Wrapping it up

I don't know about you, but I am wrapping it up for Christmas. Everything is coming down today. All the boxes are going back into storage and my house is getting back to normal.

It's been a quiet week. I missed Chatting on the Porch with Patrice and the Wednesday Hodge Podge. I'm hoping they will both be back next week. I did enjoy Five Question Friday and it made me want to buy a pair of Tom's. I went to their site and saw several pairs I liked.

I went nuts over this pair. If I was going to splurge on shoes, this is the pair I would probably buy. They would look adorable with jeans.

I don't particularly like this next pattern, but I love the fur lining. 

These would be cute for spring. Especially since I own a lot of nautical outfits. I may have to get these. 

Well, I spent some time last night narrowing down my Pyrex list so I can be more specific about what I'm looking for. Topping my list are two pieces I need to complete two sets. First is the 444 Cinderella Bowl in Colonial Mist. That is the one I want the most right now.

And second will be the green bowl for the primary colors set. I understand that is the hardest one to find in that set. 

Then I want to start on some new collections, but not necessarily whole sets...just a piece of two. I want a bowl of any kind in the Lucky in Love set. I want it to display for Valentine's and St. Patrick's day.

I want something in the rainbow strips to use to decorate for Easter. I would fill it with Easter grass and some cute wooden eggs.

If I couldn't find the rainbow stripes, I would go with Gooseberry or Butterprint.

For spring, I would like to do a display with the daisy print. 

Then for Mother's Day, I would like to decorate with a pretty friendship bowl because my Mom is one of my best friends. 

For summer, I think I would like the Eyes pattern. 

Then when fall rolls around, I would want to have some of the wheat bowls. 

Then for Thanksgiving I would like to have something in the Woodland Pattern.

And for Christmas, any of the Christmas patterns would be awesome to find.

And I already have the snowflake bowl for January decor.

That might seem like a lot of new Pyrex, but it is only 11 new pieces that I'm looking for. Considering most of my finds are under $10 (a lot of them just $2 or $3), it's not much of an investment at all. 

Finally Friday

I am so glad it is Friday. Okay, I know, I didn't work but 2 days this week. I can't help it. This week of the year is such a hard week to get back in the swing of things. Since I have gotten 4 new pieces of Pyrex by gifts and by trade in December, it has really given me Pyrex fever. I just can't decide what pattern I want to collect next. I went through the internet to find a few I liked. Well, let's just say that narrowing down the list is going to take awhile. I narrowed it down to these patterns that I like. Now I have to narrow it down even further to decide what I would actually collect. 

I also spent some time looking at the new Thirty-One spring catalog trying to decide what I want to order when we can start ordering from it. I know I want the Inside Out Bag, which I am hoping to earn for free in January. 

I also love the Easy Breezy Tote. This will be a great piece to have for summer fun when you pack to go to the pool or beach or even on a picnic. 

And I am loving the Coupon Clutch. The new patterns and products for spring are awesome. I can't wait till we can start shopping from the spring catalog.

I have started looking for ideas for Sunday School crafts. Our kids love glitter so I thought it would be cute to make a refrigerator magnets for notes. They would be so easy and the kids would love them. We could even glue a little red heart on them for Valentine's Day.

I would also like to see us make the old fashioned shoe box mailbox for collecting Valentine's. These bring back so many memories of doing this in elementary school.

I am going to cut out a new box pattern to get started on in my plastic canvas. I finished my nieces coasters and my sisters box. Time to make something for myself. I really fell in love with this box.I don't know that I will do this exact pattern. I just love the size of the box and the way the lid extends down longer than most on the sides. All though these colors do look good together. 

I like to do patterns using variegated yarn sometimes because you never know how it will look and it is always neat. Plus you don't have to change yarns so much. I'll have to decide later what I will use. But I do have a lot of variegated yarns.

As I was looking for yarn, I remembered some I had in a Donna Sharp Utility Tote. When I got it out of the closet I had to laugh. It is the same pattern as the purse and make up case I am currently carrying. Apparently I like that pattern.

I've been cleaning out 2012 files and boxing them up. Since I moved the wooden file cabinet in my office, I have downsized things and no longer need the tacky metal one. The guy who gave it to me is going to come and pick it up today. I want it out of my way so I can have room for a craft shelf in that corner of the room. Two of the four drawers were just being used to store CD's and miscellaneous stuff that I found other places to put. That's the problem with junk drawers...too much junk accumulates. 

Getting back to normal...

Christmas is over. I survived the "day after Christmas" blahs where you are just too tired to move and have a lot you want to do but don't feel like doing anything so you lay around in your new warm jammies and house shoes. 

I am all excited about painting my office in the next few weeks and getting all my new items for it. I saw some curtains that I really like that will go good with my new color scheme.

I am so tired of blue rugs and shower curtains in my bathroom. I think I found a new theme. I like this shower curtain really well and it will go with the existing wall paper in the hall bath.

And I love these rugs. 

I saw some cute dishtowels at Walmart that I like. I may have to pick up some of these.

I have not been happy with my display for my Pyrex. I just don't think the bowls look right setting on the wooden top of the Baker's Rack. 

So I did some rearranging. It still isn't perfect, but I think I like it better this way. Plus my recipe books tend to set better on the solid wood instead of the shelf. 

I started doing some cleaning in my office. I may move some furniture around today. I'm replacing an old metal file cabinet with my wooden one. I will take some pictures when everything is completed. 

Christmas Conclusion

I hope everybody had a great Christmas. Hubby worked on Christmas eve for half a day. That meant I had to do all the cooking for the family Christmas gathering that night. But if I do say so myself, it turned out pretty good. I wish I had taken before and after pictures. He would have had a heart attack had he seen the disorganized mess his kitchen was in. But I got it all accomplished and cleaned up. When he got home from work, the kids were all here and everything was ready. Whew! I wasn't sure I could pull it off. I have some things to share with you since I haven't updated you these past couple of days. 

Sunday I received some nice gifts from the teachers in our Pre-K class that I help out in. I fell in love with this Christmas shovel. It is just too cute.

I also got an awesome Christmas blanket. You know I love my blankies.

I got the ultimate cookbook. COOKIES! I can't wait to try out some of the new recipes. The cookie plate will come in handy on those long January snowy days when I feel like baking. And I am starting out 2013 with a new angel looking over my shoulder. She is going to find a home in my office to inspire me to be a better person and reach the goals I set for myself. 

Christmas eve at unwrapping time is the one time that all five grandkids gather together and sit still. 

The grandchildren got me some awesome fuzzy warm socks and a gorgeous charm bracelet and a pair of earrings. I loved it all. And the fine print on my heart charm says "Born to Rule". There will be no living with me now. I am queen.

Right when we were getting ready to open presents, someone walked up to the door. It was my mail lady. She was still out making deliveries after 7 pm on Christmas eve. She had me a box from a lady in my Pyrex4Trade Facebook group. It was the pink pie plate. It was gorgeous. 

Christmas morning I get up earlier than hubby and get the heat going (we sleep with it cooler at night). I make his coffee and spend some time quietly looking at the tree with nothing but the Christmas lights on. I reflect on the meaning of the celebration, the memories of Christmas's past and think about how blessed I am to have family close enough for them all to be here on Christmas eve. Then I start getting excited about all the presents that aren't open and I go get him up.

I got my warm jammies and fuzzy wild house shoes and lots of other goodies. But he blew me away with the last gift I opened. The third piece to my Colonial Mist Cinderella set. I was so excited. I actually shrieked a little. One more piece to go. I told him he needs to get some research going because the anniversary of our first date is coming up in January! Seriously, I was so happy with this. It made my Christmas even more perfect than it already was.

Now it is back to the daily grind. After 5 days off work, I am thinking I better work today through Friday and then take my trees down and get my house back in order. Did you all have a nice Christmas?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours. May God bless you on this glorious celebration of the birth of His Precious Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Christmas Eve...a busy day.

The elves are busy loading the sleigh. Mrs. Claus is urging Santa to eat before he heads out on his annual trek. Children all over the world are keeping their ears open for the jingle of sleigh bells. Our household is busy cooking and baking those last minute goodies. I will have the Norad Santa tracker running on the computer all day so I can make sure to head to bed in time for Santa to stop by my house.



Whatever you plans for the holiday, stay warm and stay safe. Travel prayers for all those who are traveling over the holidays. Never lose sight of the real reason for the season. Have a very Merry Christmas!

Just 2 more days!

Just two more days till Christmas? Are you ready? My shopping is done and the presents are in the process of being wrapped. I still have some baking to do. My office is a disaster with presents and paper all over the place so I'm writing my blog from the living room computer. I rarely use the desktop any more.

I got a Christmas card yesterday with this neat little tablet for my purse. I love it.

Have you been missing Edgar? He's been so busy flitting here and there making sure the presents were getting purchased and wrapped that he has been quietly resting under the tree in my office. The closer Christmas gets, the more worried he gets that he will miss Santa. So he has taken to camping out under one of the trees. 

He did take a break to help with some of the wrapping. We are going to finish the rest this afternoon.

Hubby had his work gift exchange this weekend. He got a really nice shirt and this coffee cup with coaster. It was barely out of the bag when Edgar laid claim to it for me to drink hot chocolate from on Christmas morning. He is such a sweet elf.

We are going to finish the baking tomorrow morning. I always get these aluminum pans to send goodies home with the kids. Edgar helped me pick out the recipes. They are getting so old and stained. I need to redo a lot of my recipes sometime soon before the writing fades away to where you can't read them. 

Edgar said to tell everybody Thank You that has been participating in commenting on how many times he has shown up. There were four people who commented on every time he showed up. So we placed their names in a sled and let Edgar draw the winner. 

And who won? 

Congratulations to Stephanie G! Stephanie enjoyed your antics Edgar and I know she will be pleased to find out she wins one of the new products in the spring Thirty-One catalog. She wins the new Keep-It Caddy. I hope she likes it. 

 Ms. Stephanie can select the pattern of her choice. She can choose the one above which is the new Pink Floral Brushstrokes pattern or she can choose any of the patterns below. As an added benefit, Ms. Stephanie can select her own personalization to complement her new bag. Congratulations again to Ms. Stephanie. I will get you a catalog so you can pick the pattern and personalization of your choice. 

We had some challenges through the contest and some of the posts went wacko with the comment section not keeping the comment, but thank you to those who emailed me their comments so they could stay in the race. The remaining three who tied with Stephanie G. were Rachel, Norma and Nonie (from Everything Sewing). Since they were all so wonderful to comment regular on Edgar's antics, they will each receive a new Key Fob in the pattern of their choice from the new catalog. I will contact you to find out which one you  each would like for your choice. Congratulations to all our winners and a special thank you to everyone who participated. 

Edgar wanted me to tell everybody he has had a blast visiting you and keeping you laughing at his antics. He said he needs to get some rest now. He plans to sleep until Christmas eve. When Santa drops off his goodies, Edgar is going to hop in the sleigh and head back to the North Pole to spend the next year with his Elf buddies. So he grabbed his Christmas pillow and afghan and has settled in to sleep till Santa gets here. He said to tell everybody Merry Christmas!