Progress not Perfection?
I wish progress was going a little faster, but at least it's something. The process with the insurance company seems to be dragging out a lot longer than it should, but we will get there eventually.
I'm currently working on setting up the new computers, figuring out Windows 8, and reconstructing the information from our budget spreadsheet.
Christmas is coming at the same rate, regardless of my situation, so I'm starting in on "all that stuff" also. My sister was over last weekend with her kidlets, who thoroughly entertained "Uncle Mark" while she and I did some baking. The kids helped some and we got done what we wanted to.
Our family has traditional Christmas 'goodies' that we like to have each year. So my sister and I have developed a chart with recipe names across the top, ingredients down the sides, and amounts filled in the middle. The amounts for each ingredient are totaled in one column and then each is assigned to one of us. We each contribute some of the ingredients and split the goodies when we are done.
Do you get together with anyone for Christmas baking? Do you do a cookie exchange? Comment on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page!
Thank you for joining me, it really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Dusting myself off to try again
Life can really be complicated sometimes. When you concentrate on one area of your life you can do good there, but then, I find that other things start to slip. Add in some outside attacks and, all of a sudden, your house looks like a tornado hit it.... or is it just me?
I started working as an Administrative Assistant for The Salvation Army about a year ago. And it is fantastic, I love my job. However, I am still trying to get into a reasonable home-life routine where I stillhave take the time to do some extra housework in the evenings and weekends. We've been scraping by OK and my husband is great, but I often feel like I should be doing more.
Add to that the fact that someone broke into our house last week, and now it seems that much worse and that much more noticeable. Not only did some stranger violate our home and cause damage and steal things, but we've had the police over a few times, the insurance company sent a contractor over, I had my brother-in-law come (as he is also a contractor) and pretty soon, the workmen will be here to fix things.... that's a lot of people coming and going, and things are definitely NOT "company ready" around here.
Oh well, what can you expect, really. I do have a good reason for being so distracted. I believe I have most things organized for the insurance people, we're just waiting on a little paperwork and then we should be able to have the repairs done.
Now is the time to take inventory and move forward. With baby-steps I can make good progress on the house and soon I'll be able to add some Christmas prep work!
It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment ask your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva
I started working as an Administrative Assistant for The Salvation Army about a year ago. And it is fantastic, I love my job. However, I am still trying to get into a reasonable home-life routine where I still
Add to that the fact that someone broke into our house last week, and now it seems that much worse and that much more noticeable. Not only did some stranger violate our home and cause damage and steal things, but we've had the police over a few times, the insurance company sent a contractor over, I had my brother-in-law come (as he is also a contractor) and pretty soon, the workmen will be here to fix things.... that's a lot of people coming and going, and things are definitely NOT "company ready" around here.
Oh well, what can you expect, really. I do have a good reason for being so distracted. I believe I have most things organized for the insurance people, we're just waiting on a little paperwork and then we should be able to have the repairs done.
Now is the time to take inventory and move forward. With baby-steps I can make good progress on the house and soon I'll be able to add some Christmas prep work!
It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment ask your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva
Monday, November 18, 2013
Thinking About Christmas?
First off, I have to tell you, yes, in my opinion, it is still way too early for Christmas decorations and music. But, now is the perfect time to plan!
It's mid-November, craft shows are in high gear and we're starting to get into make-ahead season. Now is the time to set aside some extra time and some extra money (if you haven't already) to make sure that Christmas doesn't surprise you.
I encourage you to spend some time thinking about what you are going to do this year. Just ask yourself some questions and write down the answers:
- Who is on your gift list?
- How much money do you plan on spending on gifts?
- What might you get for each person?
- Are there any crafts you need to get going on?
- How many get-togethers do you want to go to?
- Are you hosting any of these get-togethers?
- What goodies are you going to bake?
- What baking can be made ahead?
- And don't forget your family traditions!
My sister and I bake together, and we had our first session on Saturday. It was extra fun this year because now my seven-year-old niece is old enough to help (not just busy-work 'help' but actually help). We make our list, pick our dates and split the groceries. It's always a lot of fun.
If you start planning now, you can beat the rush and avoid the malls on crazy December Saturdays. If you can swing it, try going on a weekday-day during November to get a head start on your gift buying.
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Countdown to the Holidays! Chow Down
Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!
We all have extra shopping to do in December, let's help ease the burden and chow down! I challenge you to do less (regular) grocery shopping in December. Eat what you have, go 'freezer diving', get creative, and save some money!
I have the habit of putting leftover sauce into the freezer. Plus I usually stock up on the meat that's on sale for half price at my store. I know I have another half a bag of black beans, plus a few 'cans' in the freezer. And I REALLY need to finish that box of rice I bought... too long ago.
Is your food storage in a similar state? Will you accept the Challenge?
Chow Down Challenge:
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
We all have extra shopping to do in December, let's help ease the burden and chow down! I challenge you to do less (regular) grocery shopping in December. Eat what you have, go 'freezer diving', get creative, and save some money!
I have the habit of putting leftover sauce into the freezer. Plus I usually stock up on the meat that's on sale for half price at my store. I know I have another half a bag of black beans, plus a few 'cans' in the freezer. And I REALLY need to finish that box of rice I bought... too long ago.
Is your food storage in a similar state? Will you accept the Challenge?
Chow Down Challenge:
- Wait as long as possible to go grocery shopping this month and buy as little as possible. (I'm talking about regular grocery shopping, not Christmas Dinner.)
- Use up what you already have. Get creative. Dig to the bottom of the freezer and the back of the pantry.
- Save some money.
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Countdown to the Holidays! - How's it Coming?
Less than a month before Christmas. Really?!?! How's it coming?
I have my Advent calendar ready to go. It's a fabric one with pockets that you re-fill each year. I added candies and little notes in each pocket and it is waiting patiently on my crafting table for December first.
Baking is done. Well, part of it anyways. I probably will end up doing some more baking on my own, but all the baking I 'have to' do for my traditional Christmas is ready and waiting. I hauled baking stuff over to my sister's on three of the last 6 Thursdays and we baked... well two of those days I mostly just entertained my nephew (who was being clingy but oh-so-cute) which allowed her to bake. We have gotten together for the past few years to do our Christmas baking to have the 'goodies' we grew up with.
Shopping is started. My friend, her mother, and her niece had a craft show at the beginning of the month. I brought my husband along and we made a good start to our Christmas shopping. Stockings are done except for one more thing, his parents and two friends are done except for some baking I'll add later. That just leaves the 'kidlets' (our nieces and nephews) who get Veggie Tales movies, his brother and sister-in-law who needs more brainstorming, and each other.
Crafting is not really started yet... I know, I know! But I still have time. I have the fabric for the stockings, one is washed but the other isn't. And DH still doesn't know what he wants on his, but I can do mine first, that's OK. I need to just 'suck it up' and wash the fabric in the evening instead of waiting for the weekend (our electricity rates are hiked up the rest of the time). Adding that to my list now :)
Thankfully the only thing I put on my crafting list are the stockings, advent calendar (done! - I made the little notes cute with scrapbooking punches), and these mirror ornaments I saw on Pinterest. I figure I can do them for $2-$3. (Scroll down about halfway on the link.) Mini mirrors from the dollar store glued to Christmas tree ornament hooks and placed on the INSIDE of your tree. It's supposed to make it more sparkly. I already have glue, so this should be an easy mini-project once I pick up the stuff.
How's your Christmas progress coming? Is there something you need to take of your list to be realistic?
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
I have my Advent calendar ready to go. It's a fabric one with pockets that you re-fill each year. I added candies and little notes in each pocket and it is waiting patiently on my crafting table for December first.
Baking is done. Well, part of it anyways. I probably will end up doing some more baking on my own, but all the baking I 'have to' do for my traditional Christmas is ready and waiting. I hauled baking stuff over to my sister's on three of the last 6 Thursdays and we baked... well two of those days I mostly just entertained my nephew (who was being clingy but oh-so-cute) which allowed her to bake. We have gotten together for the past few years to do our Christmas baking to have the 'goodies' we grew up with.
Shopping is started. My friend, her mother, and her niece had a craft show at the beginning of the month. I brought my husband along and we made a good start to our Christmas shopping. Stockings are done except for one more thing, his parents and two friends are done except for some baking I'll add later. That just leaves the 'kidlets' (our nieces and nephews) who get Veggie Tales movies, his brother and sister-in-law who needs more brainstorming, and each other.
Crafting is not really started yet... I know, I know! But I still have time. I have the fabric for the stockings, one is washed but the other isn't. And DH still doesn't know what he wants on his, but I can do mine first, that's OK. I need to just 'suck it up' and wash the fabric in the evening instead of waiting for the weekend (our electricity rates are hiked up the rest of the time). Adding that to my list now :)
Thankfully the only thing I put on my crafting list are the stockings, advent calendar (done! - I made the little notes cute with scrapbooking punches), and these mirror ornaments I saw on Pinterest. I figure I can do them for $2-$3. (Scroll down about halfway on the link.) Mini mirrors from the dollar store glued to Christmas tree ornament hooks and placed on the INSIDE of your tree. It's supposed to make it more sparkly. I already have glue, so this should be an easy mini-project once I pick up the stuff.
How's your Christmas progress coming? Is there something you need to take of your list to be realistic?
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Countdown to the Holidays! Feeling Crafty!
Happy Halloween everyone!
First off, I need to share my favorite Halloween tip with you before I forget:
COUNT the kiddies! Do it however you want - make a tally chart, count how many bags of chips are left and compare to how many you bought (don't forget to account for the ones you ate). Do whatever works for you, but count them. Write the number down and somewhere logical (I have a page in my holiday binder that I made up with cute, free Halloween graphics). Then next year you have a good idea of how many kids will be coming and how much candy to buy (plus extra for you). No need to steal from your kids' haul or get egged for being stingy :)
I hope you're all ready for the festivities tonight. My candy has been sitting by the door since we bought it, waiting patiently for tonight. I'll pull out my HUGE mixing bowl and pour the candy in and I'm all set!
I know it's still early, but now is the time to think about Christmas crafting, if you do any, or want to start. PLEASE don't over-burden yourself. Don't plan to make everyone on your list a cool afghan and then beat yourself up because you couldn't finish. Sit down and think about how much time you realistically have. Not how much time you'd have if no one ever got sick, had an appointment, or a flat tire that took up some of your time. Realistic time. Then cut it in half. Really. You don't want to over-burden yourself. Decide what you can do in THAT amount of time (half of your realistic time). Maybe make something small for several people or something big for one person. Start thinking about what you will make and pick up any materials you need so you can get started by next week to keep the pressure off.
I'm still learning to sew, so for me, this year all I'm committing to is stockings. I'm going to make us our own stockings. We've been using ones we just 'happened to have', but I want us to have OURS. I'm still having trouble deciding if I want to go 'classic' or 'fun' with them. But I have decided I want to do 2 or 3 coordinating fabrics mixing and matching for both stockings. So his will be made from fabric A and decorated with fabrics B and C and mine will be made from fabric B and decorated with fabrics A and C... make sense? Fat quarters should be the perfect size. I laid my stocking over a folded fat quarter, and there's lots of space for a seam allowance and extra decorating fabric. Now we just need to get to the fabric store :)
My sister and started our Christmas baking last week. We're doing 3 days over 6 weeks spreading it out and sharing ingredients. We made the freezable stuff first and will save the icing for the last day. We'll be finishing up on November 22nd, if plans don't change. Now THAT'S a stress-free holiday. I'll probably do more baking on my own, just because I can, but I'll have my Christmas 'necessities' done and no pressure on anything else.
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
First off, I need to share my favorite Halloween tip with you before I forget:
COUNT the kiddies! Do it however you want - make a tally chart, count how many bags of chips are left and compare to how many you bought (don't forget to account for the ones you ate). Do whatever works for you, but count them. Write the number down and somewhere logical (I have a page in my holiday binder that I made up with cute, free Halloween graphics). Then next year you have a good idea of how many kids will be coming and how much candy to buy (plus extra for you). No need to steal from your kids' haul or get egged for being stingy :)
I hope you're all ready for the festivities tonight. My candy has been sitting by the door since we bought it, waiting patiently for tonight. I'll pull out my HUGE mixing bowl and pour the candy in and I'm all set!
I know it's still early, but now is the time to think about Christmas crafting, if you do any, or want to start. PLEASE don't over-burden yourself. Don't plan to make everyone on your list a cool afghan and then beat yourself up because you couldn't finish. Sit down and think about how much time you realistically have. Not how much time you'd have if no one ever got sick, had an appointment, or a flat tire that took up some of your time. Realistic time. Then cut it in half. Really. You don't want to over-burden yourself. Decide what you can do in THAT amount of time (half of your realistic time). Maybe make something small for several people or something big for one person. Start thinking about what you will make and pick up any materials you need so you can get started by next week to keep the pressure off.
I'm still learning to sew, so for me, this year all I'm committing to is stockings. I'm going to make us our own stockings. We've been using ones we just 'happened to have', but I want us to have OURS. I'm still having trouble deciding if I want to go 'classic' or 'fun' with them. But I have decided I want to do 2 or 3 coordinating fabrics mixing and matching for both stockings. So his will be made from fabric A and decorated with fabrics B and C and mine will be made from fabric B and decorated with fabrics A and C... make sense? Fat quarters should be the perfect size. I laid my stocking over a folded fat quarter, and there's lots of space for a seam allowance and extra decorating fabric. Now we just need to get to the fabric store :)
My sister and started our Christmas baking last week. We're doing 3 days over 6 weeks spreading it out and sharing ingredients. We made the freezable stuff first and will save the icing for the last day. We'll be finishing up on November 22nd, if plans don't change. Now THAT'S a stress-free holiday. I'll probably do more baking on my own, just because I can, but I'll have my Christmas 'necessities' done and no pressure on anything else.
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment or send your questions to me on the Homemaking Diva Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/HomemakingDiva or by email at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Monday, October 1, 2012
Countdown to the Holidays! The Turkey Hunt
It's October! Can you believe it? Neither can I! But it is, nonetheless.
October is time to officially kick off your holiday planning. And I'm not just talking about Christmas. There's Thanksgiving (and even Halloween) thrown into the mix, too. (Plus Hanukkah, or whatever else you celebrate at the end of the year.)
Head's up, Canadians! You have just one week until Thanksgiving! Turkeys are on sale, pick one up ASAP. Ninety-nine cents a pound for a frozen turkey is a good price. If you can afford it, pick up two and you have Christmas dinner handled also! That's my plan. I'm heading to town tonight. There are two stores that have turkeys on for ninety-seven cents a pound, so I'm picking up two turkeys. One for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas.
Later this week, I'll do the rest of the groceries. But I don't want to be going to 7 grocery stores the last weekday before Christmas hunting for turkeys EVER again! (That's what happened last year - boo!)
I like to keep my holiday meals simple and make up a 5-day plan (or so) I just recycle and tweak the last one, most of the time. I spread the meal prep and house cleaning over 5 days and then I only have a little bit to do each day. That'll be the job for tomorrow.
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment here or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
October is time to officially kick off your holiday planning. And I'm not just talking about Christmas. There's Thanksgiving (and even Halloween) thrown into the mix, too. (Plus Hanukkah, or whatever else you celebrate at the end of the year.)
Head's up, Canadians! You have just one week until Thanksgiving! Turkeys are on sale, pick one up ASAP. Ninety-nine cents a pound for a frozen turkey is a good price. If you can afford it, pick up two and you have Christmas dinner handled also! That's my plan. I'm heading to town tonight. There are two stores that have turkeys on for ninety-seven cents a pound, so I'm picking up two turkeys. One for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas.
Later this week, I'll do the rest of the groceries. But I don't want to be going to 7 grocery stores the last weekday before Christmas hunting for turkeys EVER again! (That's what happened last year - boo!)
I like to keep my holiday meals simple and make up a 5-day plan (or so) I just recycle and tweak the last one, most of the time. I spread the meal prep and house cleaning over 5 days and then I only have a little bit to do each day. That'll be the job for tomorrow.
Thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Love,
Valerie :D
Please comment here or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Friday, December 23, 2011
Almost Christmas!
OK people, it's the day before Christmas Eve!
Challenge #1: This is the LAST day that you WANT to do any shopping, so triple-check your fridge against your list (if you don't have a list, you want a basic plan/idea of what you will eat from now until at least breakfast on the 27th). And check your presents if they're not done and get going! You want to enjoy Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day with family. Besides, many places will be closed, have weird hours, or be packed because they're the only ones open.
Challenge #2: Take something OFF your list! Make one less side for Christmas dinner, do one less activity, clean one less area (just close that door). YOU need enjoy Christmas also :)
Challenge #3: Pre-prep! What can you do today so you don't have to do tomorrow? What can you do tomorrow that you don't have to do Christmas Day? What can you do in the morning so you don't have to do right as Christmas Dinner is being served?
I have most of my wrapping done, just the gifts for my nieces and nephews left, but they're for the 2nd, and I HAVE the gifts. I'm hosting Christmas Dinner with my in-laws Christmas Eve. I'm making Saving Dinner's white bean dip today and one of my sides today. I'm going to make the mashed potatoes in the MORNING and put them in the crock cooker with a little butter over the top on 'keep warm' (this is a FABULOUS tip, but you really should TEST your crock before you try this for a meal, different crocks have different temperatures and as Leanne Ely says: 'Your mileage may vary' you don't want them to scorch). I'm also going to arrange my 'goodie tray' while the potatoes are boiling (and stick it covered in the garage).
So that means I'll only have one SIMPLE side to make while the turkey is 'resting' and I'm making the gravy :)
Saving Dinner's Christmas Morning Strata has become a tradition for us. (I usually half the recipe because we're only 2 people and then we eat it for a few days - love the toaster oven for re-heats!) It's super-good, decadent but easy AND you prep it the night before, and just pull it out of the fridge and bake in the morning! LOVE that!
Here's to a less stressful time! Merry Christmas!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Challenge #1: This is the LAST day that you WANT to do any shopping, so triple-check your fridge against your list (if you don't have a list, you want a basic plan/idea of what you will eat from now until at least breakfast on the 27th). And check your presents if they're not done and get going! You want to enjoy Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day with family. Besides, many places will be closed, have weird hours, or be packed because they're the only ones open.
Challenge #2: Take something OFF your list! Make one less side for Christmas dinner, do one less activity, clean one less area (just close that door). YOU need enjoy Christmas also :)
Challenge #3: Pre-prep! What can you do today so you don't have to do tomorrow? What can you do tomorrow that you don't have to do Christmas Day? What can you do in the morning so you don't have to do right as Christmas Dinner is being served?
I have most of my wrapping done, just the gifts for my nieces and nephews left, but they're for the 2nd, and I HAVE the gifts. I'm hosting Christmas Dinner with my in-laws Christmas Eve. I'm making Saving Dinner's white bean dip today and one of my sides today. I'm going to make the mashed potatoes in the MORNING and put them in the crock cooker with a little butter over the top on 'keep warm' (this is a FABULOUS tip, but you really should TEST your crock before you try this for a meal, different crocks have different temperatures and as Leanne Ely says: 'Your mileage may vary' you don't want them to scorch). I'm also going to arrange my 'goodie tray' while the potatoes are boiling (and stick it covered in the garage).
So that means I'll only have one SIMPLE side to make while the turkey is 'resting' and I'm making the gravy :)
Saving Dinner's Christmas Morning Strata has become a tradition for us. (I usually half the recipe because we're only 2 people and then we eat it for a few days - love the toaster oven for re-heats!) It's super-good, decadent but easy AND you prep it the night before, and just pull it out of the fridge and bake in the morning! LOVE that!
Here's to a less stressful time! Merry Christmas!
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Thursday, December 1, 2011
A Simple Christmas - December First
Christmas can get so busy... I love FLYlady's babysteps... Holiday Cruising is what she calls it. I'm aiming for a simple Christmas this year.
December 1st!! We're embracing DH's Scottish heritage this Christmas :) Today we did 3 small Christmas things:
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
December 1st!! We're embracing DH's Scottish heritage this Christmas :) Today we did 3 small Christmas things:
- Added plaid bows to the wreath and put it on the front door
- Put up the tree (pre-lit, simple) with just the lights and our new angel for now
- I brought up the Christmas dishes (OK, mugs and 1 glass, plus some hot pads and tea towels) and put the dishes in the dishwasher, put 'regular' mugs right back into the same box and put the box back downstairs :)
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Christmas is Coming! But First: Company and Carpet :)
Confused by that title? :D Let me explain.
First of all 'Christmas is coming' - not very difficult to comprehend. I know many of you are groaning: 'But it was just Halloween, gimme some time!' Please don't get upset, I agree with you! It drives me crazy that there's Christmas stuff in all the stores already and personally, I refuse to decorate one iota before December 1st.
But! NOW is the time to plan and prepare! Flylady's Holiday Cruising Missions are in full swing, and the organizing sites are bursting with time-saving ideas. What's a Holiday Cruising Mission? Well, simplest way to put it is Flylady sends out one mission per weekday, starting mid-October, and she helps us to baby-step our way through preparing for Christmas. There's a fun little game behind it where you're pretending you're going on a cruise December 1st-21st and you HAVE to get everything done ahead of time. It's a great system, keeping you on track, one baby-step at a time.
While I'm not exactly following the Cruising Missions, I am baby-stepping my way through Christmas.
My sister and I do our baking together, and we've already planned what we're making, who's bringing which ingredients and supplies, and when we're making each recipe. This is our third year doing it, so we have it down to a science, I have a simple spreadsheet with recipe names across the top and ingredients down the side and the amounts of each ingredient per recipe in the middle with columns on the end for totals and initials (who's bringing what). We mostly make our same traditional goodies each year, so all I had to do this year was pull up last year's spreadsheet, do a 'save as' and make some minor tweaks. We're making 7 recipes, plus icing over 3 days together and we already did one day. We have fun and get it done, and THAT'S the Flylady way :D
I pulled out my Holiday Control Journal (a free printable from Flylady.net) and I have all my little notes from the last few years. I don't use it quite how Flylady set it up, but I do have everything together. I added a non-Christmas section, and that's where I have my sheet of paper that lists how many kids we had for Halloween each year, so I have a good idea of how much candy to pick up. I also have my Thanksgiving meal planners in there - one page checklists of what order to make each dish, how far ahead... Sound like a lot of work? Saving Dinner just posted theirs and you know it's gonna be fool-proof :D
So I'm starting to THINK about Christmas now, plan a bit here and there, I've picked up a few things already. I got all the stocking stuffers already - a friend of mine had a craft sale with all kinds of pretty and useful and yummy things :D A word of caution: If you're picking up gifts ahead of time and hiding them, be sure to either note where they are (put a reminder in your phone's calendar to ding at you on, say, December 12th, and then you can wrap the gifts and put them under the tree) or keep them all in the same place. I have a spot in my house that I usually hide DH's gifts, and he hasn't found it yet, not that he's been looking. So I know where things are, because they wouldn't be anywhere else :)
ANYWAYS, what was the rest of the title? Oh yes! 'Company and Carpet' right.
So I'm having overnight guests on Saturday. They said they'd get here around 8pm and they're visiting someone else on Sunday before they go home, so I'm figuring a snack Saturday night plus breakfast Sunday morning. I'm keeping it simple, but fancy at the same time. Old bananas were reduced drastically a while back and they called to me, so I brought them home and made two loaves of banana bread. We ate one, but I froze the other, so there's my Saturday night snack :D
Also, I wanted to do something fun for breakfast. I have a cookbook that was a fundraiser for the hospital I bought at a concert and recently I've been trying some of the recipes. And guess what?? The chocolate crepes recipe (which is sooo good - oh yeah, I'm making that today, too for post-night shift 'breakfast' - see my post on shifting) it says to make the batter 1-24 hours ahead of time! (I actually didn't notice that the first time I made it, and didn't care the second time... whatever) So I can make the batter and the whipped cream to go with it (I do Dream Whip: packet + milk + vanilla = DONE) sometime on Saturday before they arrive and then breakfast will be a snap!
Really, I've let the housework slide a bit too much, so having company coming is a great deadline to get myself into gear. And THEN once I've tidied everything up, it's so simple to maintain and I can have a stress free Christmas!
Carpet: My last post was all about how I'd finished painting DH's office. Well, the carpet guy is coming on Friday, so I need to tear the old carpet out (it's cheaper if I do it, once I get into it, I'll decide if it's worth the $35 savings :D it's probably easier than you think). So not only do I have to prepare for company, I have to make space for the carpet guy. But that ALSO means that we can start setting up DH's office :D and then my 'Joyous Snowball' will start rolling down the hill!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
First of all 'Christmas is coming' - not very difficult to comprehend. I know many of you are groaning: 'But it was just Halloween, gimme some time!' Please don't get upset, I agree with you! It drives me crazy that there's Christmas stuff in all the stores already and personally, I refuse to decorate one iota before December 1st.
But! NOW is the time to plan and prepare! Flylady's Holiday Cruising Missions are in full swing, and the organizing sites are bursting with time-saving ideas. What's a Holiday Cruising Mission? Well, simplest way to put it is Flylady sends out one mission per weekday, starting mid-October, and she helps us to baby-step our way through preparing for Christmas. There's a fun little game behind it where you're pretending you're going on a cruise December 1st-21st and you HAVE to get everything done ahead of time. It's a great system, keeping you on track, one baby-step at a time.
While I'm not exactly following the Cruising Missions, I am baby-stepping my way through Christmas.
My sister and I do our baking together, and we've already planned what we're making, who's bringing which ingredients and supplies, and when we're making each recipe. This is our third year doing it, so we have it down to a science, I have a simple spreadsheet with recipe names across the top and ingredients down the side and the amounts of each ingredient per recipe in the middle with columns on the end for totals and initials (who's bringing what). We mostly make our same traditional goodies each year, so all I had to do this year was pull up last year's spreadsheet, do a 'save as' and make some minor tweaks. We're making 7 recipes, plus icing over 3 days together and we already did one day. We have fun and get it done, and THAT'S the Flylady way :D
I pulled out my Holiday Control Journal (a free printable from Flylady.net) and I have all my little notes from the last few years. I don't use it quite how Flylady set it up, but I do have everything together. I added a non-Christmas section, and that's where I have my sheet of paper that lists how many kids we had for Halloween each year, so I have a good idea of how much candy to pick up. I also have my Thanksgiving meal planners in there - one page checklists of what order to make each dish, how far ahead... Sound like a lot of work? Saving Dinner just posted theirs and you know it's gonna be fool-proof :D
So I'm starting to THINK about Christmas now, plan a bit here and there, I've picked up a few things already. I got all the stocking stuffers already - a friend of mine had a craft sale with all kinds of pretty and useful and yummy things :D A word of caution: If you're picking up gifts ahead of time and hiding them, be sure to either note where they are (put a reminder in your phone's calendar to ding at you on, say, December 12th, and then you can wrap the gifts and put them under the tree) or keep them all in the same place. I have a spot in my house that I usually hide DH's gifts, and he hasn't found it yet, not that he's been looking. So I know where things are, because they wouldn't be anywhere else :)
ANYWAYS, what was the rest of the title? Oh yes! 'Company and Carpet' right.
So I'm having overnight guests on Saturday. They said they'd get here around 8pm and they're visiting someone else on Sunday before they go home, so I'm figuring a snack Saturday night plus breakfast Sunday morning. I'm keeping it simple, but fancy at the same time. Old bananas were reduced drastically a while back and they called to me, so I brought them home and made two loaves of banana bread. We ate one, but I froze the other, so there's my Saturday night snack :D
Also, I wanted to do something fun for breakfast. I have a cookbook that was a fundraiser for the hospital I bought at a concert and recently I've been trying some of the recipes. And guess what?? The chocolate crepes recipe (which is sooo good - oh yeah, I'm making that today, too for post-night shift 'breakfast' - see my post on shifting) it says to make the batter 1-24 hours ahead of time! (I actually didn't notice that the first time I made it, and didn't care the second time... whatever) So I can make the batter and the whipped cream to go with it (I do Dream Whip: packet + milk + vanilla = DONE) sometime on Saturday before they arrive and then breakfast will be a snap!
Really, I've let the housework slide a bit too much, so having company coming is a great deadline to get myself into gear. And THEN once I've tidied everything up, it's so simple to maintain and I can have a stress free Christmas!
Carpet: My last post was all about how I'd finished painting DH's office. Well, the carpet guy is coming on Friday, so I need to tear the old carpet out (it's cheaper if I do it, once I get into it, I'll decide if it's worth the $35 savings :D it's probably easier than you think). So not only do I have to prepare for company, I have to make space for the carpet guy. But that ALSO means that we can start setting up DH's office :D and then my 'Joyous Snowball' will start rolling down the hill!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :D
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Christmas Simplified
I know it may be too late for some of you, but if you haven't started all your Christmas stuff yet, don't worry, it can be done!
Christmas doens't need to be complicated. Baby-steps really help with all the tasks associated with Christmas. December 1st I put the wreath on the front door and pulled my traditions calendar. That's it. That was enough for that day because I was really busy, but coming home and seeing the wreath was enough.
A couple days later my DH and I put up our tree. Just put it up, we didn't decorate it yet. I love our tree, it's so intuitive. It took us all of 5 minutes to set it up. It's a pre-lit tree in three sections and what sets it apart is that the lights are logical. The top plugs into the middle, the middle plugs into the bottom and the bottom plugs into the wall. That's it. 5 minutes. (Now my parents pre-lit tree is not intuitive and takes half an hour to try to figure out why that section of the tree is not lit up. I'm so glad that's not my problem anymore.)
We left the tree undecorated for a few days, but seeing the tree set up with the lights turned on was enough to make me smile. Another day I took 15 minutes and put the ornaments on. It takes me longer than I need to because I have a list of my ornaments and I put them on in order so I know I'm not missing any.
One day I pulled out my small box of kitchen Christmas stuff. I put the mugs and glass in the dishwasher, the tea towels and dish cloths in the laundry room, set out the hot pads and switched my Christmas magnet for another on the fridge. I used the same box I was emptying and put away some similar items so that I wouldn't have overflowing kitchen cupboards.
My sister has agreed to do up my Christmas card address labels in Publisher so that they can just be printed off every year and I won't have to hand write them all every year. We have also been baking together, doing one or two treats a week, spreading the work out and doing the freezable ones first. In the past I've participated in DH's work cookie exchange where everyone makes a lot of one type of treat and goes away with a variety.
I usually write a newsletter to put in our Christmas cards to make life easier. That way, people get to find out what we've been up to but I don't have to get my hand cramped up writing notes to everyone. Taking babysteps to Christmas cards is a great idea, but I need to get a move on.
So far I've brainstormed for my newsletter referring to our kitchen calendar, collected my addresses and sent them to my sister for the address labels, purchased one additional box of cards since I was about 12 short, and picked up enough Christmas stamps of each denomination I need (sending cards in Canada and the the States). What I have left to do, write and edit the newsletter with DH (3-4 babysteps), sign the cards and put people's names in them, pick up completed address labels from my sister (I'll see her today and ask how they're coming, we said to try and have them done by the 15th), affix the address labels and return address labels and stamps to the envelopes, stuff and seal envelopes, and actually mail them. It sounds like a lot, but I can babystep my way through it and get it done before Christmas, preferably closer to the 18th.
My mother is hosting Christmas dinner for my family and extended family, but my brother, his wife, and their son will be staying at my house. Also I'm going to be hosting a potluck with 6 of my friends, our Christmas for 8. Because I've been FLYing with FLYlady my house is in decent shape and I'm doing maintenance and have time for my Christmas tasks. I have a few more decorations that may or may not get out, most likely only half of them will go out.
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :)
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Christmas doens't need to be complicated. Baby-steps really help with all the tasks associated with Christmas. December 1st I put the wreath on the front door and pulled my traditions calendar. That's it. That was enough for that day because I was really busy, but coming home and seeing the wreath was enough.
A couple days later my DH and I put up our tree. Just put it up, we didn't decorate it yet. I love our tree, it's so intuitive. It took us all of 5 minutes to set it up. It's a pre-lit tree in three sections and what sets it apart is that the lights are logical. The top plugs into the middle, the middle plugs into the bottom and the bottom plugs into the wall. That's it. 5 minutes. (Now my parents pre-lit tree is not intuitive and takes half an hour to try to figure out why that section of the tree is not lit up. I'm so glad that's not my problem anymore.)
We left the tree undecorated for a few days, but seeing the tree set up with the lights turned on was enough to make me smile. Another day I took 15 minutes and put the ornaments on. It takes me longer than I need to because I have a list of my ornaments and I put them on in order so I know I'm not missing any.
One day I pulled out my small box of kitchen Christmas stuff. I put the mugs and glass in the dishwasher, the tea towels and dish cloths in the laundry room, set out the hot pads and switched my Christmas magnet for another on the fridge. I used the same box I was emptying and put away some similar items so that I wouldn't have overflowing kitchen cupboards.
My sister has agreed to do up my Christmas card address labels in Publisher so that they can just be printed off every year and I won't have to hand write them all every year. We have also been baking together, doing one or two treats a week, spreading the work out and doing the freezable ones first. In the past I've participated in DH's work cookie exchange where everyone makes a lot of one type of treat and goes away with a variety.
I usually write a newsletter to put in our Christmas cards to make life easier. That way, people get to find out what we've been up to but I don't have to get my hand cramped up writing notes to everyone. Taking babysteps to Christmas cards is a great idea, but I need to get a move on.
So far I've brainstormed for my newsletter referring to our kitchen calendar, collected my addresses and sent them to my sister for the address labels, purchased one additional box of cards since I was about 12 short, and picked up enough Christmas stamps of each denomination I need (sending cards in Canada and the the States). What I have left to do, write and edit the newsletter with DH (3-4 babysteps), sign the cards and put people's names in them, pick up completed address labels from my sister (I'll see her today and ask how they're coming, we said to try and have them done by the 15th), affix the address labels and return address labels and stamps to the envelopes, stuff and seal envelopes, and actually mail them. It sounds like a lot, but I can babystep my way through it and get it done before Christmas, preferably closer to the 18th.
My mother is hosting Christmas dinner for my family and extended family, but my brother, his wife, and their son will be staying at my house. Also I'm going to be hosting a potluck with 6 of my friends, our Christmas for 8. Because I've been FLYing with FLYlady my house is in decent shape and I'm doing maintenance and have time for my Christmas tasks. I have a few more decorations that may or may not get out, most likely only half of them will go out.
So anyway, thank you for joining me, and I hope I can help you! It really is fun to be a Homemaking Diva!!
Please comment or send your questions to me at homemakingdiva@hotmail.com
Have great day!
Valerie :)
<><
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