Recovering

Just popping in to say that we are all recovering from Christmas well. The kids have a ton of new toys to play with and we have a new Wii that is keeping us occupied too. The favorite game by far is bowling.

Fishing Guy's dad was here for a couple of days, which was nice. We haven't' seen him in about 3 years, so the kids were a little skittish at first.

It snowed Christmas night and the snowblower got to come out to clear off the driveway. It's been trying to snow off and on all day, but it's just damp, dreary and cold instead.

We mostly finished the puzzle that has been dragging on for a couple of weeks, only to find out we are missing 8 pieces. Drat! While Fishing Guy did the sky, I put together the Christmas PhotoShow and got that emailed out.

Fishing Guy has the next couple of days off and I start work on Thursday morning. I can't write too much about that, except to say there is only one child registered so far. It better fill fast or I won't have a job for long.

I promise a better update Tuesday or Wednesday. Right now, I'm just enjoying hanging out with the family for the last few days of 2007.

Happy New Year!

Digging Out

What a great day!

Fishing Guy had the day off. Wii stayed up late on Christmas Eve bowling.

Christmas Tour

Welcome to our home!

We will start our tour with the Christmas Tree, since it's right by the front door and it's also where all the action happens.

It is 7.5 feet, pre-lit and decorated by the kids this year.



We have two nativity sets and they are both up high this year. The first is the Traditional Pastel and the Second is the Arctic Version.





Just below that on the bookshelf, we have the pile of Christmas letters, the Nativity Snowglobe and a couple of crafts from the School Craft night. These are Melty the Snowman.



Next stop, the Card Door. Also, where I would hang your coat if you actually came to visit.



Right next to that is the Niche. We have talked at length about what exactly what to put here and how to treat it, but for now we have a Snowman shelf!



In the interest of full disclosure, here is the rest of the niche. Actually, not too bad right now.



Right across the hallway entrance is this:



Working our way into the Family Room, we have these oddly placed shelves. We will probably take them down at some point, but for now they hold all of the Non-Theme Christmas decor and my little chair and table that normally live there. This is the only Santa decoration you will find in my house. The little horse is from Sweden and everyone in my family has one that they put out for the holidays.



There are a few things put up out of reach that I didn't put out this year. The Luminaries won't go up because of the kitties and my fear of them tipping a flame over. The two globes are candle toppers and the Snowman is from the School Craft night.



The Last Stop on our Christmas Tour is the Fireplace. The first photo is the entire hearth and mantle. The second photo is my new addition this year, 4 Gingerbread decorated candles.





If you hadn't guessed, my general theme is Gingerbread Men. This originally wasn't my idea, but I have grown to accept it. There is a votive holder and pillar plate (that I didn't find anywhere to put out this year) that have gingerbread men on them.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Countdown-To-Christmas Favorite Things

My Calendar, originally uploaded by CraftyMama11.

Since Santa-Mom was up late wrapping, I thought I would share another of my favorite things.

This time it is my favorite calendar ever.

Now, I love the photo calendars, daytimers and pocket calendars too, but this is the Family Calendar and I hate to be without one.

It is from More Time Moms and I first found it through Flylady.net. I've had 3 or 4 before, although not while we were in Alaska. I found this year's at Costco (right after we moved) for less than $10 and snatched it up.

I love that it has normal paper that you can erase and not smear.

I love the huge squares. Big enough to write everyone's stuff on.

I love that it starts in September and goes to the next December, so I'm not transferring school notes and dates at Christmas.

I love that it has little stickers in the back that you can use as visual reminders. Things like Mom's Time, Dental and Vet Appointments and Birthdays and Parties.

If you haven't had the pleasure of a great calendar - go find this one!

Countdown-To-Christmas Favorite Things

My Mixer, originally uploaded by CraftyMama11.

My Kitchen Aid Mixer.

I really Love this mixer.

We were talking the other night about just how long it has been in the family and we decided it was about as old as the kids. We both remember the night we bought it (for Christmas) but can't pick a year.

I know it is one of the first things unpacked every time we move and I will always have it out on the counter.

Countdown-to-Christmas Favorite Things

My Phone, originally uploaded by CraftyMama11.

My Cell Phone. It's a Samsung M300.

I went with the red over the silver to go with my car originally, but now I just like that it's red. Helps me find it some days.

Other than that, it's just a basic phone. It does have the camera which I haven't had before. Which helps me in my quest to always have a camera with me. (and has come in handy quite a few times.)

I've like the flip-open answer feature and that it fits in my pocket. It's also fun to change the screen saver photo.

Countdown-To-Christmas Favorite Things

My Creamer, originally uploaded by CraftyMama11.

To go with my Coffee Cup, this is my favorite creamer. The Fat free is ok, but the sugar free is horrible.

I usually just get the regular and enjoy it.

I know there are other flavors out there. And I have tried a ton of different creamers, I keep coming back to Hazelnut.

Yum!

Countdown-to-Christmas Favorite Things

My Coffee Cup, originally uploaded by CraftyMama11.

After my rant-ish post this morning, I bring you my "Countdown to Christmas Favorite Things" list.

First up is my beloved Starbucks Coffee Mug. Not only is it purple, it doesn't leak. Really and truly. Right after I got this mug, I walked into our Sunday School class, filled it with hot coffee, put the lid on (and double checked the latch) and turned it upside down for everyone. I've had it almost a year and it's starting to show its high usage. The top is cracking and there is condensation some mornings between the liner and purple outside. So, I've started looking for a replacement (or 12) because I will never go back to a regular travel mug.

Plans Change

I'm home right now, instead of at a meeting at the Daycare because of another scheduling conflict. I'll go in at noon and hopefully I'll have more of an idea what is going on.

So, with my free morning, (HAHAHA!) I thought I would update here, do some laundry, finish the stinkin' Christmas cards and do the dishes from yesterday.

While I listen to happy Christmas music and drink my coffee.

First, the Weekend Report:

Fishing Guy had the weekend off and we had planned on going over to his sister's house for the Big Family Christmas Extravaganza. This involved name drawing, craft planning, food assignments and for us, a weekend trip or a really long day.

We had originally said that a Saturday night would be best for our schedule, since we are the only family that doesn't live in the same 20 mile area. That would allow us the 3 hour travel time on Saturday morning, a ferry ride and 2 hour-long drives on either side, party it up on Saturday night and head home Sunday morning. Sounds reasonable. We also told them that this weekend was the absolute last chance for Fishing Guy to have a Saturday/Sunday off right before Christmas, since he works in retail. These plans were started the week after Thanksgiving, so the first weekend of December was out due to short notice and one of the sisters has family birthdays the next weekend. (Which we weren't invited too either.) So this weekend it was.

(Fishing Guy was also to have been in his new store and working Monday-Friday, 8-5 by now too. The new store opening was pushed back and he has to be to work at 6 am, with a 4 am wakeup time, and his next day off is now Christmas Day.)

Then Fishing Guy's dad was going to be in town. From California! But it was unlikely that he would arrive in time for a party on Saturday night. So, now it became a Sunday Brunch.

(Our schedule for Sunday quickly became: Up at 5 am, drive, catch the 7:10 ferry, drive, do brunch and chat for 4 hours, get back in the car and drive to catch a ferry that will get us home by dinner, ferry ride, drive home. Then, make dinner, get ready for Monday morning and get everyone in bed by 8 pm, Fishing Guy included.)

Fishing Guy and I argued about this all week. I felt like we should go because we said we would and I was supposed to bring Gingerbread cookies to decorate and the fruit tray for the brunch and it is Your Family! and that we didn't get to do this with them when we lived in Alaska... Fishing Guy is much less swayed by those things, having grown up with them and all and seeing that this is the last weekend he had off before Christmas, he really didn't want to go. Also, The Budget is very tight right now, while we get on track and spending about $40 per hour of partytime made the trip extremely overpriced for us, which is finally the argument that I gave in to. He finally called on Friday night to tell them we weren't coming over. I refused to be the one to deliver the bad news to his sister and as it turned out, rightly so.

She flipped out. Accused us of having wrecked her perfect plan. Saying that she had done this all for our schedule. Telling us we need to not make commitments that we can't keep. And then asking what our plan was for her kids to get their gifts from the Cousin Name Exchange.

That was the kicker for me.

Fishing Guy then called the other 2 sisters involved, one was planning the party stuff and the other one had their Dad staying with her. They were bummed and disappointed we wouldn't be there, but understood that it was just too much. No, they wouldn't want a day like that either. He told them to Go ahead and redraw Cousin names for the gift exchange, without our kids' names in the bowl. I'm sure it will be easier for them to be left out completely, rather than having to wait for a gift to be mailed. One even called back to see if we wanted to head over the next day to try and spread it out a little. Thanks for the offer, but we'll just stay home this time.

So, we stayed home all weekend. The firetruck and Santa showed up on Friday night. We dug out a puzzle on Saturday and worked on it all weekend. I put together my monthly PhotoShow and got it emailed out. I made gingerbread boys and girls with the kids. (Which was what I was supposed to bring to the Extravaganza.) Grace went on an all-day Birthday Ice Skate/Playdate on Saturday. Fishing Guy got some much needed rest and played video games. His eyelid even stopped twitching. I worked on Christmas cards. We make Tin Can Lanterns with for the kids. I looked through my teaching supply catalogs for things for my classroom and the kids were very helpful, pointing out what they had liked playing with. I looked around a bit on Ravelry, since I got my invite last week. (I'm CraftyMama11 there.) I changed my user name to that on Flickr too and I put some of the old pictures back up on here. I'm still editing archives, but I put the link for those back up too.

We had pork roast, mashed potatoes and gravy and corn for dinner last night. Dessert was gingerbread kids. The kids were in bed almost on time. Fishing Guy and I watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation before bed. It was a great weekend.

When I woke up (late) this morning I was even more thankful we didn't push ourselves because of guilt or feeling obligated. There has to be a point at which you are willing and able, at any cost, to say enough is enough.

We learned while we were in Alaska that family is sometimes just us.

Cars and Craftiness

What a week.

We had a big flood and I still made it to coffee with Pez.

I skipped my Bible Study on Thursday and finally heard back from the Daycare/Preschool about the job. I go in next Monday (the 17th) for Final Negotiations and maybe some idea of when I'll actually start working. At this point, it might as well be after Christmas break, but I doubt it.

Friday night was the Elementary School Craft Night, put on by the Parent Group, of which I have been attending meetings faithfully. We spent a fun-filled 2 hours there. Really. I might even be in charge of it next year.

Fishing Guy was off for the weekend, so I was busy even though I can't think of a single thing we did, besides go to church and work out a Budget.

The Budget - a big deal for us. There were several heated discussions, some jokes and poking fun and some raised voices, but no tears like in times past when we've tried to deal with our conflicting money-handling styles. And the best part is that we can both live with the end result.

The Budget was brought on by the discussion with a mortgage broker about how 4 months ago we were pre-approved for a nice home loan amount and now, with the sub-prime mess and flailing market issues, she won't even pull our credit reports because she is sure she can't help us. The rules have changed so much and there are so many folks with great credit in trouble, that she won't touch anything less-than a "vanilla" loan. So, we are going to settle in where we are for a bit, save our pennies, monitor our credit reports like hawks circling a meerkat, pay off the little debt we have, buy another car now, instead of waiting and hope that we will qualify when all the dust settles and the new standards are in place. I am really happy with this decision and Fishing Guy is happy to pursue buying a shiny new car. It may take some time with our Requirements.

Car Requirement One: That Fishing Guy fit in it. At 6'4", this can be tricky.

Car Requirement Two: It can't be white. Mutually agreed upon rule after owning TWO white vehicles.

Car Requirement Three: Needs to have 4 doors, good gas mileage, a good sized trunk and be decently priced.

Fishing Guy really wants one of these. Happily, my wagon is a Focus and he fits in there pretty well. It would also fit in the garage.

Which brought us to the realization that we are likely going to be in this house for longer than 12 months. That, combined with the recent dip in the outside temperature below freezing and the reality that the garage is unheated, brought up the discussion last night that I would be more likely to craft if my stuff was inside.

(This was right after I returned from the local public library craft night in a state of frustration and right before I had the realization that I really need to hang our pictures and things on the walls. Finally.)

There was an offer to bring some of my craft stuff up to the bedroom, where I could work and not freeze. I turned down the offer last night, but this morning I am having second thoughts. My thinking last night was that, in about 2 months it will be nice enough to work out there, with the space heater and a sweatshirt like I had been. Then, in the summer, when it is 10 billion degrees outside I will be loving the cool environment. However, I'd really like to work on things now. With Christmas right around the corner and all.

I have been walking the kids back and forth to school again this week, since the weather hasn't been drippy, the roads have been super slick and Fishing Guy has been driving my car. See also, The Budget.

Tangent One: It seems crazy to me to drive the Suburban 5 blocks to the school and 5 blocks back. It seems so wasteful. But somehow not so much for my little wagon. Maybe more because I hate the school parking lot and trying to get in there with a HUGE car is almost impossible with all of the other HUGE cars. I like to be zippy.

Tangent Two: It took Fishing Guy about 2.5 hours to get to work yesterday (normally about 25 minutes) because of several accidents closing the roads. This is why he had been driving the Suburban to work. So, that if he gets hit, he won't die. Also for the 4x4 if the roads are bad. Note to ourselves - we aren't in Alaska anymore and the gas bill bites.

Anyway, when I walk to or from the school alone, I've been listening to my backlog of podcasts. I started with Fibercult, listening to Episode 1 yesterday and Episode 2 this morning. I did listen to the last 10 minutes or so after I got home because yesterday, I had this urge to run right out and buy a spinning wheel, since that is where I left off in the discussion. I'm happy to say that all I want to do now, is learn how to knit socks, buy yummy handspun/hand-dyed yarn and maybe do some research into spinning. (I need a wheel and wool/fleece/roving habit like I need a hole in my head.)

Instead of spending any money, I spent at least 2 hours this morning looking for patterns and inspiration on the internet for knitting projects. (Christmas is coming and might bring wooly gifts.) I looked at the rules and guidelines again for entering my creations in the State Fair next summer. (Planning early doesn't hurt.) I have found and printed out the pattern to a pair of socks I started about 2 years ago and would like to work on. (Checked off both the To Do List and UFO List. Now it can be a WIP.)

Why knitting right now? It's warm and I don't have to sit in the garage or at a table to work on it.

Speaking of tables, I really need to buckle down and finish my Christmas cards, so that I can get them in the mail by this weekend. I originally had a work stoppage because I needed to bring in more paper from the garage and let it un-dampen. (totally not a word, but I don't care) I was deep into the stamping and embossing before I realized that I had missed several people for The List. Having just moved there are more to add this year. After a brainstorming session and a consultation with Fishing Guy, I figure I need to make about 70 cards, to be safe. Instead of the original 40. I can't bring myself to trim The List. Note to self - buy more stamps.

I also need to go get the kids' school pictures from the frosty depths of the craft table so that I can put make labels to put on them, figure out who is worthy to receive them AND the letter. That is my stalling point today. The labels will also have to un-dampen before I can print on them.

I am also well aware that once I start working, I will have much less time to do all the things I said I was going to do when I had all of the SAHM time. Nevermind that both kids have only been gone during the day for about 70 days and I've used most some of that time for productive purposes. However, I will freely admit to being a sloth yesterday and watching 4 shows on the DVR while the kids were at school. I watched the shows that no one else in the house watches. The ones that Fishing Guy will tolerate on the DVR, but will grumble about if I dare watch them, even when he is sleeping. So, really that was an item off the To Do List.

I am making progress somewhere.

Exciting Day!

I'm off to take the kids to school and then I'm going to have coffee with Pez!

Storm Update

I have photo evidence of the misery that was finishing off putting up the lights this afternoon. We were out last night until just after dark putting up the last of the icicle lights on the lower gutters. The only problem was that we were one garage door short. That would be because we've never had three garages before. Anyway, we had to search high and low through town to find the last 3 boxes of clear lights and then run home to put them up.

We crawled out of the bedroom window and out onto the roof. Only to be greeted with near-gale force winds. We nearly gave up, but decided to persevere. This picture was just after the first string.



Then we moved up to the high dormer. This was the view of the roof and the neighborhood when we started.




I passed off the camera to the Four-Foot Crew and we got these.




About 30 minutes later I scooted off the roof on my rear end and hopped right in a hot shower to warm up. This is the mostly finished product. We won't be going back up until the roof melts.



And my favorite shot of the afternoon.

Pressure's Off

Happy December!

We had some snow last night.



Good thing we were up on the roof in the near-dark before dinner last night putting up the icicle lights. HA!

It's too frosty to get up there this morning and I have a good excuse to hop on the computer while the muffins are in the oven. The kids were up early, so that riled up the cats and we were all out of bed by 8 am. On a Saturday. Kill me now, but it's actually nice to stay on the early routine.

I haven't heard anything from the Daycare about my start date. I have been putting together a lesson plan and activities that need very few supplies, so that I'm ready for the first couple of weeks. I'm starting to get excited and I really hope it all works out. I told Fishing Guy last night that this might just turn out to be a horrible wasted effort. The place isn't even open yet and I could be missing another job by waiting on this one. In the meantime, I'm checking books out of the library like crazy and making lists of all the tricks I can remember.