Article Published

I've had an article published at ehow.com! Nifty, huh? It's entitled: How to Pack Your Christmas Decorations using Recycled Materials

You can follow this link to read it. http://www.ehow.com/how_2170612_christmas-decorations-using-recycled-materials.html

Want snow, will settle for rain...

As you may have heard the south east, at least parts of it, are in a severe drought. And while I love, Love, LOVE snow... I'll settle for rain. And plenty of it. I never thought I'd be so happy to see it rain. It's such a cleansing thing. Like the whole world is getting a shower. :)

We've gotten around 2 inches in the past week and that's such a Godsend. It rained on Thanksgiving and I cheered. It rained on Christmas and I was so happy. Yesterday it rained all day and the birds continued to eat from the feeders, delighting in the rain. I almost wanted to remind them to scrub behind their ears. LOL That's how delirious I am with the rain. And yes, I know that birds don't have ears to wash behind. :)

If you have a spare minute, pray that the south east gets some much needed rain this winter. I'm sure God is tired of hearing me ask for the same thing every single day. *g*

Monday Menu

This week's menu:

Monday: Halibut with white bean sauce
Tuesday: Pizza
Wednesday: Chicken Chili
Thursday: Pimento Burgers
Friday: Out to Eat

Lots to share...

Hope everyone had a happy holiday. Ours was relaxing! We got some great goodies. Our kitchen is a little more decked out thanks to a shiny new food processor, cool tools like a lime and lemon juicer, a garlic peeler, and a gorgeous new pan from Emerile's line (thanks mom!).

My birds are also eating in style. At least the little yellow finches are... thanks to a special new feeder just for them. Last night DH and I purchased a bird bath for the back deck. I've been wanting one for ages and I think we've found just the one. It clips to the edge of the deck and has a shallow end, a deep end, and a place to put a dripper. Not to mention the bottom is textured. These are all things that the bird magazine I recently read said a bird bath should have.

I'm so excited!

I've got lots of new "notes to self" and recipes to share.

How was your holiday? What did you get?

Wordless Wednesday: To Be Read Pile

Today's Wordless Wednesday is all about your To Be Read pile. So show it off. Here's mine.

Organizing Challenge

I know the holidays are almost here, and I should be sending my Christmas cards. But my desktop is filled with icons which drives me nuts. So today's organizing challenge is to tidy your computer's desktop. Get rid of unused icons. Organize the rest. And maybe even add a festive background.

Poinsettias

I've heard for several years that poinsettias are poisonous. Now I'm hearing they're not. Either way, I wonder each year how to best keep them alive and looking there best. BHG.com has an article on that very topic this month. Learn how to pick out a good one and keep it looking great all season long.

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jsp?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/14459.xml

Carb Conscious

I hate diets that completely cut out something. I believe in balance.

But need to watch the calories since I'm not able to exercise as much these days. So I'm making an effort to be more carb conscious. There, I've said it. The carb-o-holic is going to be carb conscious. I'm so sorry all you wonderful little carbs out there. I still love you!

CHRISTMAS MEME

from BlogHer - http://www.blogher.com/christmas-and-hanukkah-meme

1.Real tree or artificial or treeless? Any special traditions with the tree?

3 artificial and hopefully one real. I love, love, love real trees. Love the smell, the shopping, everything. But we have a TALL living room and anything under 10 feet looks really silly. So when MIL gave us her gorgeous giant tree, we accepted. It takes 4 hours to put it together. But once decorated, it's incredible. I still miss the smell though.

2. Eggnog or Cider or Mulled Wine?

Ugh, none of the above? How about hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream, chocolate syrup and crushed peppermint on top?

3. Spiritual or Secular celebration?

spiritual

4. Favorite Christmas music?

Transiberian Orchestra

5. One special holiday memory.

Getting engaged 2 days before Christmas. ;)

Christmas Cards

I used to handmake all my Christmas cards. First I'd design the card, reverse it, copy it onto a linoblock, carve it, ink it up and print each card individually. I hand stamped a special message on the inside and I did this for my mom's cards as well. So each year I'd make two different sets of Christmas cards. At some point, I stopped. Now we're doing store bought cards and it doesn't feel the same, so now I try to put a more personal message in each. Last year we wrote up a "newsletter" and this year we're including a photo.

I think the important thing is not how you make the card or what you include with it, it's the sentiment of the card and what you write. To me, a personal little note is the best!

I've been wandering around the net looking at how others are doing Christmas cards this year. Some seem to be boycotting the idea. Others are embracing it, tailoring it to fit their life and family. I encourage everyone to take a few moments and send a heartfelt sincere card this year. Even one will brighten one person's day. And that's worth the minute or two it takes you to write it.

A Christmas Postcard
Organizing your Christmas Card Writing

Random questions...

Ever wonder something completely random? As I was filing my fingernails this morning I wondered to myself if filing makes them grow quicker. Seems counterproductive doesn't it? But I've heard that getting your hair trimmed regularly keeps it healthier so it grows faster. So is the same true with your fingernails?

And random questions like that lead to different ones... such as, when should I replace my Downy ball? Is it possible to fixer a toaster or is it time for a new one? And simple questions inevitably lead to larger ones. But enough about that...

Any random thoughts or questions of the day? Anyone?

Hard to Organize Spaces...

I have a confession. I collect straws in my glove compartment. There, I've said it. The first part is admission right?

How do I collect straws? If we go in somewhere to eat, the waitress usually hands us two straws... my husband doesn't use one, so I stuff the extra in my purse and the stow it in the glove compartment later? There's nothing I hate worse than needing a straw and not having one... okay, maybe it's not the thing I absolutely hate worse, but you get the idea.

Today I got to thinking about how my glove compartment is seeming a little unorganized lately... so now I'm looking for tips on how to organize a glove compartment. And yes, I actually keep gloves in there too. And napkins, b/c I collect those too.

Any ideas?

An organized family

How organized is your family? How handy are your emergency phone numbers? Are sending cards & thank yous a chore?

I'm looking for a way to be more organized about contact information. My mom has an adress book that lets just say has seen better days. There are some pages with long lists of scratched out phone numbers, new address after new address for the nomads in our family that are always on the move. And while I like the idea of being able to grab my important numbers quickly, I think I'd settled for having a central location to store all that as easily as possible. So I'm on the hunt. I'd love to know how you do it.

But for now, I like the software over at highrisehq.com. Makes it easy to keep all your contacts in one easy to use place. Plus, I can never lose my address book under a mountain of phone books and piles of papers.