Long Live The Scots

I'll be out of town for the next three days so the next HGP installment might be a little late.
Today I'll be planning and packing for our trip. The weekend will be very busy with a doctor appointment, a Scottish festival, an art festival, my anniversary.

So while I'm away how about a game of battleship?

Battle Ship

Holiday Grand Plan Week 5

Master Bathroom

I for one had a busy and stressful week last week. Time was not on my side and I was unable to finish up my major cleaning in the Master Bedroom. Not to worry though, I was able to get a few of the larger items done such as cleaning the blinds, fan, baseboards and end tables. I still need to work on my clothes and I have a piece of furniture to move into the room. I'm also going to try and change some furniture around and come up with some temporary decorations.

Since we are still basically working in the master I'm not sweating it. I plan on starting on the bathroom tomorrow by working on the shower tiles (which aren't bad at all because I maintain them as well as I can during the year). I just have a few tiles that look a little moldy so I'll zap them with the bleach pen and it comes right off. I will take a few days to finish up the master bath and then towards the end of the week I'll go back to work on the bedroom.

This is also the week to take an inventory of your clothing which is something I really need to do. Most of my clothes are full of holes so it looks like I will have to set aside a little money to buy some wardrobe staples.

Continue on with your gift list and purchase 1/8th of items. Keep working one hour a day on your homemade gifts. I frequently work 1-3 hours on these and so if there's a day I can't get to them I'm not behind.

Check It Out!

I have a couple of items up for sale over at the Outlet so be sure to check them out.

Also take a look at this cute knit hat I made. I made it out of some scrap yarn and discovered it was just big enough to fit my two yr. old.

You Are Dazed, Bewildered....

Whenver strange things would occur the phrase often heard around our house growing up was, "There must be a full moon out tonight."

Well today I've had my fair share of strange happenings but there's no full moon.
There will however be an annular eclipse of the sun (visible only in South America) on Friday the 22nd.

The day started off with the cable television going haywire. The box keeps coming on and off, flashing the time, then saying "boot" then going off.

Next my son's electric piano would stop playing if it was upright but if you tilt it slightly on it's side it plays fine.

Also our telephone is working just fine but the window where it flashes how many messages we have is blank (even though I know for a fact there are two messages on there).

And to finish out the day I have two different clients saying that we told them a specific thing regarding different projects that we never said or agreed to. Unfortunately I think we may lose some clients and money. One of the clients is making very very strange claims and I've been questioning myself all morning, "Did I really say that? When did this happen? Have I had some sort of brain lapse? Is there really such a thing as the twilight zone? Because if there is I think I've been hurled into it.

I just have to laugh at what's been going on today. Has anyone else experienced strange days like the one I'm having?

P.S. I tried uploading this post already and it won't go through. The control panel keeps flashing "0%"

Knitting Projects

Here is a pic of my latest knitting projects. Knitting is a wonderful pastime and so very relaxing. I never thought I'd be able to do this in a million years, but what a wonderful skill to have. What you see here are several hats, some with matching mittens and a beautiful bias scarf.

Holiday Grand Plan Week 4

Master Bedroom Week

This week we are working in our Master Bedrooms. I plan on focusing on clothes. We created a temporary solution to our clothing storage when we moved in but now it's time to change it and also put away summer clothes since we have a very narrow closet.

As far as Holiday Planning goes, if you've made your TO BUY list then buy 1/8th of the gifts on that list. If you order through the internet don't forget to mark them down on the Internet Order Tracker.
When you bring your wares home make sure you put them in a place designated for Christmas gifts so that you won't forget you have them when you are ready to wrap.

Speaking of wrapping...do you like to wrap your presents as you get them or do you do most of your wrapping all at once?

What To Do Now That He's Two?

My son is turning two soon and we are having a small birthday party for him this weekend. He doesn't know any little children here in our new city so it will just be a small gathering of our family.

I was considering throwing a Wiggles themed party but I received a great catalog in the mail with themed party supplies and it didn't have the Wiggles. But it did have a construction theme. The baby is really into tractors and cement trucks and dump trucks so it was perfect.
I ordered the basic kit for 8 people and it came with a tablecloth, balloons, plates, cups, plasticware, and placemats. I also ordered a few extra special things to decorate with. I'll take pictures of everything and post it next week.
I found some closely matching party hats at the dollar store.

I'm keeping the menu simple and I'm working around things I already have on hand. Of course there will be cake which I'll make from scratch. Since the party is in the late afternoon I'm going to serve a meal of chicken fingers, baked fries (with my super secret special spice) and maybe a fruit platter or simply some red grapes. Mil is making her fresh spinach and strawberry salad.

I'll probably bake the cakes tonight so they'll cool and then frost them tomorrow. That will give me the rest of the day to prepare the other foods and decorate the dining room. Today I'm making out my grocery list and cleaning the house so everything is fresh for our guests.

When Big Daddy gets home from work we are going to PetSmart to get the fish for the baby's first fishtank, we'll probably pick up a mylar balloon and get the needed groceries. Big Daddy is taking the baby to the zoo tomorrow morning so that I can concentrate on party preparations.

I'm happy that we are keeping the party small this year because our family has been through quite a bit of stress over the year, we've had a lot going on and I don't think a huge party for a "cranky" toddler would help matters!

I'm sure we'll have fun tomorrow, look out for pictures and also the next installment of the Holiday Grand Plan coming soon!

Holiday Grand Plan Week 3

Entry/Foyer Week

We are done with the questions and the list making, we've begun thinking about what party's we'll go to and ones we'll host. We've even begun buying and making gifts.

We have more holiday prep and this week we are deep cleaning our entry ways.

You'll notice under holiday prep that we should make and freeze one holiday meal. If you're anything like me this will not get done. I typically do not have it together enough to do this. I did this once and the meal just didn't turn out so great. Maybe I should give this another shot. We'll see.

Do any of you have good, simple and relatively cheap meal recipes that freeze well?

Perfectionistic Behavior

There are times that we get overwhelmed. In fact, it's overwhelming how overwhelmed we can feel. But how much of that do we do to ourselves?

My husband frequently tells me that I put too much pressure on myself. And I know that to be true. If I'm putting too much pressure on myself, maybe I'm doing the same thing to my family.

It's wonderful to have schedules and methods but we need to remain flexible. I'm telling myself this as much as anyone else.

Sometimes I'm just so tired that I have to take a break and then I feel guilty and I torture myself all day long about it. Why should I cause myself to feel guilty for not being a machine?

I've seen a trend where most perfectionistic people have messy or upturned lives and are riddled with anxiety. You'd think it be exactly the opposite. But the "need" for perfection often ends up with nothing getting done because it can't be done perfectly - and then that person is driven to depression. It's happened to those I know, it's happened to me.

Recognizing it is key to turning it around.

Taken from wikipedia: In its pathological form, perfectionism can be very damaging. It can take the form of procrastination when it is used to postpone tasks ("I can't start my project until I know the 'right' way to do it.")

This is how I've felt in the past.

Perfectionism is a risk factor for obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and clinical depression. I have dealt with all of these and so has my mother.

We can never be perfect, only one before us has been so.

Has anyone else dealt with this? What practical (not perfect) suggestions would you give for moving away from such behavior?

Holiday Grand Plan Week 2

Question Week
Truth be told, I don't really participate in the questions but I can see how they would be beneficial. Sometimes we have to really take a look at the things we do in the name of "Christmas" and why we do them.

The area of the house to clean is the living room. In my house there is a formal living room as well as a family room. We turned the formal living room (as it is rather small for such) into our home office.
I've made great strides in the last few weeks as far as the office goes but it still needs work. I think if I have one more good go of it, I can have the office of my dreams - ORGANIZED, CLEAN and FUNCTIONAL. This is as good a week as any.
Here we go!

I've almost completed my Christmas card list and made a great christmas gift list. I've begun making some homemade gifts, I feel well on my way to a peaceful and enjoyable season.


Bullfrog 2005 (1 yr)

September

And so here we are.
September, that lovely month yet I walk into it cautiously.
It's a wonderful month that kicks off a very busy season for my family yet I know I'm walking straight into Fall and that's always a hurdle in my life. I'm that summer beach bum and when I know that my beach days are dwindling I get a little depressed.

To combat this I arm myself with several things.

1. The promises of God - He loves me and I am his child. I need nothing more, not even the summer.

2. The many events that take place starting in September help me to keep my mind off of myself and sadness (which are really self-centered).

3. The joy in the hope for a bright new year with my family.


My September will shape up in the following way:

1. Holiday Grand Plan
2. Court date - and no, I didn't break any laws
3. Well baby checkup
4. Trip to Mil's for hair appt and cleaning
5. Baby's birthday
6. My wedding anniversary
7. Scottish Festival
8. Finish unpacking guest room and craft room
9. Fall decorations
10.Family Picture Project

By the way. I keep my fall decorations very simple. I'm not an experienced or very good decorator so I just do a couple of things to set the mood in the house during this time of year.

I made a wreath with a painting of pumpkins and I took some fabric leaves that I bought at Big Lots and hot glued them around the wreath. This hangs on the door.
I spruce up the dining room table with a pretty cream colored tablecloth that I bought for nearly nothing. I put out the pasta bowls that Sil gave me because they are a beautiful orange which reminds me of the leaves. I then spread out some fabric leaves across the table. Mil gave me a few pumpkin scented candles so those will be set out this year as well.

And that's it. Simple yet fun. I really only decorate from September - Jan 1. I don't have any spring or summer decorations at this time.

Once I get the decorations out I'll take a picture probably of my fall table and post it, I really enjoy it. I think that's something I can get done this weekend.

I'm off now to take care of the practical things in my practically pink world.
Enjoy the weekend everyone! And don't forget, I'll post again next week with the next installment of the Holiday Grand Plan!