SHEs Organized

Is December flying by or what?

Good Morning!

What an awesome and breathtakingly beautiful sunrise we are having. A picture can't capture the essence of it as the sun rises and the sky changes colors.

I am on task this morning and working cards (44 completed so far).

Last night with the 4 kiddos went well. We are always pushed for time that I find myself wishing I could figure out how to add a more relaxed element to the evening activities. Although the young ones like back-to-back doings and lots of noise/people. I like more eye-to-eye one-on-one time together, but that is almost impossible in a youthful group. We do have one-on-one 'special time" scheduled with each GRANDchild, so I guess the busy times together and the one-on-one times do complement each other..

Last night, DGS16 Girl Friend asked why do I have 8 stockings hung up. I told her for the 7 grandchildren and 1 for her. She literally beamed. She told me that she once received a stocking the year she was in foster care.....which leads me to believe (I didn't ask) that she hasn't ever had a Christmas stocking other than that one year. As we get to know each other, I am learning that she has a very limited (almost nonexistent) home life, and it is a very good reminder to me just how blessed we are in everyday doings.

Yes, Lilac. December is going uncomfortably fast. My trip next week will take the guts out of another week, too.

OKay, what a caring person you are! You are a blessing in dgs's gf''s life.

Just sent a long email on temple biz.

Another busy day going here - I'd be going crazy if I were working right now. (Tho if I were working, I wouldn't be taking dmom to see dcousin w lunch today.) I need to get together some paper goods to take with lunch for dcousin so she won't have clean up.

Dmom dr appt is at 1:40 this afternoon and this doctor usually takes a very long time. DD called last night and I am heading to K-town to get her this evening - I told her I'd be there around 8 p.m. She sounds quite grumpy and irritable - not sure how we're going to stand her for the next month here.

Gotta get rolling....

Cowinkie and Dove, thank you to each of you. Yesterday I was packing some things and it hit me that, here it is December 7 and normally I would be busy buying gifts, decorating, etc . Instead I am packing and moving. I was really feeling sorry for myself. Then I read cowinkies post that she wasn't doing much because of travelling this year. On to Doves post that she didn't do much last year after the kitchen remodel but is really enjoying it this year. Those 2 posts really helped me put it in perspective. Some years you do a lot and some you don't. Christmas still comes and goes, no matter what you do. We had planned to put up the tree at the new house and still will. I just won't put the large amount of ornaments on the tree that I usually do. I will put up the new ones, all the Raggedy Ann and Andy ornaments plus I have a box of ornaments that aren't H allmark and I will use those also. I also have lighted H allmark ornaments that are churches and I will use them. I won't set out a lot of the things that I usually do either.

Dh has been leaving his SUV home for me to use. Today and tomorrow I plan to really hit it, so better get ready to do just that.

Okay, Twins was right on the money on her comment how caring you are and a blessing to dgs gf. I don't think it was a coincidence that she was put in his life. I think your influence will last through this young girls life. We here in the village know what a blessing you are to everyone you come in contact with. I just think she will learn a lot about what a positive attitude does by watching your example. Once again, a reminder of the amazing ways our dear Lord works!!!!

We had a death at Christmas (dh's dad) so I understand about the ebb and flow (and sometimes the choking off) of Christmas spirit. On the bright side, we got 3 'first-Christmas-without' done at one time (my Dad died on Dec. 28, my dmil on August 1 and my dfil on Dec. 16 within the same 12 months.)

As I get older, the importance of a Christmas Day church service is appreciated more and more (something I didn't 'get' when I was in my 30s.) As well, I now appreciate that while I like to be around a lot of people and have my kids with me, some people choose to mark the day with only their partner or even alone and are ok with that. They are not to be pitied but to be accepted as brave enough to speak up and have the day they want rather than the day society expects.

That all being said, this year will be my traditional, family/friend filled season and I'm looking forward to that. (Our family doesn't focus on presents so my guess is that only a dozen will be exchanged amongst the 4 of us plus trinkets in the stocking.)

I'm up and at it but now that I'm s2s, I'm starting to slow down again. We have sunshine today which is very welcome.

I just checked my tv order and it is in the hands of Canada Post now. Yay, maybe we'll get it tomorrow (but probably Monday or Tuesday.)

Christmas Quotes – Dr. Suess – How the Grinch Stole Christmas

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.
- Dr. Seuss

There has been no decorating here, or even much in the way of Christmas spirit. This less than desirable situtation has been caused mainly by the state of my house. It's just such a mess that it's almost impossible to put anything up without it just looking like more clutter. Last year, we didn't even put up the tree If it goes up this year, we need to find a different place to put it, as the kittens have one of their litter boxes in that corner, and that would add its own (less than thrilling) ambience to the whole decorating theme.

It seems we will have all the foster kittens until early in the new year. I spoke to the rescue folks last night, and we decided it would be best to not flood the pet stores that we work with with lots of kittens right before Christmas, as that could cause impulse buying. Another litter of kittens just went to the pet store, and mine haven't even been spayed/neutered yet, so we'll get that done over the next few weeks and then put them up for adoption in early January. Speaking of which, I need to call the vet to set up an appointment for their shots for early next week!

After today and tomorrow, I have four days off....and I may have somehow agreed to take DGS overnight on Saturday. He's always wanting sleepovers at Gramma's. Other than that, I want to reclaim my dining room so that I can start getting this house organized a bit. For some reason, the dining room seems to get used as a general storage area for everything from unwrapped Christmas gifts to coats to flyers to half done craft projects.

Alright....enough whining and grumping! There's things to be done, and whining about them will NOT bring the housework/organizing fairy flying to my rescue.

First up (after finishing my coffee, of course!)......

- switch stuff to new (to me) purse
- upstairs kittens
- swish & swipe bathroom
- put away clean dishes
- wash dirty dishes

Good morning, villagers ~

We've been having a cold spell and just enough snow to certainly make it feel like December here. I'm hoping to finish the Christmas shopping this weekend.

I have not put out any decorations yet. That's not unusual, though, since I've always waited until much closer to Christmas. I don't like the feeling that the holiday prep starts earlier every year and then suddenly whomp! it's over on Christmas Day. I leave decorations up until after Twelfth Night.

My sewing group met Tuesday night and had a fun party. Everyone brought their UFO exchange projects and my goodness, what a creative group.

We also had asked members to make children's clothing to donate to a local shelter. I should have passed around a clipboard and asked everyone to list what they brought, but didn't think of that until I was loading everything into my car. Bringing it all into the house felt like unloading Mary Poppins's carpet bag -- I lost track of how many trips it took to carry in. This afternoon I will sort it, make a list, and re-pack the car to make the delivery tomorrow morning.

Taking a 15 minutes break before starting on a much needed round of paperwork. DH just came home and got LO to go do some errands with him.

Twins & Lilac - Thank you for the kind words. I can truly say that I have learned much from the members of this village on how to be caring and supportive of others.

Did I admit to having two NSF charges recently? MOST FRUSTRATING!!! It wasn't due to lack of funds, just them being in the wrong account. I haven't been keeping up with paperwork or financial records like I should. The bank went ahead and paid the overdrafts however I was charged $25 fee for each one, so it ended up being a $50 mistake that has served as a wake up call on how vital it is to pay attention and not get behind on financial cards!!

Timer just went off so I'm going to put my head down and get busy.