Merry Christmas!!

Whew! We made to another Christmas. It has been crazy busy around here with all the holiday stuff and just life in general. The last month or so I have been working, volunteering at school, baking, stitching, card making, basket weaving, and taking care of my family to include 10 doctor visits since early November. We had gutters installed on our house and hubby took me to the Dallas Cowboys/Washington Redskins game at the new Cowboy stadium. While we were in Dallas we visited the Holocaust Museum.

We have also had an unusual amount of family visitors lately which can frazzle anyones schedule especially mine. While I love the company the unscheduled visits can easily get me frazzled then I end up dazed, confused and stressed.


Stitching Update

I finished one stitching piece for a Swap-bot exchange. It is a monochromatic biscornu in a beautiful shade of blue. I really liked how it turned out, it was difficult to mail it away. Still have many other stitching projects going too many to list. I am working on my 2010 craft plan, I really need to get better organized--I feel like this is a recurring theme in my life.

I sent and recieved an Advent package for the exchange on CSE. I enjoyed the Advnt exchange but I found it to be very stressful. It was very difficult to come up with 25 gifts for one person. I don't think this type of exchange is for me, but I am glad I tried it out. Unfortunatley, I decided to leave a few of my stitching groups. I was just overwhelmed with e-mails I barely read and inundated with unfinished projects because I kept commiting to group activities. I have decided to stick to one stitching and one card making group with a few Swap-bot exchagnes. Sometimes change is good.


Paper crafts

I am always doing something with my paper crafts--mostly card making. The Card Swap forum is really fun and I plan to do more with them in 2010. Once I find my camera I may post a few pics of some recent cards. Besides making cards I have started to cover bird houses with decorative papers for Christmas.


Basket weaving

I weaved two pencil cups for Teacher presents and prepared 5 Nativity baskets for family gifts. Thanks to my mentor/weaving buddy Sue for the help with the Nativity baskets or else some folks would only get a card and cookies this year.


Other Crafty Stuff

The kids and I made Cinnamon ornaments with their initials stamped on the back for our family. It smells like a cinnamon explosion in my kitchen. I was surprised how easy it was to do. The hardest part was finding a large container of cinnamon.


Baking

This is the time of year that I bake until I can't stand it any longer. I have made six types of biscotti, lemon cookies, and giant ginger cookies. Time permitting I will bake some cranberry cheese bars later today for our little trip to Granny's house tomorrow.


PIF

I have sent out Meari's PIF. Take a look at her blog for the goodies. My objective is for fit all I can in the USPS Small Priority mail box. I plan to do one a month until all nine are completed. I have lots of goodies for all my PIF pals. Barb, you are next cause I know your favorite color. I will be mailing your package in January. Anne, Carol, Chars, Chiki, Donna, Janet and Lynda keep checking back to see when to expect your PIF. Don't hesitate to e-mail me if you have any questions or concerning regarding the PIF.

Book Reading Challange Update

I manged to finish four books, I thought I could do better than this by the deadline of 31 Dec 09. Maybe next time.

1) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J. K. Rowling-Finished
2) A Tisket, a Tasket, a Fancy Stolen Casket, Fran Rizer - Finished
3) Murder Unleashed, Elaine Viets - Finished
4) Murder with Reservations, Elaine Viets
5) Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone, J. K. Rowling
6) a mercy, Toni Morrison
7) Hey Diddle, Diddle the Corpse and the Fiddle, Fran Rizer - Reading
8) What Happens When Women Walk in Faith, Lysa Terkurst - Reading
9) The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
10) Accessory to Murder, Elaine Viets - Finished

Happy Holidays!! See you in 2010.

CJ