Thursday, December 24, 2009

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


10 comments:

Daffycat said...

Holy smokes, you have been busy!

Have the merriest Christmas, CJ!

Kathy A. said...

Merry Christmas CJ.

Claire said...

Happy Christmas.Your kitchen must have smelt delicious with all that cinnamon.

Carolyn NC said...

Well, you have been a busy camper, haven't you? Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Carol's Stitching said...

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and enjoy a great, stitchy New Year too. I have loved reading your blog over the past year and will look forward to seeing your updates in 2010.

Mylene said...

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

glenda said...

Happy to hear you can start to get relaxed and settled. As much as I love Christmas, I am always glad it is over...
I will miss you in CSE, but understand your decision. I made the same one a few years ago.
Take care of yourself!

Meari said...

Glad you had a nice Christmas, CJ - even if it was a bit stressful. Loved the package you sent and am looking forward to trying out that potato bag :) I've already used a portion of the fabric you sent to stitch the gingerbread man.

Happy 2010!

Meari said...

I forgot... I agree with you on the Advent Exchange. It was fun, but very difficult to choose 25 gifts. I think I'll stick with the 12 Days of Christmas exchanges from now on.

Anonymous said...

Hi CJ. I'm so far behind in my blog reading. Just saw this post and it reminded me I've got to post about the PIF on my blog. Will be doing that this coming week. I love the Advent Exchange & have been in it 3 years now. I've already got some of the 2010 gifts purchased. Do miss you in CSE, but can understand your decision. I'm going to have to stop spending so much time on the computer since it's eating into my stitching time. Will have to make some tough decisions about the groups I'm in & my participation in them. Happy 2010!
Barb in TX