More of my ramblings...

I am like a little kid hyped up on sugar on Christmas eve. I love the excitement of this time of year. I have so much to do today. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Country music stars are singing Christmas carols on my CD player and I have lots of baking to do today and presents to finish wrapping. It will be a festive day around here. I'm taking a four day weekend to enjoy the holiday. I love time off.

 

I don't ask for "big stuff" for Christmas. You know, nothing high end. We don't do credit cards for Christmas shopping. We believe in pay as we go. That way we have no big surprises come January.

Come January this year, we are making a couple of purchases though. We hope to take advantage of some good January clearance sales. We are going to get a new TV since the old one died. I'm really excited about having a flat screen. I was so over the huge floor model big screen after having it 19 years. I've been looking and am overwhelmed with the choices. Next week will be research week, but I know I'd like one that looks similar to this design if possible. I like the actual screen being close to the little stand instead of being a taller stand.

I love shopping and looking at all the options out there. Since the last TV was self-contained, we are going to need to buy a nice bookcase, stand or entertainment piece for the new TV to set in or on. I've done a little bit of looking for this. Not sure what I want. I like the looks of this one. It matches my coffee table and end table.

I've been saving my birthday money and a Visa gift card I got so I can get me an e-reader. I've been doing the research and am still torn. I know I am going with Kindle. It's just a toss up between the Kindle Touch or the Kindle Fire. I just haven't had time to explore it really good so I'll be doing that next week. I love the thought of the Fire if I understand properly what all it does. I'll have to ask my daughter-in-law's opinion. She's my electronics expert. But I think I'm leaning toward the Fire. I actually held one in my hand yesterday and it was love at first site.

We were at the mall the other day and I noticed a Vera Bradley purse in a display case. I had not seen this pattern before. I'm normally a Donna Sharp person, but I love all quilted purses. But this Vera Bradley really caught my eye. I fell in love with it. May have to check into it later on. They even have it in an e-reader case.

Well, if I'm going to accomplish all this baking and gift wrapping today, I guess I'd better quit "window" shopping on the Internet and get busy.

Hope you get everything done today that you need to accomplish. Have a Merry Christmas!

A great hostess or guest gift idea

Are you looking for an inexpensive quick gift for a hostess to a party you are attending? Do you need an idea for a little something to place at the placesetting for each of your guests at your Christmas party? Or perhaps you have someone you want to offer a simple "thinking of you at Christmas" without making them feel like they have to return a gift in return. Give the gift of homemade fragrance.

I purchase a square deep white gift box and place some rumpled tissue paper for a cushion in the box. Then I add a couple of oranges with pretty skin.

I tie up a handful of whole cloves in either netting or tulle

Then I bind about 3-5 cinnamon sticks together with a red or green ribbon.



I take some type of card stock and handwrite the instructions.

Slice oranges into thin slices and place in a saucepan or small crock pot. Add the cloves and the cinnamon sticks. Cover with water, let simmer to fill your home with the smell of the holidays. Remember to keep water replenished.

Are you ready for Christmas?

 

I'm getting there. I've finally wrapped presents and did some more shopping. Today will be a whirlwind day. I have an errand this morning, a Christmas lunch at 11:30, a phone appointment with a client at 1:00 and someone is coming to pick up the dead big screen around 2:30 or 3:00. Then I need to make a mad dash to Walmart for more wrapping paper and boxes.

 

Tomorrow is "Finish Shopping Day". Which means Friday will be "Finish Wrapping Day" which is also "Do all my baking day". But, I will manage. I'm going to set the card table up right in the living room. That way, I can stick a batch of cookies or a cake in the over and wrap during baking. I have to bake 2 pans of brownies Thursday night for hubby to take to his work Christmas party Friday. Then for our Christmas desserts I am making German chocolate cookies, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, Texas sheet cake and two batches of no bake cookies.

Then Christmas eve, I'll do a quick run through to make sure the house is clean for company that night. I can finish any wrapping or last minute baking changes that morning. Hubby has to work until 3:00 so I'll have to get the goodies ready for our Christmas eve party with the kids. We have got it down to a fine art since we have the same thing every year. We have Velveeta cheese dip, crackers and chips, breadsticks, meat sauce, meatballs in barbecue sauce, chicken wings, Lil Smokies in sweet and sour sauce and Lil Smokies heated to dip in cheese sauce.

We buy crock pot liners and as we fix a dish, it goes into a crock pot to keep warm and the prep dishes are washed and dried immediately. After we eat, it is a simple matter of lifting the liner bag out of the crock pot, holding over a container and snipping the corner. The leftovers drop right into the Gladware and the empty liner goes right in the trash. We use Solo cups, plates, and bowls and plastic silverware. The crock pots are not dirty so they go back in the cupboard, everything else in the trash. And we end up with a clean kitchen and no dishes to be washed other than a few serving spoons and tongs.

Then it's fun time! Getting to exchange our gifts with the family and watch the faces on the grandchildren as they tear into their presents with joy. Of course, everything has to be completely opened and some play time has to happen. I am going to make a new rule this year. Nobody gets to open presents until Mamaw gets a picture of all 5 grandchildren together...in one shot....with no crazy faces. It's going to be tough cause they love the crazy faces and since it is Christmas they will probably be to wired to sit still, but we are going to try. Out of six tries last year, this was what we got. Colby is 1 this year so I'm sure he won't be laying so calmly.

Christmas morning is always special to. It's just me and hubby. I fidget in the bed and toss and turn enough to wake him up and then innocently say "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry. Do you want to go ahead and get up?" Like he's not going to see through that one. I'm still very childlike on Christmas morning (well, and maybe the rest of the year as well). I can't wait to see what "Santa" brings me. I really, really want a fair isle sweater and a new book to read Christmas day. If Santa comes through for those two things, I'll be a happy camper.

So, to answer the question Am I ready for Christmas, I guess as ready as I can be at this point.

My Topsy Turvy World



Today I'm riding the Tuesday train.

Christmas is fast approaching. Are you ready for it? I'm not. I have somehow gotten way behind schedule for this year, which is not like me at all. I still haven't watched all my Christmas movies I like to watch each year. I still have presents to buy and stuff to wrap and goodies to make. It's starting to get overwhelming. I think I'll clear some time this morning to make a list. I always do better with a list, but I just can't pinpoint where or why I haven't done one yet. Oh well, add that to my to do things for today.



It was a sad day in our household last night. Our faithful Magnavox 42" big screen TV of 19 years decided to go kaput. The sound is still going strong but the picture just went completely blank. After lots of online searching, I guess it's off to the graveyard. Most of my sources tell me the repair is more than a new LCD HD of the same size is less than repairing mine. I've been wanting a new one, but not like that. Guess January is going to become shop for a TV month.

We are blessed that we have a nice 22" in the master bedroom so we have moved that to the living room. The sad part is no more Friends or Cosby to watch in bed at night. My daughter tells me if I can hold out until Super Bowl weekend, HH Gregg has deals that make Black Friday sales look expensive for LCD's. So I'm going to be patient. In a perfect world where money is never an issue, I would go for a look like this for the new set and stand.


This is my month for electronic issues. My Samsung cell phone has been going on the blitz for a while. I do not recommend the Samsung Acclaim at all. It is horrible to drop calls. It will be laying on a desk 10 feet away from anybody and it will just start calling someone in your contacts. I've called US Cellular numerous times about problems with it. The answer is always, "Remove the battery for about 30 seconds and put it back in. That will reset whatever went wrong." Do you know how aggravating that can get? Anyway, I had enough Belief points to move up my expiration date and make me eligible for a new phone. So I just got the new Motorola Electrify. Let me say that I love it. The dual core processor makes it so fast it is unreal. Definitely one thing that has went right this week. And I love the little kick stand feature.



I'm using my birthday money to get either a Kindle, Nook, or Kobo e-reader. I haven't purchased one yet because I'm so on the fence as to which one I want. My daughter-in-law did some research for me on the various ones. I'm also trying to decide if I want the basic e-reader or the one that is a Wi-Fi tablet as well. I was going to get the full tablet version, but since my new phone has a bigger screen and is so good at the functions I wanted the tablet for, I'm rethinking if I need that or just a basic e-reader. Would love your thoughts or reviews if you have any of these. My daughter-in-law is coming over Christmas eve and I'm going to talk to her about it. She's our resident electronic genius.



Hubby had a day off yesterday so we spend a wonderful day together with the annual orange cooking bake fest. I must admit this is best batch we've ever made. We used fresh oranges from the Florida that the band was selling. The recipe usually makes 72-94 cookies depending on the size you spoon out. We got 82 cookies out of yesterdays batch. I still need to make German Chocolate cookies, No Bake Oatmeal cookies, Chocolate Sheath Cake, peanut butter fudge, chocolate fudge, chocolate chip cookies and two pans of brownies. Looks like I have my work cut out for me this week. Think I'll start the day off with cookies and an ice cold Coke.

Merry Chirstmas from Mamaw's Place

Merry Christmas to each and everyone of you. Here is a selection of my favorite Christmas videos to celebrate the day.



The problem with winter....



Here we are only days away from Christmas. Winter hasn't even officially started. There is a good four months left of cold then cool whether. Yet, I am already lamenting the fact that flip flop season has been over for three months.

Although, I must admit that a warm spell came through here a few weeks back and the temp climbed to the high 60's. I did drag out a pair of my trusty flops and headed to the grocery store in them.



It felt so good and it really made me happy to break out the flops for a few hours and relive the warm feeling of summertime.

But alas the cold has returned and we set here with frosted car windows to clean each morning.

But as much as I love flip flops, I do love some things about winter. If it is going to be cold and I don't have anywhere to go, I would love to see some beautiful snow on the ground. Nothing too treacherous, just some soft white covering the ground and me setting inside with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book.



I do love my change of seasons and winter is one of my favorites (of course I say that about every season). If I could order a perfect winter, I would wish for a light dusting on Christmas morning, but clear roads. I would wish for snowy weekends in January, but not large accumulations. I would like to have one deep snow that closes the whole county so nobody has to go to work for a day or two. But then I want it all to be over by February and the temps to start climbing daily. We normally still have cold in February, but I remember one year around the 20th of February the temps climbed to 70 degrees. It was awesome. Oh well, a girl can dream.

So confusing....

I am not normally a person who gets confused easily. I have good common sense and an IQ of 142. I can tackle any problem or situation and come up with a good solution. I have a good knowledge of electronics and computers and have no trouble figuring out how they work.

But I absolutely, positively get lost with Pinterest. I love going on there, but I get on info overload every time I do. I'm not sure what the purpose is. I have trouble figuring out what to look for. I don't know what to do with it after I pin items. I have one follower and don't follow anyone because I'm not sure how to find out who is on there and why we need to link up together.

I have two boards with 7 items on one and 5 items on the other. The problem is everything was on one board and I split it up to move some of the items to the second board and ended up with 12 items total, but 5 of them are duplicates from the first board. I'll have to figure out how to delete or move or somehting to get this mess straightened up before I go on.

I am still not sure why I am doing this or what I am supposed to do with it later. I have been on it for about 3 months and never think to go on there. But I am seeing things I would either like to make or purchase.

Maybe one of these days somebody can tell me what the purpose of the site is. Or I will at least get the time to go on a really get into it and figure it out. If anybody has any good tips for me on Pinterest and its purpose, I would appreciate a comment.