24 days of normalness

I will be thinking of you for the next 24 days, while you check gifts off your lists, decorate your homes, freeze while hanging Christmas lights outside, write, address and mail your christmas cards, stress out of getting all your baking done...etc...

I am done my Christmas cards, all addressed and sitting on the table ready to be mailed (I think I'll do that next week or the week after so I'm not too super early). My shopping is done. The majority of my baking is done, I have shortbread cookies to do and thats it. My deorations are up -mind you I leave my outside xmas lights up year round, and my indoor decorations are easy peasy too. I have a few craft gifts left to assemble and get get to mail out to friends.

This year even though I work a half a day on Christmas Eve, I'm going to have the family over dinner and after church games and drinks. I'm going to stick with a releatively simple menu of French Onion Soup and Brushetta for appetizers, slow cooker Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes (maybe infused with garlic and herbs), Corn and gravy possibly Yorkshire Pudding since it is Christmas. Then for dessert Key Lime Cheese Cake. I think we may have to start eating at 4pm to make it to church for 7pm. After church festivities is going to be filled with board games, and mom mom is going to make up a minute to win it game, snacks will include shrimp, holiday treats I've baked, and slow cooker hot chocolate with the option of having it spiked with candy cane vodka, which is homemade and currently stewing on the counter. Hopefully the next 24 days will fly by I'm hungry for xmas eve dinner!!!

This year isn't even over and I'm already planning next years gifts and xmas eve. My brilliant idea is a version of the ugly xmas sweater parties. I think it would be hilarious and fun to give everyone ugly sweaters for xmas next year, and make them wear them either xmas eve (including to church) or just xmas day, though xmas eve would be much more fun. Kind of like a surprise ugly sweater party. LOL good times. I may even have to include a few friends whom I send gifts to, they shouldn't miss out on the fun just cuz they don't live near by.

Recycled Christmas

There are no young children in our family at the moment, and after last year's Christmas I've done alot of thinking and soul searching. Having younger children around can make Christmas extra fun with the hopes of what St. Nick may bring, and then playing with all the bounty after gifts are open, but as a "older" family the holidays have shifted, become for lack of a better word boring. Not to mention the difficulty of accepting outsiders (mainly the sister in law) into our family's traditions and having her belittle them or getting the vibe of not appreciating them. In a way for me it would almost be better if they just did things with her family, I'm not looking forward to when they have kids.

In the past I've usually tried to be creative and unique with my gift giving. I feel disapointed when others don't put the same effort into gift giving. This year I've decided I'm not buying anyone anything. I am making all the gifts, with the help of Pintrest. Mom and Dad, Nick and Jess are getting care packages -mini pumpkin tarts, mini lemon tarts, mini cupcakes, bread, lasagna, and shortbread cookies. Kelsie is getting a smaller version of the care package along with some other knick knacks I've found around the house that she may have a use for. Kelly & Larry, Rose, Liz, Jodie & Erik are getting a variety of Pintrest projects.

Today as I tried to cross things off my to do list, that didn't quite worked out as planned since I had  wood stove and water pump issues at the same time!! I seriously need to save my change and figure out a new solution for the water pump. So laundry not done, dishes, not done, floors washed not done...I did manage to bake te dog cookies for a client for their xmas gift from myself and my mom. (I still have to bake a bunch more to hand out to clients at the store for the month of December) oh I forgot to mention my sexy stove I got for my birthday broke too :( the over handle broke last week so dad and I patched it up but it broke again today...digging out the receipt is on my list of things to do. But between baking the batches of cookies I did some xmas decorating inspired by Pinterest. Here are photos of my window treatments (I'll also be doing this at work since it was simple and looks nice). I even found a use some of the music boxes I've collected over the years. Why not put them on display for everyone to see instead of having them on a shelf in my room or in the spare room.

(On a side note the musice box in the middle of the window on this picture is a mouse house all ready for xmas, theres a woman mouse on this side, in the hosue with an xmas tree and on the other side on the outside of the house is the male mouse with a larger xmas tree by their front door, I've had this music box for over 20 years! I'm not entirely sure when I got it, as I can always remember having it, and what makes it extra special is that its homemade, my mom made it.)