Christmas is my holiday

Not like it doesn't belong to anyone else.  In the way that it has always been my favorite and I love, Love, LOVE my Christmas tree every year.  Except this year .. I just didn't quite feel like it.  Maybe because of the house hunting, I feel like I'm halfway out the door already, not sure.  But the idea of putting up my big, full, detailed, did I mention BIG tree this year was just not appealing.  So I bought myself a 40 dollar skinny tree (pre-lit) and decorated it in pastels with a few splashes of red.  This suits me for Christmas, 2011.  Hopefully next year, this will be only one of two trees in my new house!

Hope you're enjoying the run-up to Christmas!

Jesus' birthday thru the eyes of children

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I'd just like to know who 'Mike' is.

Merry Christmas all .. (5 people or so who read on a regular basis and anyone else who drops by) I wish you peace and love and all that gooey stuff people wish for other people they like.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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Norah (with an H) wishes you a Merry Christmas!

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Some years are better than others ..

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Christmas shopping is done. This is the part where every day is Christmas for me, because packages are waiting for me when I get home from work and me being me - I never remember what I am expecting until I open the box!  Oh!  For me?!?


This year however, there have been some annoyances.  I will generally not spend the amount I did at the store I did, except they were offering 40% off if you typed in the code at check out.  It was plastered all over the site, very clearly stated which items were included in the sale and which ones weren't.  Except - when I clicked submit - 40% did not come off my order.  GAH!


Sent an email, received a reply saying I had not typed in the magic word, they were very sorry.  Um .. NO!!!  I know I typed it because for a second I questioned my spelling of the word and then had to laugh because the word was 'holiday'.  I typed it.


Sent another email, politely explaining that I did type the word and being a reputable company I was sure they would address the issue appropriately.  Giant exhale.  Got another email - over a hundred bucks will be credited to my card. Thank you very much.

The other thing?  Another store I don't usually shop at because it is expensive.  For me.  I bought a .. er .. piece of  clothing.  Someone had taken it off the rack somewhere, plastic hanger and all, slipped a thin bag over it and then - the best part - broke off both ends of the hanger INSIDE the piece of clothing, and dropped the whole thing in a box.  It wouldn't have fit if they had left the hanger whole.  !!!!!!!


You KNOW I sent another email for that that one.  One of those - 'character limit 250' things.  I actually don't expect much from this one I mean - I didn't ask for a refund or anything, I have what I ordered but man - you just expect better service from some places, y'know?  I'll let you know what they say. But I say SHEESH!!!!

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I think we have it!

We have the most unusual Christmas gift at my house this year! There's a contest, right? Somewhere? Well I want to enter this box of Taco Bell Hot Sauce packets. There are over a thousand of them, and they have been counted.



Anyone else find anything unusual or funny under their tree this year?

All that glitters ...

We have toys

And traditional glass.




We have old fashioned



and brand new!



We have girly and sweet




And a few passed from an earlier generation.





We have flowery sparkles




And stars -




And then there is this.




C'mon! I can't do everything perfectly!
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Deny, deny, deny

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We have snow!


We have tree. :)



We have vandalism!




We have no proof.



Apparently we have angels.
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Overwhelmed much?

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My Christmas tree is usually up the weekend after Thanksgiving. My Christmas shopping is usually completed by now. I'm not usually as stressed about work as I have been lately. And I'm not usually monitoring my blood glucose and freaking out about how high it actually is. Yes, I am overwhelmed.

Too much to do, but every time I test my blood my glucose is high. I have only had one reading that was even close to normal and I have yet to get a handle on what this whole thing is about. Spending more time researching diabetes and noticing the excessive thirst and overly dry mouth and other symptoms I did not pay attention to before. Or did not equate with illness, if you will. I am not getting anything done except becoming more aware of my anxiety.

This weekend I will get my Christmas shopping done.

At least.

I hope.
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.. how lovely are your branches ..

Okay, so my tree is still up. It is - and I like it. I AM going to take it down, I actually even went out to the garage a few minutes ago to get the boxes - uh ... I just remembered I didn't get the box for the tree itself. Hmm. Well, I'll get that later. I was going to take the tree down over the weekend but - I just didn't. Last night I was SO tired when I got home from work that I went to bed at 8:00pm to "watch TV". (obviously didn't take the tree down then.) I think I fell asleep right away and next thing you know it was 1:30am and I was wide awake. (THAT'S when I should have worked on the tree!!) So then I DID watch TV. I kept trying to go back to sleep but my body wasn't having any of it till oh ... about 5:00am when I had to get up at 7:00-ish. UGH-h-h.

So - I am dragging today but I think I am the last house on the street with a lit Christmas tree in the window and doggone if it doesn't look FABULOUS!!! But it's time to take it down. So sad, I always miss it when it's gone.

However - I have set some goals for myself having to do with getting my beading back up and going, and still having the tree up just doesn't quite jive with the other things I need to do. It's too bad because it's the only time of year you can get away with sticking something in the middle of your house that you cover with lights and sparkly stuff and decorate with all manner of things. There is no other venue for that kind of shiny, fun, excess. But, it comes down. Tonight.

Where all my neurosis come into play

I’ve been busy. Sorry I haven’t been here since Christmas but I have been preoccupied. See – I got a new laptop for Christmas. It was a complete surprise, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I’m not sure that expecting it would have made any difference, but I have been trying really hard to make the transition without melting down.

Remember me? The one who thinks there is a particular order to putting ornaments on a tree and who will spend hours searching for the right icon to use on my blog? If you recall it was an UP ARROW. Not an application or program, an ICON. So yeah. A new computer with none of my files, folders, or applications I have downloaded and paid for and configured … I’m melting …

I have decided that since my regular laptop is only ‘trying’ to die and isn’t dead yet, I can make this transition slowly and hopefully do it right. Moving things from one computer to another has been a challenge for sure, but with the help of some shared network files, a memory card, and some other things I’ve found, I’m making progress. I even made my wallpaper the same as my old laptop in order to keep from hyperventilating when I look at the new one.

There have been plenty of you who have gotten new computers and continue to blog without missing a step. Isn’t there anyone else out there who gets thrown for a loop by new things – even nice brand new shiny things with lots of memory and space and omg – speed?

On another note – I received the sweetest Christmas card from Heather, at Vanilla Hev’n. Christmas cards are always nice and all, but this one is handmade and one that I had admired on her blog. Plus - she lives in Australia! So, I received a lovely card all the way from there!!! How cool is that???

Thanks Heather!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that none of you are as neurotic as me!

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Bring it on!

My tree is not finished. My Christmas tree, that is. I am obsessive about all of it, from the lights to the ornaments to centering the tree in front of the window. It's crazy really, I have no business having a tree this size in the house I live in, with mostly grown kids. There are no toddlers running out in the morning all sleep tousled and wide eyed at the spectacle of tree and presents and the miracle of Santa.

The only one wide eyed at my house, is me. And I love my tree! It just takes me a while to get it done. Yesterday I got the tree itself up, the lights on and most of my "base" ornaments. Because you know, there is an order to all of this. Lights, then garland, this year I used strands of big pearl-like beads, then the glass ball ornaments, the glass icicles, and then all the other stuff. And there is a lot of 'other stuff'.

By the time I went to bed last night my hands and my back were aching, but the tree being on a timer - I could see the glow from my room and I was happy. Until I heard my son on his way to the bathroom saying "Cat? Are you in there?"

Andy doesn't talk to the cats. Andy pretty much just ignores the cats, except Norah. He will pet her every once in a while if she puts herself right in front of him at petting level. But for the most part Andy and the cats just co-exist in my house. For him to be addressing a cat directly was worrisome so when I called out to ask what was going on - I was already half out of bed. He thought one of the cats might be in the tree but he wasn't sure.

We both stood there and squinted but nothing moved so Andy continued on to the bathroom. Then the tree gave a little quiver. I knew exactly which one it would be so when I said "Abby . ." very firmly, the tree shook some more. When I said "Abby get out of there!" I saw the tremor move down the tree and a cat plop out onto the floor.

Abby is the evil one. The one who bites. And she is also the one that people would vote most likely to climb a Christmas tree, so I knew it was her. Following her exit I pointed the spray bottle at her. The holiday wars have begun.

Oops - forgot a title even. I'm seeing a pattern . .

So I never did remember whatever it was I was going to write about the other day. No clue. Don't you just love it when that happens?

It might have had something to do with Christmas though. Every year I ask my kids for Christmas lists. I need help and figure their suggestions are better than anyone else's. But they aren't giving me their lists this year. I know they are 22 and 24 years old but my gosh! What am I supposed to do without those ideas? I might have to give my daughter some Polly Pockets, she did love those once upon a time. And I could get some Legos for my son except I don't think we ever got rid of the ones he had when he was little. Maybe I'll just get them from the garage and clean them up. It would serve both of them right.

Actually Andy did tell me one thing he would like. ONE. And this is from the kid who used to give me a 2 page single-spaced typed list of CDs and DVDs he wanted. But I suppose with all the new forms of media out there - he may not want that stuff anymore.

And my daughter? Dani hemmed and hawed and finally said "I don't really have any . . . wants . . . right now I guess." WHAT????

So I started my shopping today, and I made a dent in it - without the lists. Hear that Dani? It really WILL be a surprise this year! I do most - if not all my shopping online so I'm usually done earlier than other people and I love that part. I get the stressful part out of the way so I can enjoy the season and the decorations and all that goes with it - in peace. Theoretically anyway.

And I keep lists of everything I buy all the way down to the stocking stuffers because with the proven faultiness of my memory - I'm sure I would forget something I bought and it would never make it under the tree. And that would stress me out.

I'm all for a peaceful Christmas season, and it's coming fast. Amazing, isn't it? This year has gone by faster than any I have ever experienced. Weird how that works. Hope it's not just that I've forgotten big chunks of it!!

We all have them, don't we?

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I'm talking about favorite ornaments, Christmas ornaments that are special to us for some reason. I cannot believe it took so long for my tree to get finished this year, but it is finally up in all it's glory. And as I put it up and went through the ornaments I couldn't help but remember where they came from.

Some of my daughter's favorite ornaments are ones I made when I was newly married and had very little money. I took small wooden match book boxes and wrapped them like tiny gifts, strung them on ribbon and there you go. Ornaments. I still have 3 or 4 of them, one that used to be red foil and is now so old and faded it looks gold. They are at least 25 plus (yikes) years old.

I have other ornaments from around the same time that I bought as a kit. Pieces of wood with pictures on them you paint and punch out to hang on the tree. I have several of those and I hang them as prominently as any of my expensive Christopher Radkos, and probably more lovingly.

There are hand sewn silk animal ornaments I purchased many millions of years ago, before kids, when I worked at a Pier 1 Imports store for a few months. There are a couple of prized ornaments that belonged to my BF's mother who has passed away. I am honored he entrusted me with some of her pretty things.

There is an ornament made from styrofoam and pipe cleaners (Jimmy Kramer where are you?) that was given to us as a gift by a good Jewish boy who spent Christmas with my then-fiance and I a long long time ago. Jimmy was going to be an elementary school teacher, I wonder if it ever happened.

There are 2 ornaments that are always placed with care in the same spots on the tree every year. One is placed right in the front and center, a frosted glass ball on which is painted the picture of the only house I ever owned, and my daughter counts as her childhood home even though we only lived there for 5 years. The ornament was a gift from our realtor of all people, hand painted, and a good likeness of that house. My daughter insists it be hung right out there in front because that is where we lived before the divorce, where she could run outside and play with the neighborhood kids and wasn't yet aware of any turmoil. Happy memories for her.

The other ornament that always gets hung in a specific place is a little book of Mother Goose Rhymes. I used to hang it high because if I didn't, it always ended up off the tree and in a child's grubby little hands. I think it was more of a game than anything. Mom doesn't want me to take this down, so I really want to read it even more!!! Looking back, that book getting a bit dog eared wouldn't have been such a bad thing, but it's too late now. I still hang it high - because that's just where it goes.

I suspect someday when I give a few of those ornaments to my kids - they just might occupy the same spots on one of their trees as well. Some things are just supposed to be.
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I got nothin'

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I have not been reading blogs, currently I have 65 posts in my reader waiting for my attention. I have been Christmas shopping. Who hasn't, right? For the last 4 years or so I have bought everything online and I got a late start this year so I have been playing catch up. For me - the Christmas season does not even approach enjoyable until after I complete my shopping.

I decorated my blog, but not my house. It's midnight and I have clothes to put in the dryer, the dishwasher to run and some other chores before bed. No time for blogs!!!!

Can you say spaz? That would be me right now. I will calm down and be back soon. In the meantime - go back one post and make another snowflake for me. If I had more time right now that's what I would be doing! :)
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And it felt good.

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I really hate feeling like I'm behind. Behind in my household chores, behind in my bills, behind in my work. And I really hate feeling like I'm behind in making jewelry. Christmas is coming up and I.am.behind.

Not only am I behind in making jewelry for my shop, but I am behind in shopping as well. I do all of my Christmas shopping online. I have done it that way for the last few years at least, and I love it. Just can't go for all the crowds during the holidays, all the hustle and bustle does not feel like fun to me. You see people who never come out of their homes until it's time to shop for Christmas, and with good reason. Those same people generally drive, and you really wish they wouldn't.

Anyway, it's already the middle of November and I have not started my shopping yet. I am usually begging my kids for ideas because by this time of the year I have run out of ideas and need some help. But today I received a Christmas list from my daughter, saying she was sure she was too late, that I was probably done shopping by now. Nope. I'm behind. Argh-h-h!

So, getting into the bead room this evening and making some actual progress in the jewelry area feels really good. I made a few bracelets and a few pairs of earrings and will try to get them photographed and listed some time this weekend.

I paid my bills last night, made some jewelry tonight, and tomorrow - I start my holiday shopping.

In the meantime, chandelier earrings abound and here are a few pictures. Not the photos I will list with, but a few snaps to get the idea. So maybe I'm not behind in everything anymore. :)

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