Twelve drummers drumming

We have come to our final day of Christmas and, if you don't mind me mentioning, my favorite. Really! What could be better than twelve drummers drumming!!! Not to mention our 'true love' gets off cheap! There is at least one drum circle going on tonight, and probably more. So we end our jaunt through the commercial nightmare that has become Christmas with a lovely evening pounding out random rhythms on our drums, enjoying good company and creating some jammin' energy. (Pardon the pun) Just think, if all the days of Christmas were like that, imagine the magical season we would have!!!!!

Day 12's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50
Four calling birds - $130.49
Five golden rings - $695.45
Six geese-a-laying - $20.00
Seven swans-a-swimming - $84.00
Eight maids-a-milking - $480.00
Nine ladies dancing - $900.00
Ten lords-a-leaping - $200.00
Eleven pipers piping - $150.00
Twelve drummers drumming - $0

For a 12th day grand total of $2927.42

Our tally for all twelve days of Christmas rings in at $17281.62 which is well under Forecast Earth's. Although I will admit we took some pretty major creative license with our list!!!!

FTR, I am planning to cook the partridges, sell the love birds and feed the annoying finches to the snake!!!! And if my 'true love' ever gives me another bird....well, it might get ugly!!!! Oh, and I have forgiven him for the whole 'nine ladies dancing' thing!!! :)

Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Yule, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Squidmas.... (did I miss anything?)

Eleven pipers piping

We are nearing the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas and it is a good thing because we are all beginning to feel the stress of the season building.

Tonight we will be celebrating with eleven of our closest friends, one of which was nice enough to bring his pipe and tobacco (hmmmm??) to share with the group. :) A festive end to a ridiculous commercial season!!!!

Day 11's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50
Four calling birds - $130.49
Five golden rings - $695.45
Six geese-a-laying - $20.00
Seven swans-a-swimming - $84.00
Eight maids-a-milking - $480.00
Nine ladies dancing - $900.00
Ten lords-a-leaping - $200.00
Eleven pipers piping - $150.00

For a11th day grand total of $2927.42

Our tally so far rings in at $14354.20

Ten lords-a-leaping

After our 'true loves' despicable behavior yesterday he has decided to make it up to us by taking us to the theater to see the Nutcracker.

Day 10's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50
Four calling birds - $130.49
Five golden rings - $695.45
Six geese-a-laying - $20.00
Seven swans-a-swimming - $84.00
Eight maids-a-milking - $480.00
Nine ladies dancing - $900.00
Ten lords-a-leaping - $200.00

For a 10th day grand total of $2777.42

Our tally so far rings in at $11426.78

Nine ladies dancing

Since our 'true love' has been smothering us this last week with non stop attention we are kicking him out and telling him to go have fun without us. In the spirit of his shopping list he decided to head out to Rachel's and partake in a little floor show. Between the cover charge, refreshments and tips, nine ladies dancing has set our 'true love' back $900. (This doesn't include the cost of the hotel room our 'true love' is forced to secure because we won't let him back in the house!)

Day 9's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50
Four calling birds - $130.49
Five golden rings - $695.45
Six geese-a-laying - $20.00
Seven swans-a-swimming - $84.00
Eight maids-a-milking - $480.00
Nine ladies dancing - $900.00

For a 9th day grand total of $2577.42

Our tally so far rings in at $8649.36

12 Days Post is Missing

Sorry folks I am simply not in the mood for witty discourse this evening. I will make it up to you tomorrow with a double whammy and get us all caught up.

Eight Maids-a-milking

Well, I don't know about milk, but today our 'true love' will definitely earn some brownie points by providing us with 8 maids. I can totally keep them busy. Think I could trade one in for a handyman and another for a lawn boy???

Today is going to set our 'true love' back a pretty penny though! The going rate for maids around here is $60. Multiply that by 8 and...Well, it is a good thing he has been che...umm I mean, frugal up until now!!

Day 8's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50
Four calling birds - $130.49
Five golden rings - $695.45
Six geese-a-laying - $20.00
Seven swans-a-swimming - $84.00
Eight maids-a-milking - $480.00

For a 8th day grand total of $1677.42

Our tally so far rings in at $6071.94

Note: Tomorrow's witty insult to the over-commercialism of the Holiday season will be postponed due to the over-scheduling of the Holiday season! We will return to our cheery little song on Sunday.

Seven Swans-a-swimming

So far our 'true love' has wooed us with a flock of various birds, some shiny jewelry and his generosity. Now our 'true love' feels that a little action is needed to counter act the weight gain that is often associated with the Holiday season.

In an effort to battle the Christmas bulge, our 'true love' has rented us seven sessions on the swan boats at Lake Eola. At $12 for a half hour session, he is making another frugal and creative choice. Not to mention the 3 1/2 hours of cardio will work off around 1000 calories!

Day 7's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50
Four calling birds - $130.49
Five golden rings - $695.45
Six geese-a-laying - $20.00
Seven swans-a-swimming - $84.00

For a 7th day grand total of $1197.42

Our tally so far rings in at $4394.52

So does this mean our 'true love' thinks we are packin' on the pounds??

Does this blog make my a$$ look fat??

Six Geese-a-laying

Our 'true love' is feeling a little charitable today and has decided to fulfill today's gift of choice by donating to Heifer.org in our name.

Not only does this gesture by our true love help communities in need, it is a much more frugal option than actually getting us 6 geese!!!!

Today's generous gesture by our 'true love' almost makes up for those horrid finches that are beginning to drive us batty!! (ALMOST!)

Day 6's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50
Four calling birds - $130.49
Five golden rings - $695.45
Six geese-a-laying - $20.00

For a 6th day grand total of $1113.42

Our tally so far rings in at $3197.1

Straight No Chaser

Five Golden Rings

Having realized that the last four days our 'true love' has give some pretty crappy gifts, he has decided to pull out all the stops and wow us with some bling!

Your average gold band is $129.99.

Day 5's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50
Four calling birds - $130.49
Five golden rings - $695.45

For a 5th day grand total of $1093.42

Our tally so far rings in at $2083.68

I believe we have bridged the gap on Forecast Earth at this point!

Four Calling Birds

Yesterday our 'true love' bought us off with four calling birds, or in other words 4 finches.

4 finches - $7.99 each
cage - $44.99
food and accessories for one year - $45.00

Day 4's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50
Four calling birds - $130.49

For a 4th day grand total of $397.97

Our tally so far rings in at $990.26

If only our 'true love' realized that finches are some of the most obnoxious birds on the planet!!!!!

Three French Hens

This series is quickly turning into an experiment on how much creative license our 'true love' can take with his given shopping list.

Take today for example. Our 'true love' will be gettin' a little sugar by doing our grocery shopping for us.

How's that, you ask? Well CORNISH hens of course!! And the best thing about Cornish hens is that you don't have to feed them or house them or get any weird permits for them!! Not too mention they are rather tasty!

Three Cornish hens will run our 'true love' $7.50 and since it is food there is no sales tax! Now we just got to work on him cooking them for us.

Day 3's tally goes like this:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15
Three cornish hens - $7.50

For a 3rd day grand total of $267.48

Our tally so far rings in at $592.29

I have to say....It is looking like our 'true love's' frugal nature and creative mind might just beat out Forecast Earth!! I may just have to stand corrected! We will see!

Two Turtle Doves

Today our 'true love' is buying us off with two turtle dove and a partridge in a pear tree.

We have already established that the partridge in a pear tree will run him $64.83. Now lets look at those doves. Doves aren't easy to come by in my area so our 'true love' is opting for a substitution. He has determined that lovebirds are the best option around here. They are probably cheaper too!

2 lovebirds - $40.00 each
bird cage for two - $60.00
bird food for one year - $45.00
(don't forget sales tax!)

So today's total is:

A partridge in a pear tree - $64.83
Two love birds with all the fixin's - $195.15

For a 2nd day grand total of $259.98

Our tally so far rings in at $324.81

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Here we have come to the first day of Christmas. Today our 'true love' is going to buy our affection with "a partridge in a pear tree".

The partridge is a game bird in North America and I have found no place that actually lets you buy one. So our 'true love' has had to get creative. (For the sake of this series I am going to refer to our 'true love' as a man since I am a woman of the straight persuasion but feel free to apply whatever pronoun is most appropriate for you!)


Our 'true love' found this lovely little stuffed partridge over on Amazon. And it will only run him $5.35 plus $5.99 shipping and handling.

As for the pear tree, he managed to find a local nursery that carries small pear trees for $49.99. However he has been advised that Florida is not the best climate for growing pears. (So while this might seem like a 'gift that keeps on giving' that is most likely not the case for us.)

We will assume, for the sake of argument that we have a yard to plant these trees in (We will be getting 12 of them after all!) so we will not figure in land cost for the first day of Christmas.

All said and done, our first day of Christmas price tag rang in less than that figured by Forecast Earth. Admittedly, they seem to have better connections than I do and were able to procure a real partridge and based on the price of their pear tree, they are going for a full grown variety. What can I say, our 'true love' is cheap, umm frugal, I mean frugal!!

Do you think we can keep up with the frugal trend?

So here is today's tally....

The partridge ran us $11.34 and the pear tree ran us $53.49 (It is local so we can't forget sales tax!)

1st day of Christmas - $64.83

The Cost of the Twelve Days of Christmas

The people over at Forcast Earth have figured this out again this year.

However, I really think they missed the boat on this. They failed to factor in the care and keeping of all those animals. They will need housing, food and medical care. And what about shipping and transportation costs. Instrument rental, permits, licenses, etc. Housing and food for the performers.

I think I see a new blog series coming on!!!

To refresh your memory...

"My true love" gives the following items:

1st day - A partridge in a pear tree
2nd day - Two turtle doves
3rd day -Three french hens
4th day - Four calling birds
5th day - Five golden rings
6th day - Six geese a-laying
7th day - Seven swans a-swimming
8th day - Eight maids a-milking
9th day - Nine ladies dancing
10th day - Ten lords a-leaping
11th day - Eleven pipers piping
12th day - Twelve drummers drumming

Although personally I would enjoy the 12 drummers drumming, Me thinks "my true love" needs to learn the value of a Gift Card!!