit more elaborate as she got as you know time went on it had an apple an orange and chocolates sometimes it had the um orange flavored chocolate in there. And that was like, man, she really pinched her pennies for this. And that was what we got. And I remember her coming to me, I was probably junior high age. So I was probably Piper's age at that point. And she handed me my stocking and she said, I know it's not what your other grandparents can give you, but this is my gift to you. And it was an orange and apple and chocolates. And that, that was my most favorite gift every

year. That is what we got. And some nuts. It had like little, like, I think it had like pecans that you had to crack open and some walnuts and things like it was just a traditional Sicilian gift and it wasn't anything elaborate it wasn't expensive at all but it was what my grandmother could give me I just thought that this is this is it this is Christmas like this is what this is about like you you get these kinds of gifts for that um and now being a mom and growing up and having our own Christmases, a lot of things happen because a lot of things happen in my brain and in my heart. I often think about, well, there's not enough. Wow, Christmas went really, it was really quick. Like we opened our gifts really quick. It needs to go longer because for five people, the way that my mom shopped for Christmas, Christmas morning lasted forever. You know,

dad was, dad's tradition was always to cook eggs Benedict on Christmas morning. So he was opening gifts and making eggs Benedict in the kitchen. And then we were opening our gifts and everybody, I mean, there's paper everywhere. And then for us, it's like, okay, that's it. You know, we've opened our three, four gifts each or whatever. And then it's, that's it. That's so in part of me, I'm not disappointed. Don't think I'm disappointed. It's just kind of like, well, wait, where's the rest of it? But that's, okay, that's not what I mean. Like I'm not saying go out and make us broke over Christmas break. She's running around in a circle right now. We'll get there. No, I'm not running around in a circle.

I'm trying to just explain to you like how I feel. But that doesn't mean go out and make this big elaborate Christmas. Because then I think about the stocking that my Nana gave me. And it's like, that's all it needs to be. I don't want us to go broke over Christmas. I don't want us to go into credit card debt because, you know, Piper didn't get 15 gifts under the tree and you didn't get 15 gifts under the tree and whatever. Because here's what I've learned as being a parent. In six months, I'm putting those things in a bag and giving them away. Yeah.

So we're not doing that. And that's how it was in my house. We would pack that crap up and give it away if it wasn't already burnt or shaved. I do remember a couple of christmases where i tried to counsel you on you're overdoing it a little bit and we both know that you know that that that lovey that stuffed animal is gonna wind up getting donated in about six months and this is also why like as my daughter got older whenever she would would say, oh, I really want that, I'd be like, think long and hard. Well, and that's...

Because my point to Piper always was, we've gone through this repetition of times of, you get the new stuffed animal, it's your favorite thing in the universe, until you reach a certain point where the newness wears off, and then we wind up donating it to a family in need. Which, I love the fact that we're donating the stuff to people that need it and not just throwing it in the trash. Yeah. But the point still remains, we have a revolving door of stuff in this house that is costing us money. Right. Yeah. And I think we've done really good in the last few years about that. And I think it has also gotten easier with Piper growing up.

So I don't feel like she has to have all these toys or whatever. I'm also at a point in my life where I am throwing crap away. Like I don't want the clutter in my house. I keep thinking of one day we're going to move away from this house and I'm going to have to pack it up. Do I want to pack up the clutter? house and I'm going to have to pack it up. Do I want to pack up the clutter? And you know, my sister-in-law at one point scolded me about the Tupperware underneath our counter. And she said, have you touched it in six months? And I said, no. And she said, then throw it away. Like you don't need it. Give it away, throw it away. I, um, what about the boxes in the top of your, of your closet that you admitted to me? haven't unpacked since we moved in?

You know what's in those boxes? No. Books. Okay. Books is different. You make me the thing that I want in our bedroom. Bookshelves are on the menu. And those boxes of books will go away.

Yeah. I didn't realize it was books. I just thought it was like a, I didn't even know you were, I didn't even realize you knew what was in it. Yeah, it's just books. It's a bunch of books. Because when we moved out of the apartment, I do remember talking with you and I'm like, listen, like you were four or five months pregnant at that point? I was four. Okay.

four or five months pregnant at that point? I was four. Okay. So like you weren't like out to here, but you were definitely at the point where I was not comfortable with you like killing yourself doing heavy lifting for obvious reasons. And I do distinctly remember telling you like,

look, I will pack the truck. I will get everything down three flights of stairs from this third story apartment. I will handle it. But if I bring one single box from here to that truck to the new house and then you throw it in the trash can, we're going to fight about it. So if there's anything up here you don't want to bring with you, it goes to the dumpster right now.

Yeah. And there were several things. There were a lot of things we just threw away. But that was the time to do it. It makes no sense. If it's got to come down out of this apartment, whatever. It was here for a season, to use your analogy. It served its purpose. It's time to go.

But if I put it in the truck and unload it at the new house and then it goes to the roadside, I'm going to get aggravated. Because that's a decision we should have made before today. We were talking about this the other day that's like a generational thing i feel like our parents generation they hold on to things like we were talking about my parents and eventually the time is coming that they're going to have to go into a home and the thought of going through their house and and going through all of their things really really makes me just want to light a match and burn the whole thing down because

i don't want to have to go through the piles of just the generational piles of just crap it's crap and a lot of it is just. And I don't want to have to go through and be like, okay, we can donate this or who wants this or who wants just burn the whole thing down. I don't want it. I don't want it. I don't want it in this house because I'm already doing that to my stuff. Like, I don't want all the clutter. We recently redid our closet. Our closet, the main master closet, y'all, it's we do not live in a large house at all just fyi it is bigger it is i'm sorry it is as big as some people's pantries like it's small it's a little bitty closet it's a walk-in you can walk in and turn our our closet in the one bedroom

apartment we had was large because that closet was big enough for all of our clothes and our our clothes dresser fit inside the closet yeah so yeah but so we recently redid the closet and i just i threw away it's like why am i holding on to this stuff i used to be that person i used to be like oh memento i have to hold on to this for memories. And it's like, no, I don't. Now I'm just like, no, just get rid of it. We don't need it. Piper's elf would tell her that she'd have to give to receive. And so I would give her a basket or a garbage bag and say, okay, you have to fill these three baskets or these three garbage bags with things to donate before Santa will bring you more things. Why do we live like that? I remember one of those mornings going, I do not want this overabundance of just crap. It's just materialistic crap.

Consumerism. Yeah, consumerism. And that's when we went to experiences as gifts. We went to things like, we're going to to go here or we're going to go camping or here's a whole week of this summer camp that you really, really enjoy. And, you know, here's this and that and it's experiences. Here's a we got our years membership to the zoo one year, you know, or the aquarium or something. That way we could go whenever we wanted to. Just things like that.

Those are the things that we started to do. And you can wrap them up in a pretty bow and a pretty box, and they can unwrap them and things like that. But it didn't clutter anything. And it was something that she'll always remember. And it wasn't just a teddy bear that was going to be thrown into a bag and given away so that she could get more teddy bears that Christmas. Did I overdo it?

Oh, no. Because you rolled your eyes. No, that wasn't me rolling my eyes. That was me going like, that sounds familiar, like something I might have said years and years and years ago. I know. I'm there. I got you.

I know. Yeah, but this year, it was nice to have the links to things. And a lot of the things that she's getting for Christmas, she will definitely use. We're not going to go into it because she is awake and she is listening, I'm sure. I don't want to get into,

first of all, this is on the internet and she could find it if she really wanted to. If she wanted to. Although she has expressed no interest in either one of our podcasts, so I guess I should be thankful for that so far. But what's been interesting to me is to watch this transition she's undergone where she wants things that have utility. that she wants things to have utility. Like even some of the things she asked for that she didn't get, it was like decorative stuff because her room has become like this.

Nest. It's kind of become her nest, yeah. It's like when she asked, that was her birthday present a couple years ago. She wanted a whole room makeover because she had this idea in her head about, this is what I want my room to look like, to feel like, this is my place. She was trying to kind of like establish some vestiges of her independence, and that was a big thing for her. So what I'm seeing now is that she wants things that enable her to do things.

She wants things that have utility. Things she's going to use. I mean, like, not that it's ever around when she needs it, but, like, I got her a stocking stuffer one year was her first pocket knife. And I'd be daggummed if that hasn't gone on a couple of camping trips with us or her first either i got her i got her the same sometimes she'll put that in her purse and she'll carry it when she's out yeah just fyi but even like the flashlight on your person the flashlight that i got her that i carry one i got you one on the same i mean she's she's gravitating towards things that do things instead of things that are just like fun to squeeze and squish and show off and then the magic is gone yeah she blew me out

one thing i don't want to say out loud but like it was one of the things i told you i got her that she did not ask for but i know for a fact she's going to like yeah it will be a focal point of christmas because i just know my child yeah but again it's one of those things where it's like it's been interesting to watch this transition from this family kind of struggling with overbuying and buying things that were i want to to say, like a little superficial. Like in the moment, it was a heartfelt gift, but the value of the gift wore off very quickly. And now we're transitioning into a family that looks for things that have sentimental value, things that provide utility or service, things that kind of stick with the user or the recipient for a long

time yeah i think one of my gifts um will stick with you for a long time i can't wait until after christmas in the show and i can um tell them what what it is show them what it is you have no idea what it is no sir no but that would stick with me shut up anyway what else did you have because phil was the one that um picked this topic because it was what 7 38 o'clock at night it's been 52 minutes i'd say we we've we've i know I was asking if there was anything in particular that you wanted to discuss that we haven't discussed yet. That's what I was asking. I really just want to talk

through this whole idea of gift giving because today's Sunday, so we're dead center between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Everyone is running around like a chicken with their head cut off, throwing bows in the stores for over TVs and hair dryers and stuff. And this is the point at which a lot of people like I tend to do a majority, if not all of my Christmas shopping right now, because I've been in a position a year or two where I waited to like the middle of December and I paid dearly for it.

Usually stuff still came in, but it was like a stress sandwich watching the tracking information. So now I'm like, no, no, no. We order everything before December 1st. It's all here well in advance. But I just felt like this was the appropriate thing to talk about right now. It's what's going on in this household. felt like this was the appropriate thing to talk about right now it's what's going on in this household other than like you know dying of the bubonic plague which that's been going on for a week mary over here uh that one was patient zero so oh i know yeah i mean the kids at school were

dropping like flies two weeks before uh you know up to two weeks before. Every day Piper came home, she would tell me which one of her classmates went home sick that day. So I knew our day was coming. But yeah, I felt like this was the appropriate thing to talk about and share with the listeners, like, why gift-giving is a little tricky for the two of us because you so rarely want things, or express to me that you want things and i just don't want for much not to mention i just bought a shotgun a couple of months earlier than i planned to so there's that yeah thank you atf for scaring me into that one well anyway what have you wanted but never got that's you always have good questions the standalone suzy when i was six years old i'm joking

well i know you want that whole like bookshelf reading nook thing. Yeah, I mean, as an adult, I want the list of things that need to be done around the house. You got a faucet yesterday. I did. I got a new kitchen faucet, and it looks very nice. So I told Phil, I was like, here's my list of things for the tree. Home improvement. But if, no, I said, here's my list of things for under the tree um i said but you can always pull from the home improvement list too like we can start you know scratching off some of these

items that need to be done some of them are so glaring and it's like when can we do this some of the projects like the whole house ceiling needs to be painted. I hate painting. I hate it. I loathe painting. I hate it. I do not want to paint the ceilings. Even though we've painted almost this entire house ourselves by now. Except for the ceiling.

Yeah, every room in the house has been painted. But I don't want to do the ceiling. But it needs to be done there's just a list of home improvement things that need to be done and we did get the new faucet finally we're going to finish the kitchen sink all that stuff today the the um closet has been done i would love to have the bookshelf and the new dresser in the bedroom. I would love to focus on our bedroom. We have to figure that out because in my head,

if I could find a dresser already made that kind of fits what you're after, then I could just buy bookshelves and attach it all together. Yeah. As opposed to me having to invest possibly several weekends in trying to custom make something myself. Well, back to Stuart's question, what have you wanted but never got? See, my problem is that if there's something I want and haven't gotten, it's because it is so ludicrously expensive. Like, I can't afford it, which means you can't afford it's because it is so ludicrously expensive like i can't afford it which means you can't afford it either i don't know i don't i mean i'm not i have never well

i was gonna say i've never been disappointed on christmas morning but i can remember a time where i was disappointed because um i got something that was not asked for well that's been a couple of christmas mornings but like phil mentioned earlier um he would wait until the very last minute to order things and then mama's christmas was still in the mail and so i didn't have things to open under the christmas tree some years i hate to say it, but some years that was because I had to wait until I had the money to get those things. I know. But I can't think of anything that I've wanted that I'd never got.

Because if I didn't get it, I would later go get it myself if I wanted it that bad. I'd figure out a way to get it. Trip to Bali. A trip to... I don't know. Trips. Don't worry. I am. Don't. It's kind of a joke.

I can't think of anything, Stuart. I don't know anything for you i mean no i'm going to continue to really want that 50 that 50 cal rifle 50 cal rifle a 50 yeah bm 50 bmg oh god help me big big huge rifle fires a cartridge about that big kicks like a mule i have no practical need or justification for possibly wanting one but i have wanted one forever and i will probably always want one but i told phil of a new a new i a gift idea the other day we walked into the gun store and i said i wanted a new 2222 rifle. I can make that happen. That's affordable.

I want a new.22 rifle. So the other day, now as we round this show out, the reason I got the shotgun now instead of waiting for a couple of months was because the ATF pulled some shenanigans around the Beretta 1301, and I really wanted an A300, but I started getting a little nervous about are they are there going to be some shenanigans pulled around the a300 since they're all obviously looking at the 1301 tactical so I went ahead and bought it early earlier than I planned on

not that I didn't have we didn't have the money just you know I was putting that off after Christmas but while we were there Gillian just happened to be browsing at a rack full of Ruger 10-22s and just casually mentions, like, we should get another 22. That way we can go shooting together as a family. And I looked at the gentleman. We go shooting as a family together. Huh? We go shooting as a family together. How? We should go shooting as a family together.

How long has it been since all three of us were at the range? Keep going with your story. That's what I thought. I shouldn't have interrupted. And I looked at the gentleman who was putting in the order for the A300, and I said, don't threaten me with a good time. Anyway, that would be good. Somebody come get your girl. Right. All right, guys. Anyway, that would be good.

Somebody come get your girl. Right. All right, guys. That's it. That's all we have for you. Because, you know, that's our morning. So, yeah. You made this really weird.

I'm always weird. Anyway, well, thank y'all for watching this morning. I hope y'all have fun shopping for your family and friends. Don't be too extravagant. It's not worth it. Don't waste your money. Think about the things that they're going to enjoy and that's not going to pile up in the corner of their bedroom or whatever in six months. And at the risk of sounding sappy, always remember that from my perspective, the greatest gift is always the time you have. It's the one thing you don't get any more of.

It's the most precious thing we have is the years we have on this side of eternity. And the time you get to spend with your family and with your loved ones is always the most heartwarming gift to me. I told you it was sappy. Philosophical Phil leading us out. Philosophical. Yep. All right, guys, have a great week and we'll see you next week. Bye everybody. Bye y'all. Thank you.