When I was a kid, Christmas was typically a large deal in my family. Even though our father passed away while the people I was with and I youngsters were still quite young, my mother still made every effort to provide us all sorts of presents and just be able to celebrate at Christmas. She would even take hour works so she could make ends meet and still buy gifts. Every one of us would often scrimp and save on other things, such as the A/C or the heating. In summer season, my mom would set the control unit quite high so the A/C would not run all afternoon long. It was never super comfortable, however it was typically bearable. The same thing was true in the Wintertime. Every one of us did not legitimately need the furnace all that often, however when the people I was with and I did, mom set the control unit quite low, again in an effort to save on heating and cooling costs. When I look back on it now, it does not bother me that the people I was with and I were conservative with our A/C and heater. In fact, I am still that way as an adult. I do not think in spending too much money, and utilities are definitely a big cost each month. I do remember a single year when I was still pretty young – perhaps I was around fifteen years seasoned – and my oldest sibling and his wife were being truly sneaky around Christmas time. I knew they were up to something, although I did not suppose what it was. It turned out that they decided to pay the heating and cooling costs for several months for my mom as her Christmas present. They came and got the bill, which was a month behind, and paid it all the way up. My mom cried, and that was legitimately the first time I realized how strenuous my mom’s life was.