It's that time of year! Stocking stuffers!!!

Everywhere I go...to get my hair cut, my nails done, or to the doctor, the question is, "Are you ready for Christmas?"

So are YOU ready for Christmas?

Myself, I am struggling with stocking stuffers. So,while I am combing online articles and Amazon for the perfect stocking stuffers, I thought I'd just share what I am finding. I know EVERYONE is doing the same thing!!

I have three boys and a girl (well....men and women) to stuff stocking for this year.

First, I always buy Christmas ornaments and try to find something appropriate for that person that year.  

I bought three of the four online, and here's what I got:

This truck ornament is for someone who just bought a new truck (although not red).

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This sailboat toy ornament is for someone who spends much of his summers on his boat (although it isn't a sailboat).

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And let's just say that the receiver of this flask ornament is hard to buy for.... 

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Then there are the gag gifts.  I bought the same thing for all three guys.  You'll understand.....

Colorful Motion Sensor Toilet Nightlight Toilet Bathroom Human Body Auto Motion Activated Sensor Seat Light Night Lamp 8-Color Changes(Only Activates in Darkness)

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Now the girl/woman: I just don't know, but here are some things I'm THINKING about....

She received a very special ring last Christmas.... so maybe...

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I happen to know she's restless at night and often goes downstairs in the middle of the night, so maybe.....

Snoozies Womens Sherpa Lined Knit Festive Winter Fleece Slipper Socks

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Now these would be great, but I bought them for her one year already. I wish someone would buy these for me (hint, hint)!

Winter Gloves for Women with Touch Screen Fingers Warm Texting Mittens

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The only larger gift we've come up with yet is an Amazon Echo for the couple because they enjoy ours when they come over.  We use it for our music and for keeping our shopping lists up to date so we can access them at the store and so much more. So that's what they are getting. Hope it works....it'll give us something to talk about around the tree because we use ours a lot.

All-new Echo (2nd Generation) with improved sound, powered by Dolby, and a new design – Silver Finish

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So what do you think?  Have I done OK so far? Do you have any good suggestions to share with the rest of us?   

Hope you all have a merry merry Christmas out there. Now I have to clean house!!

Acknowledgement:  The links above may be affiliate links and I might profit from you buying the products. 

Flying to Greece has turned into a nightmare....but I can handle it!

Before I tell you about my adventure with Aegean airlines and flying into and out of Greece, I haven't blogged in a while and here's why. 

I've started getting into Stock Photography as a way to earn passive income (in a way--i intend to work at it hard when I can) while I collect Social Security in Mexico and getting that business started is taking almost all of my time. I will blog about that process soon.  I'll tell you how it works and what I've learned about making money in stock (Shutterstock and other agencies) and how to get started if you are interested. Here's the link to my portflolio if you are interested in what I have to sell on Shutterstock:  Link to my Shutterstock Portfolio.  If anyone wants to jump right in and become a contributer right now, please use my link to do so:  My link to becoming a Shutterstock Contributor  

This picture of *ME* triming a Christmas tree has sold twice recently, the last time to someone in  Bratislava, Slovakia.  I love the international element of this buisness.

Another thing that's keeping me very busy (besides Christmas, of course) is planning a trip to Greece in January to meet my PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) son, who teaches English in the Republic of Georgia.  I've been trying to plan this trip as cheaply as possible and things were going fairly smoothly....except I was upset about how much a rental car was going to cost in our circumstances.

We were both flying into Thessaloniki Greece because that was easiest for him, spending the night, then jumping on a short flight to Athens, staying there in an Air bnb for a couple nights, then renting a car and touring the Pelopanese Pennesulia and some of its major archelogical sites for a few days, then driving back into Thessaloniki and flying out from there.  Oh yes.  I am stopping off in London for 48 hrs on the way back.  

But WAIT. Not so fast.   Then my son's flight was changed Sunday morning from Thessaloniki to another town, due to airport construction, and we assumed mine would be too, so he accepted a refund and we booked him straight into Athens because that would half our rental cars fees....returning to the same place we picked up the car (Athens) into instead of a different drop-off (Thessaloniki).  The cost off the trip into Athens and not being able to get a refund on our Thessaloniki hotel offset the savings on the rental car and I felt better about the trip all being out of Athens. Happy!

I thought it would all be fine, since I was flying through Athens from London to Thessaloniki and back through Athens from Tessaloniki to London.  This is what it looked like, with me on the first two legs and both of us flying from Thessaloniki to Athens together.

Getting there

BUT when I called Aegean to make the changes in my ticket, hoping I'd get a refund for my trip being shorter....They wanted to charge me $480 dollars for the change.  And if I just got off in Athens, that would have voided my return flight.  

*&#$)@*&

And.....

I couldn't cancel our hotel in Thessaloniki and get a refund anyway.

So now, here's what will happen now.

My son will arrive and stay in our Air bnb in Athens.on the 2nd

I will fly through Athens..... and wave to him....

and on to Thessaloniki .....

And stay in the hotel, get up the next morning and fly back to Athens and get there at  11:05 a.m. on the 3rd.  

Jon will have a day and night in Athens by himself. Not bad for a 24 year old to have that..... He doesn't seem distressed by the idea...

Then we will do our stuff as planned. Can't wait.

When we leave from Athens after our car trip, I will board a flight to Thessaloniki at 11:30 at night ...Jon leaves for Georgia an hour later ....then I reboard and fly BACK to Athens from Thessaloniki at 6:30 a.m., then on to London.

Flying out of Athens the long way around

But that saves over $400.00.  

CRAZY!!  But an adventure.

OK. I promise to blog (and vlog) this thing the rest of the way.  So stay tuned!!