Holiday grand plan 2010

[blessedw2]

my dmom told me some ideas for her: copy her old alsatian record to cd.. found out the same record on ebay france is 200 euros.. wow. get pictures for aunt in france. make copies of grandpere's artwork for everyone
dgirls are looking and thinking. soon they will give me xerox copies of things they like.
also start looking for pjs for them

I have labels that I will do one a day for christmas cards. I have the names for cards pulled.

[blessedw2]

CEO's holiday list for the week

Holiday Prep:
•Make one batch of Holiday Goodies.
•Make one extra meal for freezer again labeled HOLIDAY MEAL.
•Buy two canned food items from menus (get 2 of each item, one to use and one to donate to food drive).
•Buy 1/8th of TO BUY gifts. Save all receipts, note return policy before buying. Ask for gift boxes.
•Wrap and label packages. If needing to ship, get some shipping boxes now and store packages in them.
•Work at least 1 hour a day on homemade gifts.
Checkpoint Week! Evaluate Your Progress:

•If unable to find an item for a person on list contact them or their family for ideas.
•If a homemade gift is not going well, set it aside for after Christmas and decide on another gift.
•Buy pumpkin for Halloween.
•Review costume plans with children.

Holiday Grand Plan by Katie Leckey
Holiday Grand Plan Printables by Cynthia Ewer

Kitchen Closets: Empty them! Pull everything out. Use trash bags, boxes, etc to sort and redistribute your items. Remember-places would love donations of kitchen items. If you have not used something in a few months, chances are you just will not use it so donate it. Kill the clutter!

Kitchen Cabinets: Tackle one by one if the job seems overwhelming. Start above counters, on one side of the room and work in one direction & when done, tackle cabinets below the counter. Save the under-sink area for last, for me it was the hardest.

Get Rid Of:

•Old, currently unused cleaners
•Cans & Bottles of food over 6 months old unless there is a later expiration date.
•Old cracker/cookie boxes probably stale
•Pans & pots that you don't use, have duplicates of, are in horrible shape, etc.
•Extra serving dishes (store them elsewhere unless you have lots of room) until needed. Donate if you have not used them in the past six months.
Check any open boxes for bugs.

Don't forget to wipe down empty shelves, re-line (if necessary).

If you store medicines in the cabinets, check expiration dates. Verify prescription items with your pharmacist. Throw out medicines that "didn't work", expired or tasted so horrible you won't use them, etc.

Don't forget to empty drawers, clean inside, then replace items. Get rid of duplicate items (utensils) if you can.

Clean all appliances inside and out (refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, microwave, toaster oven, coffee maker--use vinegar once through, followed by several rounds of water-- stove vent, etc.)

Sink: Use a toothbrush to get rid of gritty dirt at faucet. Clean drains, disposal, etc Use favorite cleaner to make "shine".

Pantry: Use same method as for the cabinets. don't forget to wipe down while empty. Try to combine duplicate boxes of things to throw out that which you haven't and probably won't use.

When this is done, you will probably want to dust any appropriate items, vacuum from ceiling to floor, including vents/ a/c ducts, clean any windows, and sweep & wash the kitchen floor (I always do that last!) As far as I'm concerned this is probably one of the hardest rooms in the house. If you have tile on your counters or table, this is a good time to spray them down and clean and reseal the grout.

Be ruthless! Go through every drawer, cabinet, counter. Did you take time to do all that work and sell yourself short? Did your Mama tell you a job worth doing is worth doing well??? Well go ahead an "git": make that kitchen shine. Go through the spices and the cookbooks again. I know there are things you still really need to do.

[blessedw2]

-what I do in the refridge is different than most and sounds lazy. I clean a shelf or 1/2 shelf or wall drawer in refridge once a week. I also go, (most times) a daily toss or check. then the job isn't so overwhelming. (I am an avoider and this helps me not look at the job as huge)

yesterday when guests came my refridgertor looked beautiful with out a whole lot of effort.

- I also go once a year through my canned goods to see if anything is outdated
-I go through freezer and see what I know needs to be tossed.


re:the list, if you are buried that is a really really hard list. I used to try to do the whole list until I started to keep on dindiana's focus of the week and dharriets dejunking of the week.
I think if you are buried.. truly buried and the holidays are around the corner
then you have to realize the job above doesn't take a day or a week and that's okay.
having a clean refridgerator and stove is really important. pick up garbage and toss. take things that don't belong in the kitchen and put them in the room they do belong to. (I also know if each room is like this that you may not have a home for everything yet, and again that's okay!, but just take those things out of the kitchen area. There is NO guilt. Start saying nice things to yourself. Try tossing one thing out today and see how that feels.

[Harriet]

Thank you so much for the compiling and hints, guidance and reassurance, blessed.

I was dismayed to see we'd already gotten to this line:

•If a homemade gift is not going well, set it aside for after Christmas and decide on another gift.

which I remember from other years, thinking it was listed WAY down in the season and it's really not. Rightly so. All of us who have high ideals of how much art, craft and needlework we can accomplish in time for gift-giving moments need to make a CHECK UP a priority in October and not wait. Check whether we have the time, materials and continuing desire, for sure, to do what we hope to do. "Gift-giving moments" is the proper phrase to say, because we tend to think, for instance, "I have until Christmas" and that's NOT the reality. If we have also envisioned the gift as a pretty package under our tree adding to the festivities, we must allow not only time for finishing, but for box and wrapping well ahead of unwrapping day. (can you tell I like pretty wrapping)

About cookie-making, I believe I have shared this on the boards but it's been years. My Ob-Gyn "prescribes" that her patients make only 7-layer (Hello Dolly) cookies for Christmas because she thinks they are the single least stressful baking recipe, and "prescribes" only one batch, for health's sake. LOL. She pulls out her prescription pad and says, "don't make me write this."

[blessedw2]

Good insight too dharriet. Actually I was suprised as well about putting away making gifts. I can understand though but I feel it's more by november 25. but I think it makes sense to stop now unless you are 80% done.

I too have cut the cookie making as trying to make 15 different types of cookies was crazy for us.
I have found if I make a cookie recipe once a month or 2 months or when I feel like it, then I give it just for fun during the year. dd15 takes them to school. (always a hit)

Do you have pam and Peggy's xmas tape? I love that they say there can be too much for Christmas. wanting that 10 Christmas or more can make the holiday's too stressful.

thank you for your insight! dharriet

[Nancy]

I have cookie dough in the deep freezer for the grand kids to bake up when they are here
two times a week after school this should be fun!

[blessedw2]

lucky grand kids dnancy!

[Nancy]

We tried out the pie bites recipe that I invented and they were a hit great news!!!
Got dd's family taken care of found DVD's for the kids and dr. Seuss books, the
younger ones are quite a bit easier to shop for.

[blessedw2]

you will have to tell us about pie bites.

made enough swedish meatballs for holiday meal

[Nancy]

Pie bites
cut pre made pie shell with 4" diameter cookie cutter,
put 1 tea. canned pie filling of your chioce on one side
fold over and crimp with fork.
Bake apx. 12 min. according to package directions.

We did not poke these.