Anxiety on a Sunday?!

How-do.  I'm feeling some anxiety today which is VERY annoying.  Anxiety on an overcast Sunday just SHOULDN'T be on the books!  Nor should it be an issue on my days off.  But, as you all know, I guess there's no big surprise as to WHY I'm feeling it.  The difficulties of my life right now and all that rot.  BUT, I plan to overcome it today, by hook or by crook, as I'm determined to NOT let it spoil a precious day off!

Mama & Papa Pea and I celebrated Mom's April 30th birthday last night - the first free evening we all had in common.  And, though I know we were all exhausted, it was a really fun night with free flowing wine and laughter.  I made a REALLY simple dinner of hoagies and chips . . . but I don't think Mom would have cared if it had been PB&J sandwiches as long as SHE didn't have to prepare it!  ;)

After dinner, we had a great three (?) games of ping-pong (or gnip-gnop [pronounced guh-NIP, guh-NOP], as Mom and her friends used to call it when she was a teen).  I LUV ping-pong, and Dad set their table up in the garage a few weeks ago.  Can't remember why he finally hauled it out, but I'm SO glad he did!  We've been having tons of fun with it, even tho time allows for few games.  Here's a (maybe boring for you?) video I took last night when I was score-keeper and Mom and Dad played.  I didn't try following the ball - we would have all gotten motion sickness!!!

After gnip-gnop, we had presents and pie:

I didn't ask what Dad got Mom for her birthday because I'm GUESSING that all she wanted was "the living room finished"!!

Above, the annually-requested Banana Cream Pie.  I have yet to make The Perfect One.  Either I put the bananas on the top and they turn brown or the custard doesn't set up or . . . .  This year, it was the crust.  It didn't taste very good - I think my lard was old.  Blech.  BUT, the rest of it was yummy!!!

In other news, I *did* make progress on last Thursday's To Do list, but I spent too much time on the sorting / rummage sale prep because it felt so good to make house progress!  As a result, I didn't get as much computer / business work done as I should have.  So, guess what the majority of the rest of today will be spent doing?

Above, Maisy says, "Mom, I can't BELIEVE you're going to admit to the world what the house looks like with this 'before' picture!"

Now, Tucker says, "Ahhh, MUCH better!"  The pile to the left of the stove is a combination of 'what was there decorating the house' and the For Rummage Sale pile.  To the right is also 'what was there decorating the house' but also the start of the Packing To Move pile.

I really want to work on the disaster of the garage . . . so I can start putting boxes for The Move out there once they're packed.  But, there are other priorities that must come first.  It's hard not knowing when I'll have to be out of here - in regard to planning & packing.  I am in a holding / wait pattern as far as that is concerned.  The 1 month of the "30-Day Notice" is up, and now begins the six dreadful weeks of having my name & situation published in the local paper.  I thought it would begin with Friday's paper, but my folks said I wasn't yet in it when I saw them last night.  I should contact the credit union to find out where things are in the process.  That will ease my mind - the knowing.

In Where I Will Move To news, the nice place located 2 hours / 65 miles south of me is NOT a possibility for a Contract for Deed, after all.  I was waiting to drive out there because I didn't want to fall in love with it any more than I already had from the realty pictures, and I'm glad I waited:  now that I know it's not an option.  For now, the two properties that are the greatest possibilities are the one in the great location but with no well nor septic (did I tell you about this one*?) and another, a trailer house on 13 acres.  The location is kinda poopy, and there's nothing special about the property, but it would be a really good one for the critters with two small, rough outbuildings that have already been well-used for horses, chickens, and goats.  And, the interior of the trailer has been recently remodeled and all the appliances replaced with energy-efficient ones.  And there's a good well and a septic system (although it's probably out-of-date now).  I've snooped around this one quite a bit and am now going to make a date with the owner (a friend) to see the inside of the trailer.

*I've really fallen in love with a tiny, newly-built house on 5 acres.  It has a REALLY good "feel" to it.  Very me.  And, while only about 5 miles out of town, it's up a long driveway and PRIVATE.  The land is good, too.  But, the building, while aesthetically pleasing, was not well-built.  Shortcuts taken are very evident.  And, while it has electricity, it has no other infrastructure amenities.  Other than a nice biffy, though the tank seems to already be cracked (after only a year).  It's owned and was developed by a realtor who WOULD accept a Contract for Deed although we haven't discussed specifics.  I know that I should really go for something with EASE (water, electricity, space) right now, and the trailer is that one.  If I do end up going that route, I'll rent it, first . . . to see how I like it and if it grows on me . . . AND to bide my time to see if another option comes along.  Both the trailer with 13 acres ("lesser" neighborhood / topography) and the cabin with 5 (great location) are about the same price.

We've had warm, rainy weather lately, and it HAS prompted the "thar's green in them thar hills"!  I'll try to get some pictures.  Of course, it's greener nearer town (farther south) than here at Swamp River Ridge.

Finally, a few nice things . . . today is the 12th birthday of a dear, sweet girl I've known since she was born.  Let's see, do I have a good picture of her on this computer?  Let me look . . . 

Here's the natural beauty, a year ago this past March, at her mama's 40th birthday party.

While looking, I also found this from May 3rd of last year:

 

THIS spring, there ain't been no snow nor ice on any lakes around here for ages!

I've had to come back to finishing this post - trying to upload an image while simultaneously downloading an audio book from the library makes for s-l-o-w uploads!

I recently finished the first (for me) book by a great author, Sara Donati.  Book One of her Wilderness series is now under my belt, and it was a LONG one - over 30 hours and 912 pages!!  There's NO way I could have read this one "the old-fashioned way"!  It never grows old for me to say, "thank GAWD for audio books"!!!

Another "nice thing":  I recently sent two checks, concurrent to having enough money in my checking account, to the local electrical system guru.  I owed him the entire bill from the aggravating (for him) day he spent here removing the damaged inverter and hooking up the replacement (used) inverter.  He only charged me the amount he'd told me to expect before he worked all day on it, and I was hugely appreciative of that kindness . . . especially since the ~2 hour project took the entire day AND he had a generator guru with him the entire time (whom I'm sure he paid to be here).  So, I sent an additional $50 check that thanked him for all those extenuating circumstances.  (Of note is the fact that he and I have always had a bit of a difficult relationship - both of us having strong, stubborn heads.)  Anyway, I got an e-mail from him the other day.  It read, "I did receive your checks in the mail, but I will rip up the $50.00 check.  Thanks for the recognition for the extra help that was given, but at this point I imagine you may need it more than I. Consider it cause for celebration and have a little fun."  Now, that kindness goes a long way, eh?

Also of note, I finally opened the 'Open Last' letter than was included with Carolyn Renee's incredibly thoughtful, generous gift.  It made me LAUGH OUT LOUD which is an AMAZING thing to do on a dreary day!  I expected it to be filled with heartfelt condolences and empathy, and I think that's why (even tho those sentiments would be appreciated) I'd put off opening it for so long.  Oh, how wonderfully wrong I'd been . . . she knew JUST what I needed!  

"Chicken Mama, or whatever your "real" name is.  Although, I personally kinda like the idea of somebody calling for me across the frozen food section and screaming, "Chicken Mama!"  But, that's just me.  Because, you know, my real name isn't Carolyn Renee; it's actually Imogene Pyewacket.  Imagine trying to write THAT out on your grade school paperwork every day." 

And on it went . . . from her heart and imagination and sense of humor to ME.  I am one lucky girl!!

And, with that, and having taken the entire afternoon to write this post in fits and starts, I shall away . . . .

P.S.  My anxiety is 80% gone now.  :)  Except, I'm feeling lazy now and just want to watch TV and crochet.  Hmph.

Miscellaneous . . . Saturday?!

In lieu of time to write,

here's just a smattering of miscellaneous pictures from the last few days:

Tucker Doodle Schnoodle Poodle Oodle Oodle

I opened the door to the deck the other day, and found this little guy:  INSIDE the screen door!  See him?

Cute little tree frog!

Frog butt!  See how the lower portion of his body is the same color as tree bark . . . while the top is the same color as a spring-green leaf?  Camouflage is COOL!

The thimbleberries / salmonberries are beginning to ripen.

Here are two of the remaining three finches in the aviary.  Two died w/in a short time of each other . . . pretty early on.  One had a broken neck but the other didn't seem to.  Bummer.  :(  These are the two male Zebra Finches.

This is one of my favorite flowers:  Pearly Everlasting . . . named so because you can cut them and easily use them as a dried flower. 

And, a solarized pic of Maisy Grace.

In closing, I was greeted by a sight this morning that grosses me out more than most anything:  MOUSE droppings on the kitchen counter!  (Enter the heavy-duty cleaning agents.)  I don't mind mice, but a live mouse in the kitchen?!  Uhhhh . . . no.  And, how is this possible with two cats and two dogs in the house?  Obviously, this is one smart mouse!  But, today, the traps come out!  When I get home tonight, I expect the problem to be fully rectified!

Memorial Day Week, Continued

Memorial Day Week Saga, Part III

Last Thursday, both the kids in my care had already-runny noses, so, between the three of us, there was constant nose blowing and wiping.  Despite how we were all feeling, it was a gorgeous day and so we got in two walks:  one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Una forgot how her sick self would feel when we were on the way home and she had to push the double stroller UP this hill!  ;)

The rocky knob in the distance is called Camp Five Mountain.  It's a 30-minute hike from Swamp River Ridge, and you can see both the Pigeon & Swamp Rivers from the top of it.  Just GORGEOUS!

Here's E with Tucker:  he's just the right size for little ones!

E was AMAZED at all the "pwetty yewow flowews" (dandelions)!

"Hewe, I picked these flowews for YOU, Una!"  (Awwwww!)

Our second walk of the day took us up to the trapper cabin, and E felt he should clean the porch.  :)

While I oversaw E's cleaning endeavors, C and the dogs patiently waited.

It wasn't until the end of the day and time for jammies that I had the occasion to see the top of C's onesie.  I think you can "read" why I had to snap this picture!  :)

Do you notice how bundled up she was?  Una doesn't really realize just how cool she keeps her house (especially in the shoulders months when the Central Boiler is turned off but it's not yet hot outside) until she has little ones in it!  It took a couple of days of nannying before the brain finally kicked in and I had cozy fires going each morning when they arrived!

While the daddy of the family continued the work on the second story of their cabin on Friday, the mama had her first whole day there and spent the majority of it cleaning, cleaning, cleaning the interior with solutions of bleach water and vinegar water.  The mattresses, comforters and even the new bed frames had to be thrown out.  Everything had to be pulled away from the (finished) walls and the tongue and groove liberally sprayed with mold-killing substances.


As I headed to their land that evening with the kiddies both tucked into their jammies and a good dinner in their bellies, I met them already on the road & driving towards Swamp River Ridge.  Even though the late light would have provided them with visibility for a couple more hours of work, they were plumb exhausted come 5:00.  Matter of fact, on a couple of mornings, the daddy headed out early to work from 5:00 - 8:00 AM before meeting up with the mama to either drop the kids off with me or make runs to the lumber yard, etc.  (Remember, too, that their land is off-grid AND they have a bit of a hike in to their building site.  EVERYTHING needs to be hauled in their long, single-person-width trail.)


What did I do that night after the vehicle / kiddo transfer?  Beats me, but I'm sure I went home to do chores and then collapse!

The weather was gorgeous on Friday, and it was warm out, but the bugs were TERRIFIC!  I didn't realize that until we were well into that day's walk.

It was hot enough that both Maisy & Tucker took every opportunity to get into the cool water along the sides of the road.

This picture is not the best because the mosquitoes & blackflies were SWARMING when I stopped the stroller to quickly take this shot, but they are Bird's-Foot Violets.  (I think.)

Right after I took the picture of the flowers, E asked me to take a picture of him.  He had a GREAT smile on his face, and it would have been a terrific shot . . . but just as the shutter snapped, a blackfly got him!  So, instead, you get reactionary action shots!  ;)

OWW!  Somethin' just bit me!

Poor little guy!  Una, DO something!

And, with that, I'll leave you for today.  Hold tight for the 4th installment.

I'm Up!

I woke up 45 minutes BEFORE the alarm this morning at 6:00 on the dot.  How's THAT for a change?  Problem is . . . I can't take credit for it.  Nope, it was all Maisy.  I was awoken to that repeated sound of "heeeave, THUD; heeeave, THUD" (gut against rib cage) as she experienced the dry heaves before womitin' on the library carpet.  What a wake up call.

THEN, as I was rushing downstairs to let her out in the pre-dawn gloom, I damn near KILLED myself because some IDIOT left their (okay, "her) black engineer boots perfectly spaced about 4' in front of the door!  I b-a-r-e-l-y got my arms out in time to prevent a face-plant against the solid front door.  Grumble, grumble, "stoopid . . . ."


Ah, well.  But, I'm up, and my first cup of coffee's almost gone.

SO, my new header picture.  Well, no, my most recent dog-sitting-on-baby header picture.  DIDN'T ANYONE ELSE THINK THAT WAS HILARIOUS????  No one said anything about it!  But, I have a theory:  maybe it was because you were all afraid that *I'd* taken the picture - that it was from one of my nannying days!  And you were collectively thinking, "Ummmm, remind me never to hire Bopee to watch MY kid!"  HA!  Rest assured:  I found that gem on the Internet.  :)


The sun was splendidly warm yesterday but it was still awfully cool in the shade.  But, late in the day, before attacking the woodpile, I took the dogs for our first walk down to the river.  Our first walk since Daylight Savings Time has allowed us late light.  And since the snowmobiles aren't running up and down the road with such frequency.

Halfway down the driveway is the garden.  Or, what someday will be the garden.  It's s-t-a-r-t-i-n-g to surface, but you can't see the 3' high fence around it yet, so there's that much snow yet to melt!

The hill at the base of the driveway has become manageable since the sun is melting away the snow & ice.

THIS hill, though, is the problem now.  It's the last hill that I must crest to get to my driveway.  During our excursion yesterday, I walked the packed snowmobile trail because it allowed me traction that the road did not.  I don't know if you can tell by this shot or not, but the hill is pure, glare ice!

Coming down the snowmobile trail to the bridge.  There's a short stretch here where we all share the road.  I'm taking nasty, selfish glee in the fact that there's now a HUGE puddle right over the bridge that the machines must slog through.  ;)

Hang on, the generator just popped on.  That means I need to take advantage of it and get yesterday's last batch of laundry into the dryer.  And a new load of dirties into the washer.

Maisy, checking out the south side of the bridge.  Because of the Laurentian Divide, water flows NORTH here.  Yup, it's true!  So, even though this LOOKS like it's pooling out . . . the water's actually flowing from left-to-right in this shot.

Looking farther south down the river.

And, with that, our field trip will have to end today.  Must get going.  More tomorrow??

Sometimes . . . .

To quote MCC, "sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug / sometimes you're the Louisville slugger, sometimes you're the ball".  That's me today.  Just call me Ballbug.

I slept the sleep of the dead last night which is GOOD because I haven't sleep very soundly the past few nights.  Too, I've been just EXHAUSTED during the days, but this seems to be wide-spread.  I wonder if those of you who live in parts of the country/world with no drastic seasons experience this?  Up here, it seems that we all suffer from this overwhelming exhaustion when the seasons change.  It makes more sense in the fall as we're moving into the dark winter, but in the late winter when we're moving towards spring . . . and gaining an extra hour of daylight in the evenings (love it!)?  Weird!  But, it's not just me:  everyone I've spoken to about this feels EXACTLY the same way.  I wonder if there's a name for this phenomenon?  WRE?  Weather Related Exaustion?  ;)  I mean, it's not S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder which is a very real malady and affects a LOT of people in the 48° and up latitudes) but it *IS* something!

My last couple of weeks have been governed solely by The Old Me which has resulted in a disaster of a house and office and brain.  Once I finally realized that, I have begun Active Thinking again . . . working towards bringing The New Me back to the surface.  I lost my days at home last week due to my much-needed stock-up trip to Duluth, and so the house has gotten NO attention in about two weeks . . . agh.  I'm looking forward to improving it over these next two days AND getting The New Me's active thinking and scheduling back.

Beginning in mid-late February, the solar panels began soaking up enough sun again to limit the use of the generator which is a JOY!  Still, I'm trying to not tax the system by avoiding doing laundry, vacuuming, or ironing unless it's running or the sun is full out.

Up until last night, I was worried about one of the two male Zebra Finches because he was just hanging out on the floor of the aviary and not sleeping up in the ficus at night.  Fortunately, upon my arrival home and immediate peek in on them last night, he was up in the tree, too.  Hopefully this will mark his turn-around.  The rest of them have adapted very well, and it's a pleasure to know that I'm providing born-into-captivity birds a really, really nice home to live out their lives.

I struggle with the concept of wild animals raised in captivity for pets.  I mean, if I don't buy them, I won't be adding to the problem.  But, if you want something, there's always a way to justify it, right:  good or bad?  In my case, this comes in the form that I will be providing these five birds a much more natural life than the majority of captive birds sold will experience (in a 4 cubic feet - or less! - little wire cage).  So, that said and without further ado, here are the pictures I took last Wednesday during the aviary set-up.

This is the before picture.  If you look closely you can see the cage I brought them home in sitting on the bottom right of the aviary.

Even though I'd purchased the new light part required for the repair the LAST time I went to the big city, I hadn't had time to do the actual fix.

Here I've replaced the bad light element and screwed the ceiling back in place.  And, look:  there I am in the reflection!  ;)

The bottom half of the aviary, all ready to go.  I covered all the potting soil in the ficus with Lake Superior gravel I salvaged and saved from the aquarium.  As well as keeping the finches from the additives in the potting soil, I figure the gravel contains quite a bit of good fertilizer for the tree.  At the bottom of the table is a pile of natural fiber that I figured the birds might use as nesting material . . . and they already have!  It's gone from there and is hanging up in the crook of the tree although not formed into a nest yet.  I've never had an aviary / bird cage large enough to hold a tree like this, so it's super fun to see them utilizing a more natural surrounding.  The round dish next to the fiber is their seed dish.  On top of the table is their water dish and a planting of aloe in water.  Neither aloe nor ficus are poisonous to the finches (many plants ARE).  Now it's time to add the birds!

Here are the three finches, the female (no orange cheeks nor polka-dotting at the side of the breast) between the two males, before the one was excommunicated (hen-pecked?) to the bottom of the cage . . . where he is again this morning.

The two Bengalese (Society) finches hung out at the side of the aviary for quite a while that first day before they felt comfortable exploring.  I've named these two, too:  the male (the darker one) is Magpie because he reminds me of a magpie from the back, and I think they're gorgeous birds even though we don't have them here.  I saw my first one in Colorado when visiting my oldest girlfriend when she lived there.  Her response to my, "what's that beautiful bird?!" was the same disgust that most people express here over the messy, beggarly seagulls.  ;)  The female (almost all white) is Babs . . . because she perched on a branch and sang and sang and sang that first day!

The cats are, understandably, enthralled.  To prevent break-ins, I am installing two brass (locking!) latches to the already firm door.  I don't want to take any chances!

A picture says a thousand words?  Obviously, Maisy is THRILLED that we have birds again!  ;)

Magpie and one of the male zebra finches at the water dish and aloe.

Incoming!  One of the male finches & Magpie.

I hope your Monday's great!  I'm off to get great things done (or so I hope)!  If only I could w-a-k-e up!  ;)

Pictures!

Hi!  It's a GORGEOUS day here in northeastern Minnesota but cool (10 degrees last I looked), but the sun promises to warm everything up and cause more melt-melt-melting today!

I am going to post pictures of the finches and some other stuff, but, first, I wanted to comment on something I received in my Inbox this morning from an old, automated calendar:  today is the 2 year anniversary of what I now term The Beginning of the End!

It was March 11, 2009 when the ex had his horrible bike (bicycle) accident while out visiting friends in Sedona, Arizona.  Five "shattered" ribs, a badly broken clavicle, and a collapsed lung.  But, why The Beginning of the End?

Well, that January, he'd expressed the need to go somewhere to "find himself".  He thought he might find the answers he needed among the red rocks of Sedona.  But, the second day there, he had this accident and I was flying out to help him through his 5-day hospital stay . . . followed by several days at the home of the friends' there who'd he'd been visiting . . . and then, when the doc approved him for travel, the slow, 5-day drive home through Colorado blizzards.  We arrived home on April 1st where we were greeted by an April's Fool late winter dumping of the heaviest, wettest snow you've ever seen . . . and were snowbound for 9 days until, on the 9th day, a friend rode a snowmobile in to take the ex out.


But, again, I digress.  I think that March marked the beginning of the final year of our marriage which wasn't really, a marriage at all.  At least, not the healthy kind.  Sure, we went to counseling, we thought we were working on it.  But, one of us wanted out.  In a big way.  Fast forward to the following January, and the ex left Swamp River Ridge.  As I've said before and will say again, we're both happier now that we ARE divorced, so maybe the ex deserves props for leaving?  (Well, that certainly doesn't sound right, but I think [hope] you know what I mean.  Everything in hindsight and all that rot.)

I was later told that some people expected that the ex's Sedona trip would result in him never coming home!  They thought that "trip to find himself" was his way of leaving.  I had no clue!  I knew he wasn't happy, but I thought it was just a particularly low "low" in his clinical depression.

And, who knows?  Without the accident, maybe it would have been (his way of leaving).  We certainly tried to work on things a lot during the long, quiet days of recuperation down there and then in the months to follow.

Anyway, today's date just struck me, that's all.  And I thought I'd share.  :)


IN OTHER NEWS (please, let's cheer us all up!) . . . pictures!

Here's a shot of the latest snowstorm from Monday when I was preparing to leave for an overnight shopping trip in the big city.  Doesn't Maisy look THRILLED?

The new snowmobile warning signs are there in the snow . . . so are a pair of snowshoes!  I grabbed them all out before the snow completely buried them.

The house Monday morning.  Hard to believe that this will all be a jungle of green in a few months!  I took all these shots at nearly high noon:  doesn't look too light-n-bright out, does it?!

Before I left that day, I had to unload 400# of grain from the 1-Ton into the garage before those sacks, too, were buried in snow.

Okay, I'd meant to get finch pictures up this AM, but my day's running away from me.  You'll just have to look forward to them come my next post!  :)

Happy Boxing Day!

Good morning!  Happy day-after-Christmas!  Any of you who live on the border w/ Canada gonna go hit the sales?  One year, the ex and I decided to drive up to see what fantastic deals there were to be had.  And, matter of fact, he had to convince me to go.  My argument:  "Are you kidding?  It's gonna be NUTS!  Miserable nuts!"  His argument:  "Oh, c'mon.  It's not even that big of a town.  How bad can it be?"  

Well, we saw how bad it could be as soon as we neared the mall and spied the parking lot.  The parking lot that was f-u-l-l.  Inside, it was - and this is NO exaggeration - it was shoulder to shoulder.  And that was in the main center / walking areas.  If memory serves, the only store we attempted was Roots, and there was just NO WAY.  I don't remember what we ended up doing that day, but we exited the mall just as soon as we could get turned around and squeeze out the nearest set of double doors.  And, no, I have never attempted a trip to Canada again on Boxing Day.  Nor will I!  But, if you're a dyed-in-the-wool Shopper looking for deals, it would be a banner day!

So, how was your Christmas?!  I had a . . . really.  Nice.  Day.  Granted, I know I made more apologies than were necessary to my folks, but my day was made enjoyable by the fact that I left those things that were unfinished . . . unfinished.  I didn't clear off the dining room table:  we sat with our plates on our laps in the living room.  I didn't stay up until the wee hours on Christmas Eve finishing the homemade goodies.  No, instead, two of Dad's presents (his coconut truffles and citron-only pfeffernuus) and one of Mom's (candied-fruit pfeffernuus) were presented to them in their unfinished state (and then taken back for their finishing touches).  And, while I'd like to have had all the Ts crossed and Is dotted, leaving things AS THEY WERE allowed me to have a truly enjoyable Christmas.  All I'd managed to get out in the way of decorations were a small ceramic, electrified tree of my late MIL's (which I love and hope the ex will let me keep) and my folks' stockings.  That was it.  Still, and ironically enough, it was the most I've enjoyed the actual Christmas Day in a long time.  I was happy.  And my parents were tolerant and happy.  And that's all one can ask for, isn't it?

One of the topics of conversation throughout the day was between Mama Pea and myself:  how this coming year, 2011, we ARE going to start preparing for Christmas early enough.  In, say, January!  (I'm serious!)  We both really love Christmas but are always taxed by the massive amount of preparations.  So, how will we achieve this in the new year?  Well, Mom's brilliant idea was that we write down ALL THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO DO to prepare for an enjoyable holiday.  Then, we'll spread out the preparation of same throughout the entire year, if at all possible.  (This is one of my New Year resolutions.)

For example, Christmas cards.  Both Mom and I really enjoy receiving old-fashioned Christmas cards but also bemoan their dwindling existence.  It used to be that you could hardly find enough space to display them all.  Now, their numbers are only low multiples of tens.  But, neither she nor I can "really" complain because Mom hasn't written a holiday letter in years (due to "nothing to say", so she claims!?!), and I didn't get one written last year.  This year, as previously mentioned, I'm writing and sending New Year's cards.  But, how can you make this an easier process?  Well . . . .

• Buy next year's cards during the after-holiday sales of late December and January.
• Then, aside from the 2 or 3 you may have to discard due to new addresses or divorce or death, there is always a certain number of cards that you KNOW you'll send each year.  Fill out all of those envelopes in the "quiet times" of January.  As I said, you'll undoubtedly have to scrap a couple come December, but the bulk of those addresses for lifelong friends and relatives will be the same in 12 short months.
• Buy Lifetime postage stamps.  You can slap those on as you address the envelopes.  And, even if you put on a regular 44 cent postage stamp and the Postal Service does increase the rates come March, buy the extra one or two cent stamps then and update the envelopes.
• While you can't write the holiday letter until December, you CAN take notes throughout the year when Christmas-letter-worthy events happen.  Each year, I start a computer file entitled 'Christmas Letter 2011' (or whatever that year's date will be).  Then, I'll jot things down in it as they happen:  two new kittens arrived in June, rented an office space in town, Billy's softball team won State, etc., etc.

There are other ways to lessen the December burdens, too.

• Buy gifts throughout the year.  Instead of looking through catalogs come November with "what am I going to get Bob & Veronica?" or "what do 13-year old girls WANT nowadays?!" in mind, keep these things in mind all year long!  That's how I shop.  If I see something in May that Person X would love, I'll pick it up then.
• When you do buy Christmas / holiday gifts early, WRAP THEM THEN!  I keep other computer files titled 'Christmas 2011' and 'Christmases Past'.  Everyone's name is included, and I jot down what they're getting that year . . . and then transfer those items to the 'Christmases Past' file once the season is over so I don't have any accidental repeats.
• If you know you want to make a gift for a particular someone, start that early, too!  Heck, you can probably knit Barb's Christmas socks right in front of her in August 'cause she'd never even guess that they will be wrapped for her and under the tree come December!  And, double bonus, you'll probably take more time to make that particular gift exactly right because you'll have more time . . . vs. rushing through it on December 23rd!
• An idea of Mama Pea's was to make up batches of holiday cookie dough in early fall.  They freeze beautifully, and, unless you're a cookie-decorator extraordinaire, the mixing of the dough is the step that takes the longest.  So, if those are already mixed in the freezer, you can pull 'em out the day before holiday company is coming and bake them fresh that morning!

Anyway, those are some of the ideas Mom and I came up with yesterday.  Ideas which we are determined to put into action in the coming months.  What get-done-before-the-holidays suggestions can YOU add to the list?

With that, I'll leave you with some pictures.

On my drive into town to celebrate Christmas Eve (Eve) with my folks.

Making simultaneous batches of pfeffernuus Christmas Eve.  If the egg whites stay in the inverted bowl, they're stiff enough:  that's the test!

Our Christmas weekend visitor, Lexie.  She's a GOOD GIRL!

When Lexie came home with me Wednesday (?) night, she went NUTS in the deep snow!  I couldn't figure out why she was having QUITE so much fun?  Then, it dawned on me:  her parents, who live close to the lake, hardly have more than a few inches of the white stuff, and this was the first time the 9-month old puppy had experienced deep snow!  She LOVED it!  This photo isn't the best as it was taken through an upstairs window and screen, but it's a good illustration of her happiness.  PRE-Lexie, the front yard was pristine save the shoveled path.  :)

Front yard with all of Lexie's tracks in the deep snow.

Here I am yesterday morning, helping Mama & Papa Pea's old dog, Zoey, unwrap her gift from me.  It makes me sad to know that she probably won't be with us next Christmas.  :(

We ended the day by Mama Pea reading a Christmas story to us.  While Papa Pea tried to stay awake, I . . .

Crocheted the latest hat.  Ruthie, recognize my shawl / throw?  (I LOVE it!)

Tucker & Maisy

When my folks left, the floor was strewn with "dead" dogs.

Lexie

And, with that, I think my post-Christmas update is done!  I hope you have a relaxing holiday Sunday!  :)