***Holiday Planning, 2014***

[Nancy]

I looked at cots for h. But the were diff. Than I expected. No covering on em either. So I need to look a bit more.

[FelineFriend]

Do you have any of those Army supply stores over there, Nancy?

I got my cards addressed, signed, sealed up. I'm awaiting the holiday snowy birds labels in the mail now and holiday postage stamps. the cards are white, with light blue edging in snowflake designs, on the envelopes. So there's no need to rubber stamping holiday images OR putting on stickers. NO ROOM to! It's so festive. I added "Merry Christmas & Happy New Year," inside, along with most of them, personal notes, too, written on the cards.

Next up (after I add pedometer steps), I'm going to get out my Holiday Planner, study it, write a few items down, and try to do a potholder for a Dfriend for Christmas. Only need 1, b/c 1 is already made.

[Nancy]

No drat the Army Navy surplus store closed here for remodeling is supposed to reopen agsin but I do not know when. Sigh I will check with dson he might know of another.

Having some sug. Free apple cider might be an idea you can use for holiday stuff.

[Harriet]

FFriend, great job on getting the card project so far along by Halloween. I won't be quite that capable this year, but hope not to be too far behind. I admire Current. After you order from them, they send you a coupon, too.

Nancy, I hope you can find some other places that might have some.

I volunteered ( ) to be the Angel Tree Coordinator for our church. I have only taken responsibility for a few gifts in the past. Did not realize that this is a great lot of work, time, and requires a lot of organization. Also it is very social (Ack). But I am thinking this is a blessing to me, too, so I'm optimistic! Ya'll know how wrapped gifts warm my heart.

Got the list of 25 children today. Btw, this is the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree, not the Salvation Army one.

I will be calling a lot of people and trying to be persuasive that they allow the child for whom they are caregiver receive a gift from an incarcerated parent, which has to be brought to them by appointment. I'm warned that some may be against it, there may be family reasons. Then after I hopefully receive all the gifts purchased by others in the church (and I personally replace any which are forgotten by others) I set up the appointments and attend each one. I am supposed to get a photo of each child receiving the present as well, and I'm responsible for sending that photo to the parent.

HRH says a man from our family needs to go each time, that just dd with me is not enough. He has looked at a few of these addresses and for a couple that seem chancy, he says he wants the man to be ds29 in his fire captain's uniform. At one time, he had thought that he would always want to go, and wanted to wear a Santa hat (he has a good Santa type beard, and our grandchildren love him in the hat). But after reading the resources, we find that it is important the children do NOT associate the gifts with Santa. This ministry is trying to help the incarcerated parent keep up their relationship with their child, and be able to give long-distance. I hadn't thought of that.

There are a lot of other considerations I'd never thought of that will require a lot of finesse, understanding and social skill, so as not to hurt feelings. For instance, other children in the home - if this is from their parent, too, and they get a gift, it needs to be of about the same value so as not to hurt feelings, and if this person is not their parent, how to keep them from being confused. A lot to think about.

[FelineFriend]

I printed up 4 more chore list pages, from CEO's site, for my Holiday Planner, because my chore lists last date was December 7th. I wanted to have the chores, lasting into the New Year, until mid-January, when I have my 63rd b-day. It'll help me keep on track with writing projects, too, and other things, after the holidays. I'm "considering" taking FlyLady's free Office Control Journal, printing it up, and then I'll put CEO's cover (if she has one) for a regular journal, on the cover of my Office Control Journal. This is a 'Plan' for the New Year, which can be done when Christmas crochet is done, any time in December OR after Christmas.

I also saw how CEO had a PDF print-out page for 2015 Resolutions. I printed 2 copies, to put into my planner, because I can space resolutions out over the span of the entire year. I'll put the pages into my Holiday Planner for now. Also, I might search CEO's site, for print-out pages for a Home Journal, to "see" what's available, too.

It's fun to plan for Christmas, finally see some things get done, to lessen the load, as we get further into the holiday season. I've decided NOT to crochet the walker-tote for my elderly friend. She's legally blind, she wouldn't be able to "see" what's in it, she'd be fumbling by feel of her fingers, and her DD's AND caregivers would be constantly be fiddling with it, too. We've decided to take her a box of Aplets & Cotlets, a card and have a nice long visit with her and I'll give her kisses, too.

[Nancy]

We have a new sportsman's warehouse in the area.
We will look there next.

[FelineFriend]

I hope you'll be able to find the cot, Nancy.

We bought a 4-pak of Aplets & Cotlets today:
1- 1 is for us...
2- 1 is for DH's BFF....
3- 1 is for our dear elderly friend....
4- 1 is for our mail carrier. Often times, when carriers receive eatables, in the mailbox, at Christmas/holiday-time, they open them up, leave them on the break room table, to share with the crew working there.

I rewrote my crochet-gift-giving list, simplified it, and feel much better, whereas deadlines are concerned, my time, etc...

[FelineFriend]

I put most of my FlyLady Holiday Control Journal into the bunny room on the desk.
I combined my CEO's Home Journal ideas with my Holiday Journal, which CEO tells about making at her site. I put them into the same binder, so there's one less binder to deal with. I'm keeping it on the dining room table, out of the way where we eat, to the other end/side. It's nice to have it open, where I'll actually see it, as I walk by on and off all day.

[Nancy]

WTG FF On getting such awesome progress on cards! Yea for you.

[FelineFriend]

I got a letter from a new-to-me pen pal today. I decided, when new pals write, I'll get a Christmas card addressed to them, so they're included, too.

I can hardly wait until our holiday return labels arrive. They're festive with birds on a long branch, in the falling snow.