Wise Men Wednesday

[trissie]

oooh, a nobody at home day right before Christmas is a treat, L.Ann!

TaDas
- finish the presents
- lunch
- 15 in living room
- midday routine

ToDos
- 1 hour on food preps - sauces, peel and boil potatoes, ready carrots and other veggies, chill drinks, ready cookie stand, make those honeyballs (or have kids make them!)
- 15 in living room
- 30 on laundry

[kitkat]

Good morning and Merry Christmas (Eve) to all.
Thanks for the start Kittykatt -looks like a busy day for you -
Gma - that Spinach Salad sounds pretty!
FFly - those days off will fly by....
trissie - I hope you get some rest. My main level is open so a messy kitchen equals a messy house
I love your organized menus, LAnn


I disappeared for a while as we dealt with DH's health issues. Hopefully, there is a bit of calm now... It's been a VERY stressful 4 months for me.

I'm forever playing "Catch up" in the house - so more of that today, after gym and a walk with dpup.

Starting with meds
feed pup
D2ex

strip beds
check on laundry - start a load
PUPAs main

[FrenchFlybebe]

trissie, good luck with the remining food preps ! Oh you remind me I need to make envelopes for some money from the kids' grandparents.

L.Ann, enjoy the quiet house. Your Christmas program seems nice.

kitkat (( )) sorry about health issues. No wonder you are stressed. I hope you can put any worry aside for Christmas.

It's cold and sunny today. The car passed the mandatory control. The back tires had to be changed. There is a lisght problem with a thing inside that I don't know the English word for, but it doesn't prevnt me from driving. I need to schedule the repair, it shouldn't be more than 80 or 90 euros. So, good news.
The kids ar tired, MrNG is baking in the kitchen and annoyed by the slow humming that DS7 makes when he is tired. I can find ideas to entertain him otherwise, I hope.
I still plan to ake a brioche, panettone-like, but it takes hours because the dugh needs time to rise, and the kitchen is occupied by MrNG. I will see.

TADAs
clean up the pellet stove, fill with pellets
clean up breakfast table
assemble things on the USB memory stick as present for MrNG
read Christmas story to kids ?
lunch made, eaten

TODOs
entrtain ids, try to get them outdoors
bake panettone / brioche if kitchen gets free
some easy cooking
remaining wrapping (2 items for DS10, 2 money envelopes)
probably a family movie before evening meal,
not sure what before late bedtime...

[helia]

You're doing great with the preps, trissie!
Ooh - enjoy the hourse today with an empty house, L Ann!
WTG on all your baking, Gma!
Kitty, that sounds smart to have a plan A and a plan B already thought out for tonight. Thanks for the advice on the yarn! I found a video that gave the same advice. The yarn store offered to spin it for me after I checked out, but I said I was good. I came home -- and it quickly became clear that in fact, I was NOT good.
That's a great childhood memory, FFB. I love to hear about the cooking and baking you and Mr. NG do so regularly.
((kitkat)) A house gets messy so fast. I hope you have a stress-free holiday! Will you see your grands?

Today: We have a Sinter Klaas planning meeting over breakfast this morning, here at 9:30 - 8 people + 2 puppies. Dh and dd27 are making crepes. I need to pick up the seafood for the paella at WF at 2 pm. I will skip the evening service and make lentil soup and roasted squash for a light dinner tonight for 5: the girls are joining us. We're doing our first night of shoes at 8:30, and I'm signed up to pray for CG 9 - 10 pm tonight. She's having the big surgery today. Other things: I think I'm going to the gym with dd30. I would also like to make progress on Memorial thank yous - always and there are still my payroll end of session tasks. And maybe I should start wrapping presents. We're opening ours on Dec. 28 when we celebrate Sinter Klaas.

Next:
- reclaim kitchen - so it can get messy again as dh and dd27 make crepes
- back exercises
- s2s and self care

Later:
- 9:30 crepe breakfast and planning meeting with Cs, girls, and RH - and 2 puppies wrestling and running around
- some qt: I'll need some quiet after that breakfast meeting
- make bed
- payroll: end of session tasks
- wrap presents
- gym with dd30?
- 2ish WF run: pick up seafood + any odds and ends to get us through to Saturday; it looks like we'll have an ice storm on Friday
- Memorial thank you cards progress
- dinner: lentil soup, rice, roasted squash, maybe add leftover pork if any want it
- after dinner clean up
- duolingo
- update health apps
- 8:30 shoes - night #1
- 9-10 keep CG in prayer
- untangle the skein
- maybe, go back to the yard store to ask them to spin the 2nd skein

TaDas!
- up; weighed self
- coffee
- email deletions + weather website - high of 38F

WEEKLY ACTIVITIES
Wed 9:30 breakfast with Cs to plan SK/ Cmas Eve service? / shoes night 1/ Dinner: lentils, rice, roasted squash
Thu Anglican church service? / Cmas dinner for 5?/ light the candles and read stories/ shoes night 2
Fri date with dh?/ shoes night 3
Sat PACK/ K arrives? / shoes night 4
Sun write poems all day/ evening - celebrate SK!

Mon 10 - leave for the airport to TRAVEL TO WA to visit ds, F, and baby I
Tue See Ss in WA?

December Brain Dumps
This Week - House
- towel laundry
- can I scrub the tile in our shower?
- clean sheets on bed

This Week - Deskwork
- make appointment with optometrist
- Memorial thank yous
- reach out to JK?

This Week - Christmas prep
- wrap other gifts

This Week - Errands
- get Mom's bags of stuff to the charity
- buy more wrapping paper and labels
- buy more yarn

General Brain Dump
- progress decluttering clothes - wip
- new phone eventually

Mom
- go through bag of Mom's knick knacks

[L.Ann]

Hope you have a peaceful holiday, KitKat. Medical things are hard in so many ways and the emotional ptsd symptoms that rear their ugly head every time there is a new crisis don’t help.
It is a gorgeous sunny warm for this time of year day,

1-sausage and spinach out of freezer
2-bows on gifts and sort by person
3-read

4-make hash brown casserole

Menus
Wednesday-family dinner @DD39’s
Thursday-leftover brunch food
Friday-one pot kidney bean and pepper soup
Saturday-black bean burgers
Sunday-Cajun tilapia and roasted veggies


Events
Wednesday-DD39’s house for dinner and festivities
Thursday-Christmas brunch
Friday-DD32 off
Saturday-
Sunday-

Weekly House Blessing-
Extra stuff-


Accomplishments
-knee and stretching exercises
-breakfast for dog and me
-dress and pick up bedroom
-meds and temp for DD33
-pick up all bedrooms
-vacuum
-swish and swipe
-walk outside
-quick errand run
-short outside walk

[Gma]

trissie wrote: What a lovely childhood memory, Frenchie! And yeah, there shouldn't really be the Magi at the nativity set before Epiphany, just like there shouldn't be a Baby Jesus before Christmas Eve night, but I don't think most people care or realize. I'm afraid our Magi from the gingerbread nativity will meet their tasty end long before Jan 6!
And yes, according to church tradition, only Advent hymns are sung before Christmas, but we hear Christmas all of December on TV and Radio, then immediately almost nothing once Christmas Day is over. I would love to hear Christmas hymns and music until Epiphany!

I just added a trip to the city for today - my Fitbit battery is almost dead - only holds a charge about 12 hours. And they are on sale at Kohls today for $30 off. I placed an order online, I am supposed to pick it up at the store. Just what I neded to add to my day!

[L.Ann]

Unless you need the replacement immediately, GMA, Kohls holds their orders for a week or maybe 10 days.

1-fill DD33’s stocking
2-clean kitchen and make cheese ball
3-move play house to spare room and vacuum living room

4-read

Menus
Wednesday-family dinner @DD39’s
Thursday-leftover brunch food
Friday-one pot kidney bean and pepper soup
Saturday-black bean burgers
Sunday-Cajun tilapia and roasted veggies


Events
Wednesday-DD39’s house for dinner and festivities
Thursday-Christmas brunch
Friday-DD32 off
Saturday-
Sunday-

Weekly House Blessing-
Extra stuff-


Accomplishments
-knee and stretching exercises
-breakfast for dog and me
-dress and pick up bedroom
-meds and temp for DD33
-pick up all bedrooms
-vacuum
-swish and swipe
-walk outside
-quick errand run
-short outside walk
-sausage and spinach out of freezer
-bows on gifts and sort by person
-read
-make hash brown casserole
-walk outside

[FrenchFlybebe]

Gma sorry for the added errand. That is so true, once Christmas is over, and Jesus is born, the Christmas songs stop, when they should actually start. I had never realized that. I guess the stores put Christmas songs on in order for people to make their purchases in the Christmas spirit, so they spend more. As for the Nativity, when I was a kid the baby would only be put in the manger after we returned for Christmas mass. But yeah, the three wise men were there from the start, only very far away, and if we moved them closer my mother would rearrange them.

L.Ann those presents are getting ready. So you're supposed to bring them at your DD's tonight ?

helia, I hope the surgery goes well. As a matter of fact I always enjoy reading what you or your DH are cooking . You mention paella regularly, I guess it's an easy choice when feeding a crowd.

The yule log is ready. The brioche dough is rising in the oven (heat off, with a bowl of hot water). We managed to go out with the kids, and enjoyed the sunlight. Now we're back home, 6.30pù, it's dark, and the TV is on. I think the Grinch is on tonight, we haven't seen it yet, so we will probably watch it.

TADAs
kids entertained (Uno, Jenga)
while MrNG baked his yule log (for two hours)
started brioche dough
everybody outside around 4.30, back around 5.30

TODOs
brioche to knead + bake (later)
some easy cooking
remaining wrapping (2 items for DS10, 2 money envelopes)
a family movie before evening meal,
not sure what before late bedtime...

[L.Ann]

Tonight we will just do one of those white elephant trade gift games and some game involving lottery tickets, FFB. My son in laws sister and her family will come too and trading gifts with everyone got out of hand. Then tomorrow Little Bit will open gifts from her parents and Santa at her house. UThen they will come to our house and do gifts and a late brunch here.

[L.Ann]

1-last walk
2-mix up breakfast casserole
3-clean up kitchen

Menus
Wednesday-family dinner @DD39’s
Thursday-leftover brunch food
Friday-one pot kidney bean and pepper soup
Saturday-black bean burgers
Sunday-Cajun tilapia and roasted veggies


Events
Wednesday-DD39’s house for dinner and festivities
Thursday-Christmas brunch
Friday-DD32 off
Saturday-
Sunday-

Weekly House Blessing-
Extra stuff-


Accomplishments
-knee and stretching exercises
-breakfast for dog and me
-dress and pick up bedroom
-meds and temp for DD33
-pick up all bedrooms
-vacuum
-swish and swipe
-walk outside
-quick errand run
-short outside walk
-sausage and spinach out of freezer
-bows on gifts and sort by person
-read
-make hash brown casserole
-walk outside
-fill DD33’s stocking
-clean kitchen and make cheese ball
-move play house to spare room and vacuum living room
-read