"F" the economy

Is it just me, or is anyone else already feeling the stress of the holidays? Not because the decorations are already starting to emerge (hello, people can we at least get through Thanksgiving??), but more because this year I have no idea how the hell I am going to pull Christmas off. I can barely pull my bills off... I am in debt for the first time in my life (and just getting deeper p.s.)... I've just been told by work not to expect anything in the line of a raise this year (but I should consider myself very lucky to still have a job)... and one of my credit cards just got cancelled (for no reason other than the credit card industry is so bad that the entire company went under!!!) Did I mention I decided to buy a house and have a mortgage, make a 25 mile drive to and from work, get a blood clot that landed me in the hospital for 6 days... and has me paying a ridiculous amount of medical bills (think in the thousands) and then I fell in love long distance!!! Seriously, I wouldn't give him up for the world, but hello? Long distance love is pricey!! So now he's paying for my next trip to visit. You may be saying "how sweet" or "isn't she lucky" (and I am), but that is just not in my DNA to allow someone to pay for me, to have to rely on someone else to be able to do what I want. So back to the issue at hand. I have been trying to come up with creative, thoughtful, cheap gifts for my family since love is just about all I can afford these days. There are several problems with this... first, I am not artistic so making something is really scary... and second, giving a gift that someone is going to not just like, but love, something that shows them that I really know who they are and what they like, has always been really important to me. Now try to do that on a budget?! Bottom line... like everything else in my life, I'll make it happen or fake it trying. But... I just have to say this... trying to make "dollars and sense" when "money really matters" is harder than I had hoped. So in the meantime, I'll add it to my list of "things to worry about". All I have to say is "F" the economy!!!