Pictures of Christmas

Aha! Didn't find the battery charger yet, but did find a package of AA batteries tucked back in a drawer.

I know you're all way past Christmas and have everything down and packed away, but here are some lingering reminders....

I don't know why my computer will not save this image correctly. I keep getting an error message. But it did hang vertically, not horizontally, from one of the bedroom doors.  (!)

I finally got the stuffed candy canes made this year. Five of them were sent to Mightymom, who generously sent yardage of red and white fabric last year. I have 4 more that need to be finished off, but these were so much fun and have so much potential (ribbons, bells, springs of holly, etc.), that I plan to make more this year.

  This is a punched copper tree topper (rhymes!) I bought off Etsy this year. I tried to buy only American-made gifts and decorations this year, and some of my gifts were handmade and/or bought off Etsy.

I love to hang lights inside my windows, under the curtains, in all the rooms. When  the room lights are off, you get a lovely, colorful glow.

Above my sink is a soffitt, that runs the length of the wall. I have all my antique kerosene lamps up there (filled with lamp oil), and all but one are in working condition. This year, I ran a string of red lights behind them. It wasn't until I turned the light on that I realized how dusty and grimy they'd gotten, so after numerous trips up and down the stepladder, all the lamps were clean and sparkling in front of a red glow.

Along the front walk, where the tipsy pots once stood, I placed 2 upside-down tomato cages and wrapped them with artificial pine garland. I cut up a couple of  dollar-store poinsettias and stuck tthe individual blooms in the garlands, then wrapped them all in lights. They were festive by day and by night.

I was fortunate to have 4 days off at Christmas. Neither Jack nor I could remember the last time I was off Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day. Such is nursing. DD unfortunately couldn't come until Sat. afternoon and had to go back Mon. morning, so we enjoyed every minute we spent together.

I hope you all made some lovely memories, too.

American Christmas

I received this as an email today, and I like it so well, I'm going to post this.  Most of us are quilters, and "get" this already, but still, feel free to copy it into your email and pass it around.



Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition


As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high
gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods --
merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This
year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine
concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift
giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes
there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in
a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates
from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some
health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned
detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a
book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down
the Benjamins on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift
receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or
driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift
certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about
a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this
isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town
Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or
motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a
local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is
struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin
their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery
and beautiful wooden boxes.


Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave
your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at
your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese
lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about
fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to
burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that
China can build another glittering city. Christmas is now about caring about
US, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow
their dreams. And, when we care about other Americans, we care about our
communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

THIS is the new American Christmas tradition.

Forward this to everyone on your mailing list -- post it to discussion
groups -- throw up a post on Craigslist in the Rants and Raves section in
your city -- send it to the editor of your local paper and radio stations,
and TV news departments. This is a revolution of caring about each other,
and isn't that what Christmas is about?

Anybody Home?

Sorry I've been out of commission for the last few weeks--seems like I would never get caught up.  And I almost didn't.  We had our Christmas this morning, since I have to work Christmas night, and didn't really want to get up, have Christmas, then go back to bed before going to work, and then come home to DD leaving on Sun. morning.  At 10pm last night, I declared the tree finished, even though only about a third of our ornaments were on.  When DD went off to bed at 11pm, I began wrapping gifts.  By 2am I had lost 3 gifts, one pair of scissors, and all my creativity. Found the gifts, got to bed by 3:00, but haven't found the scissors yet!

Here's what I ended up doing for ICU/Telemetry decorating this year:

These were repeated over all the doors in both units.

One wreath over a wrapping-paper covered bulletin board in ICU, one in Telemetry.

A little tree behind the nurses' station in Telemetry,

and a bigger one in ICU, because they had more space.

And wreaths for the glass doors on the rooms in ICU.

My sewing room is a wreck.

DD came in on Monday, and we've had a really good time with her and the animals (she brought both the dog and the cat.)  She set her alarm and we got up at 3am to view the lunar eclipse, but it was overcast, so we hurried back to bed. We've watched Sleepless in Seattle, Scrooge, other movies, finished shopping, cooked a little, and just hung out.  Wed. we all went to a very entertaining Christmas play and then out to eat. It's been good family times here at the Scraps  household.

There have been a couple of glitches, though.  I remembered my car registration hadn't been renewed and needed to get my emission test done first as well as an oil change, so I swung by on my way to the store and had them do it all, including rotating my tires, which was also overdue.  One of the mechanics came in very apologetically to tell me he'd broken off the stem under one of the lug nuts.  It was stripped and just broke off, and I don't even remember who rotated them the last time.  I've been so busy, I forgot to call the place the next day so they could make arrangements to fix it. They said it would be okay to drive with 4 lug nuts/stems, but it would need to be fixed soon.

Then Jack's car has been haunted.  (You'd think it would have been mine, right?) It's been locking and unlocking itself, and sometimes the inside lights go on and off.  He was going to take it in next week to be checked, but last night it apparently stepped up the pace, and when Jack went to make a trip to the grocery store for me, the battery was all but dead, and the security alarm was making weird noises.  Our roadside assistance service sent out a repairman, who managed to jump start it, but said we really need to get a new battery.  Right.  5pm on Christmas Eve.  Last year on Christmas Eve, there was snow and ice on the ground and I scraped my daughter's car as I backed out of the garage.  I think we are going to refuse to drive any car on Christmas Eve ever again.  As it is, I'm supposed to work tomorrow night and of course, it's supposed to start snowing tomorrow.  Keeping my fingers crossed either the roads won't be bad, or we'll be able to start the car.

Oh, and one other thing: I went to see my doctor last week, and my A1C, the 3-month compilation of blood sugar averages, has come down from a moderately dangerous 8.6 to a high normal of 6.5 in the 4 months I've been on the South Beach diet. I've also lost 35 pounds and lowered my cholesterol a little.  Still got lots to work on, but the progress is encouraging!

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and that you all make wonderful memories tomorrow!



End of November

Where has this month gone? Did you have a good Thanksgiving?  Did you get to spend time with family?

DD has a major deadline coming up next week, so we didn't get to see her this holiday.  It'll be Christmas soon, though, and I hope she has some vacation time left and can spend more than just a couple of days here.

We did have a couple of visitors, though.  Well, Tandi and I did. Tandi wants them to play, but I think they come by hoping I'll go back to giving them treats again.

The black and white dog loves to chase cars, and I'm worried one day she'll get hit. This was just as a car was coming up the street.

The brown dog is shyer, but has the sweetest expression in her eyes. I'd adopt her in a heartbeat if we didn't have Tandi.

I don't know to whom they belong, but I think they're the reason Tandi got fleas earlier this summer, so I don't encourage them to stick around.

As for me, I had 4 days of PDO to use or lose by Christmas,  so I took one day last week, and will be spacing the other 3 out during the next few weeks.  Since I was off  Mon-Fri night, I decided to go ahead and cook, even though there were only going to be the two of us, and one of us is on the South Beach Diet. 

Challenges can be so overrated.

I did try some new dishes off Kalyn's Kitchen website:   baked artichoke hearts au gratin,  Double Berry Jello salad, and SBD-friendly Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie with a crushed pecan crust.  Oh, my, goodness.  That pie was SO good.  Jack had dressing with gravy, and pecan pie, but he liked my cranberry salad better than the canned jellied stuff he usually prefers.

My weight loss has ping-ponged between 31 and 33 lbs for the last 3 weeks, and I think I'm going to have to go back on phase 1 for a few days just to get back in the right mindset. Now that I've lost enough to be comfortable in the next size down, I find my motivation to be slipping a bit. In 2 weeks I go back to my doc for repeat bloodwork and I am expecting much better numbers and a pat on the back. Maybe that'll help. I haven't told DD yet, and she hasn't seen me since July, so there's another reason to keep plugging.

Outside the weather was beautiful the last 2-3 weeks, with temps in the low 60s, until a cold front came through on Fri., and now the nighttime temps are below freezing. The Bradford pears are the last to change colors and drop their leaves, holding on to autumn as long as they can. 

They're also the first to announce that spring is on the way, with hard little buds appearing as early as February.  It's as if they know their time on earth is limited and they don't want to spend any more time sleeping than Mother Nature makes them.  One of them is struggling mightily, and I don't know if it will last the winter, or collapse with the first ice storm. Maybe we'll get lucky and not have any ice storms this year.

Sure.

My manager at work asked if I'd head up the Christmas decorating of ICU/Telemetry this year, because I "had such a fantastic Halloween display".  Pure flattery, as he didn't see it himself, and besides, being able to do Creepy and Macabre does not guarantee one can do Comfort and Joy.  But I'm a sucker for flattery, so I agreed.

Since themes seem to help me stay focused, I made an executive decision and chose "An Old-Fashioned Christmas".  We have a lot of elderly patients who will enjoy it, and I think it's something most people can relate to, whether we've experienced these ourselves, or watched "The Waltons" on TV or seen Norman Rockwell's work.  

Here's hoping I can pull this off--but if not, someone else will get asked next year and I'll be off the hook, right?

Warning bell

Just so you understand Halloween is not all I'm thinking about--it's 6 months 'til Christmas.

Have you started your shopping yet? Have you started your Christmas projects yet?

Me, neither.

Between Holidays

Christmas was great, and mostly none the worse for being celebrated on Saturday.  The tamales I ordered from New Mexico finally got here on Saturday--but were room temperature, so weren't safe to eat.  I have a bone to pick with both the US Post Office AND the New Mexico catalog.  They were shipped from NM on Mon. the 21, Priority Rush mail, but didn't arrive for 5 days??  What's that all about?  

So we only had green chile stew, because I don't really care about cooking anyway and didn't want to spend the whole day in the kitchen. And everyone was fine with that.  Not sure what we'll do for New Year's, as we don't have a tradition for that meal, but it's all okay.

I gave J-Man a Kindle, the new edition that will audibly read to him.  Having only one hand, sometimes it's hard to do something as simple as scratch your nose when you're trying to read a book.  He's also a bit dyslexic, and the adjustable font size and limited number of lines on a "page" make it easier to keep his place. Since we gave DD the first edition last Christmas, she's been able to help him figure it out, while learning about the new features. 

J-Man gave DD money on a Visa card to start a dining room set fund.  She has 2 chairs bought for her at a yard sale, and a drop leaf sofa table also bought at a yard sale, and that's it.  When she moved into her tiny one-bedroom apartment with no dining room and minimal kitchen, she got rid of lots of her furniture, as well as her artificial Christmas tree.  Now she has lots of space, but not much else, and is slowly buying the pieces she wants. This is the year of Gifts for the Home, as the catalogs put it.

I bought her 4 place settings of open stock Oneida flatware, and she's still trying to decide if she likes this pattern or wants to exchange it for another. I also put 4 cloth napkins in her stocking, each rolled up and tied with a small ribbon.  She pulled them out with a puzzled look on her face and asked why I was giving her fat quarters!  Only a quilter's daughter would make that mistake, right?

She bought me Jinny Beyer's book, Quiltmaking by Hand, which has been on my wish list for a couple of years, and J-Man got me a new watch (I love funky watches) and this.  I saw it on Rare Bird Finds and fell in love with it.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I will get to try it out!

J-Man says he ordered the Supreme Slider for me, but it hasn't come in yet, and knowing his aptitude (or lack thereof) with the computer, we can't be sure he really did order it.  Guess I'll have to check the bank statement, as his email box is a mess.

Anyway, it's been a great few days, as I was off for 4 nights, but now have to go back to work for a couple of nights.  It's been nuts at work--in fact, they called me Sat. night to ask me to work extra--so I'm not looking forward to it at all.  DD doesn't leave until Saturday morning, which means we'll get to watch the ball drop together.  And I've gotten her hooked on Ghost Whisperer (evil grin), so we'll spend a few hours watching back episodes.  I did get to spend some time sewing yesterday, starting the borders on the string quilt I'm making her.  It felt good to crank up the Bernina again! It won't be finished before she leaves this time, but maybe within a couple of weeks.

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday season here in the NC mountains.  Hope you were able to make some beautiful memories with your loved ones!


P.S.  There is STILL snow on the ground!

Gifts

Merry Christmas, everyone!

We will officially have our Christmas on Saturday, as I worked Christmas Eve, and I want to be totally awake and rested to enjoy everything. (Besides, I haven't wrapped a darn thing.)

We HAVE received two early, unwrapped gifts, however.

Gift #1:  DD made it in okay.  Because of the office being closed for the weather and the holiday schedule, she didn't have to use 3 vacation days to come down as she thought, so is now planning to stay until Sat. 1/2, instead of leaving Tues. 12/30!
(Of course, it may take that long to work out the insurance stuff, as I scraped her car with ours while backing out of the garage tonight. But who's sweating the small stuff?)

Gift #2:  J-Man had a complete metabolic panel of bloodwork drawn last week--the first in almost 2 months.  All his lab values are normal.  Not just borderline, but solidly, right-smack-dab-in-the-middle of normal. We may never know what caused the liver failure, but that's okay.  It's gone and he's fine.

We're all together for Christmas.  Everything else is secondary.

 I hope all of you have a blessed Christmas, too. 

A Week Late...

...but here is this year's TV holiday specials guide.

http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/christmas/whats-on-tv.htm

Hope it's not too late to find your favorite one.  Enjoy!

Listening to the Quiet

It's after 10pm here and the house feels larger but emptier now. For the last couple of days we've had 5 adults, 2 dogs and a baby in the place and it's been noisy and chaotic and fun.

Wed. afternoon, J-Man woke me to tell me I was being put on call and didn't have to get up yet. Good thing, as my alarm had been buzzing for 20 minutes and I hadn't heard a thing. But then DD came in about 15 minutes later, and I was too excited to go back to sleep. Isabella had to model her new Christmas sweater:

After supper, J-Man went to bed and DD and I participated in a long-standing Christmas Eve tradition: wrapping presents. I had more to do than she, so I was up til 1am before collapsing into bed, still not finished.

The phone rang at 2am. Of course. I got called in.
As it turns out, 2 of the 3 admissions ER was promising us were cancelled, so they really could have made it without me, but who knew? So I finished wrapping when I got home and then we unwrapped them all again 5 hours later.

Tandi got yet another ball, and guarded it carefully, unwilling to share more with Isabella than she had to:

She didn't like sharing her moose either:


J-Man and I went a little overboard on DD this year, but when you only have one, and she's working her heart out--that's what you do.

We tried for a low-clutter Christmas this year, since she is in such a tiny apartment. Beside gift cards, and a few wearables, we bought her a Kindle from Amazon so she can read to her heart's content without trying to find more room to store books. She was totally surprised and thrilled.

DD and J-Man conspired and bought me a purple iPod with my name engraved on it! Now, I'm sure most of you are yawning over this one, but, unlike J-Man, I'm not constantly panting after the newest electronic toys. (Remember the 20-yr-old Bernina? And the 8-yr-old computer we finally replaced?) But it's been fun trying to figure it out, and in a week I'm sure I'll be wondering how I ever did without one!

That night and the next morning I busted my butt cleaning out the sewing room for brother and his wife--and their 8-month-old grandson. He was such a hoot! He loved Isabella--thought she might be good enough to eat:

Looks mighty pleased with himself, doesn't he?


Isabella had to howl about it, egged on by my SIL, of course:


This little man only took power naps--20-30 minute sleeps and that was after fighting it for at least 15 minutes. But he was so good-natured you couldn't be upset with him.

Do you think the grandparents doted on him just a bit?




Then again, so did DD; after all, they have practically the same color hair:


We ate, we laughed, we shopped a little, we ate some more, we played with the baby and pulled the dogs apart when jealousy got the best of them, and now it's all over til next year.

I pulled out the 11 quilting magazines I haven't had time to read yet, but didn't even thumb through them. It's awfully quiet here now. I think I can hear my thoughts echoing.

There'll be time enough to put the rooms back together later. For now, I want to remember these past few days.

Sleep tight tonight, baby boy.

Remember the Definition of Insanity?

Why does the time from Halloween to Christmas seem so short? I swear, I spend so much of September and October getting ready for Halloween, that by the time I clean it all up and pack it away, it's Thanksgiving, then Christmas and all my plans have fallen by the wayside.

I have books and magazines and notebooks with ideas for cute gift tags, pretty bows and clever decorating tips and I happen upon them at odd times of the year. I think I'm going to remember that when it comes time to get ready for Christmas, and visions of storybook Christmases dance in my head: wreaths hanging in every window, extra meals waiting in the freezer, the house full of the scent of baking cookies, handmade gifts for everyone from the daughter to thevet to the mailman, each room decorated to the hilt with Christmas quilts and wallhangings.

Then reality asserts itself and I don't remember to hunt up those cute Christmas buttons I've been saving, or where I put that magazine page with how-tos on creative bow-making. We use fabric bags or yardage to wrap for the family here, with gift bags or paper-wrapped gifts going outside the family. I want to dress them up, make them special with little floral picks and bells and vintage ornaments, pinked edges to the fabrics and tulle bows, and handmade fabric gift bags with appliqued Christmas trees and stars and nativity scenes.

Instead, I slap a stick-on bow and stuff in some tissue paper and voila!--grab it on the way out the door. Or, it's 1 am Christmas morning and I'm blearily trying to find those gift tags that came in the mail from someone pleading for donations this holiday season. (I have no shame. I use the tags and the address labels and only send money to those I have already chosen to support).

Next year, I tell myself. Next year I'll start in February or March, making my own Christmas cards, making my gifts, crafting cute little beaded ornaments to attach to gifts for co-workers and friends.

But February comes around and dozens of seed catalogs fill my mailbox, and then it's April and I'm digging in the dirt and turning my face to the sun, and suddenly July is here and it's hot out there so I stay in and quilt, but only bright colors, or maybe even fall colors come late August, but just can't get the Christmas thing going. Then boom! -- I'm in the same boat as last year, and the year before, and the year before that.

Maybe I'll just start as soon as my company leaves on the 28th...

Yes, that oughta do it!

Twisted Christmas

This is not turning out to be our typical Christmas.

As I mentioned before, I am miles behind where I usually am in my Christmas preparations. Last night at work I made a revised list of what I need to do and anything I think I might reasonably be able to accomplish.

So, on my way home from work this morning, I decided to stop by the little curb market to look for ornaments and/or stocking stuffers for J-Man and DD. This is a little building where lots of vendors set up their wares, and everything must be either made or grown in our county. I didn't find any ornaments, but found a couple of soy candles. The man and his wife use all kinds of containers, and will fill the small containers you bring in if you like, and will refill candles you've bought from them for only $2.00.

The thing is, DD has 3 odd teacups and saucers I bought years ago at an estate sale, but was going to get rid of when we decided to move. She asked for them, so of course I gave them to her. I'm thinking, if she has them out and not packed away, they'd make wonderful candle holders, as the soy candles burn cool and won't damage the china. I may get her to bring them with her so we can have the guy fill them with the color and scent she wants and I can ship them back to her.

But I still didn't find any ornaments, and this is a serious tradition in my house. It would never do for me not to buy each of them an ornament. I figured my best bet was to run home and get my Christmas money and head back down to the little shops on Main Street in search of unique ornaments and stocking stuffers. By this time I was getting a little hungry, so I hit the drive-thru at Micky D's for a chicken biscuit and coffee. While waiting to pay, I glanced in my rear view mirror and saw an older man in the car behind me. When I paid for my food, I asked how much his order was; it was $3.80. I still had some money in my wallet, so I paid for his and told the gal to just tell him Merry Christmas. It was fun to watch him drive up to the window and be told his order was paid for. He kept peering at my truck, wondering, I'm sure, if he knew me. I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. Made my whole morning.

Until I got home, that is, where the TV is still not working. J-Man decided to upgrade the satellite dish to HD, so the guy came out on Thurs. and did whatever he has to do. Since I had to sleep before work, I didn't get a chance to check it out. J-Man was able to watch a little that night, but by yesterday morning, the TV gave up the ghost. He'd turn it on, and it would be on for about 2 seconds and audibly click itself off. It's the same thing the little bedroom TV was doing a couple of months ago, and that one was old enough the part needed wasn't available any more. Right now it's still sitting in the bedroom floor, waiting for me to haul it to the dump. In its place is a new little flat screen with a terrific picture.

We have an agreement with Sears that covers maintenance visits and service visits on 13 different appliances for one flat fee--and we just renewed it last week, so J-Man called to set up an appointment. Thing is, Sears contracts out on the big screen and we always have to wait for the guy to call us to schedule his visit. Sears always says he'll call within 24 hours, but he never does. And today is Saturday. I doubt he'll call before Monday, and if he does, who really believes he'll get out here to fix it before Christmas Eve? Could I see a show of hands? Of course, it is the season of miracles. Then again, it would be a miracle if he actually carries whatever part is needed to fix the TV and won't have to order it.

So here it is, Christmas specials and movies all over the place, and the TV isn't working. Since J-Man is disabled, the TV is his primary form of entertainment. Fortunately we do have one in the bedroom, but there is nowhere to sit in there, and he gets tired of lying down to watch television, even on the adjustable bed. Me, I've got plenty else to do, so I'm just playing Christmas music and burning a CD with some new favorites on it. Oh, and burning some scented oil. To get rid of a very un-Christmassy odor. A very sour odor. While I wash slip covers and crate pads and spot clean the carpet.

When I came home, J-Man casually mentioned Tandi hadn't eaten her breakfast yet, but he didn't think she was sick or anything. DUH! She's a little foodie--if she isn't eating, she's sick! Sure enough, she'd upchucked in her crate, and got it on her ears and the carpet and now everything smells a little sour. Before I could get her outside, she upchucked again. Two of her doggy friends came around while we were out there, took a couple of sniffs of her and left. Even THEY knew she was sick, but not the J-Man. Sometimes he can be so obtuse.

So there's a load in the washer, one in the dryer, and I'm boiling rice water on the stove to feed her. I'd really rather not spend another small fortune at the vet hospital (weekend again!) if I can manage this myself. Later, I get to haul her little self into the tub for a bath.

It's the guest bath.

I needed to clean it anyway.

There goes my nap.

So, since I can't watch any Christmas movies, we won't do the trivia thing this week. Instead, I'm going to do a survey here.

There have been many versions of Dickens' A Christmas Carol through the years, and I thought I'd seen pretty much all of them, til this year I saw a version with Cicely Tyson as "Ebonita" Scrooge. J-Man's favorite version is Scrooge, the musical with Albert Finney. I can't decide between the one with George C. Scott and the one with Patrick Stewart.

What's your favorite version?