Getting Ahead of the Holiday Crunch

The holidays are upon us, whether we like it or not. Like you, it seems to surprise me every year despite the fact that I absolutely LIVE by my calendar. When the kids were little I was busier with the little things and had to micro manage their lives. Now that they are older I've had the luxury of getting ahead on some things better. Mind you, I'm SO not perfect on these things, but there are a few that I have a grasp on. Here's my list of things that are easily taken care of ahead of time- whether you're hosting a crowd or traveling, or both!

Things you can do well in advance of holidays:

• Do your Costco run early-buy all of your toilet paper, paper towels, canned goods, extra butter, etc. at this time. Also buy a few things to keep in your freezer for those "Oh crap, I forgot about dinner" nights: lasagne, pot pies, etc. If you have to go back for fresh meat or perishables it will only be a few items and the trip will go much faster than trying to get it all done during the last minute rush, when you also have a house full of people that you would rather spend time with instead of standing in an hour long line to check out. 
• Shop online for gifts and have them sent to your destination. You can usually add "Attention: Your Name" somewhere on the mailing label so that the resident of your destination will know to put your things aside rather than opening them and spoiling the surprise. Do it early, save the emailed receipt in a special folder in your email so that you can make sure each one arrives before you do. Do this as soon as you finalize your gift list so you don't forget something or have to figure out how to travel with an odd-shaped gift or have to pay double shipping to get it to where you need to go.
• Do a deep cleaning of your house early. Lift the pictures and tchotchkes when you dust so when you are putting out your holiday decorations that you don't find surprises! This helps because you can do a quick swipe/vacuum just before company arrives rather than realize at the last minute that you can't remember the last time you scrubbed the toilet. I speak from experience here. Ahem. 
• Shop NOW for special items for holiday parties or performances. I used to get so frazzled when a teacher would send home a letter about the kids needing a white shirt, or black pants, or whatever, for the holiday concert. I try to shop early for those items that I know that they (or I,) will need so that they can be washed, ironed, and set aside for the special day. This also eliminates the inevitable "OMG HOW CAN THEY BE OUT OF THIS!" moment when you have to run all over hell's half acre looking for a size/item that you have to have. 
• Wash/iron your linens early. Do you take pride in setting a gorgeous table? It's so much easier to do it when you already have them laundered and ready. Take an evening to catch up on Grey's Anatomy and iron while you watch, then hang in a closet. 
• Don't forget to take stock of what you have on hand before you make your shopping list. Do you always have mimosas on a holiday morning? Do you keep champagne and orange juice on hand always? Or do you need to grab some? What about the butter? Holidays always require extra so buy it now and toss it in your freezer. It won't go bad and you'll have extra when Aunt Carol forgets it for her super special secret recipe.You can freeze fresh cranberries too! Remember to look at the full list of food/meals to be served and grab what you can early.
• Order holiday cards NOW. It's easy to address envelopes, write a letter, and stamp them later. It seems that choosing the photos and designing the cards takes way longer than anything else, and if you're behind on that they may never get sent. If you have little ones they can help with the stamps, folding letters, and stuffing envelopes, too.

What have I forgotten? What do you do early to avoid the crunch?

Progress, Y'all!

Just yesterday I was lamenting the state of my house. While there are 3 areas in serious need of attention, (I literally piled the decorations onto the existing crap. Don't judge.) I made progress in a few areas today!

First and foremost, I bought a new Christmas tree. I scored, bigtime. A few weeks ago I had checked Hobby Lobby to see what they had. At the time, the tree that I wanted was 40% off. Thinking that I would check a few more places, I didn't buy it. I checked online yesterday and noticed that their Christmas stuff was now 50% off. Score!

This morning I headed out pretty early. Well, for me anyway. I thought that I was only going to grab the tree. Heh. I grabbed the tag for the tree and a few, ok several, other things and went to check out. Turns out, the tree I had chosen was sold out. Except for the floor model. (Seriously? Mark it or take the tags out of the holder.) Since it had been out and picked over I only told them that I would take it if they gave me more of a discount. They did! I ended up getting a $600 tree for about $250. Love that! And, it's 9 feet tall-perfect for our living room with a vaulted ceiling.

The best part of the tree though was when HD went to pick it up. He called me after almost having a heart attack at seeing the price on the box. He was not happy. Then he saw the receipt. And praised my bargain shopping and negotiating skills. ;-)

I also put away several boxes. Getting there!

I also got more Christmas shopping done! Yippee!!!!! I'm feeling pretty on top of things so far this holiday. Don't hate me. I'm certain it won't last for the next 4 weeks so I'll enjoy it now, mmmmkay?

The Big Declutter

A couple years ago when HG was about to get married, I started to get the bug. I got rid of bags of stuff. Went through cupboards and drawers. I was able to give her a few hand-me-downs of kitchen things that she, miraculously, didn't receive as wedding gifts, but mostly I was in clean-out mode.

I'm there again.

I recently read an article about the stats of our stuff. It was shocking. Stuff like: kids play with 12 toys but own well over 300, or we wear 9 outfits but own 60. As I look around my home, I'm highly embarrassed about the things that we own that are purely there to collect dust. I have a new resolve, and this is my plan.

1) I need to clean my house to get ready to get all of my Christmas stuff out. Since Thanksgiving is almost here I don't have much time. In the process of basic cleaning I vow to box/bag things that I know without a doubt that I need to get rid of. This list will include, but isn't limited to: books that have been read that no one else will want to read, magazines, clothing, things that are broken/beyond repair, ugly, etc. In general these things will either go into the trash or a donate bag. Before Christmas this is all I will have time for.

2) Have you seen the articles about the stuff that is worth crazy amounts of money? Pokemon cards, old VHS tapes, etc. I have a bunch of random stuff lying around that are on those lists. I need to sell them. I don't expect top dollar for it all but if I can list some of it on eBay and make enough money for it to be worth it, then why not? Better than the trash bin-for me and the collector! Action point: set up an eBay account and learn best practices so I'll know what I'm doing when I start.

3) Stop pretending that I'll be 1 (or 2 or 3) sizes smaller by next spring (or winter). I have a ton of clothing that I need to just ditch, already. Yes, I need to lose weight, but even if I do there are things that won't make the cut. I've actually started doing this already. I keep a bag in the corner of my room that I toss stuff in when I'm getting dressed. If it doesn't fit, if it's stained, if I simply hate it? It goes in the bag. I no longer feel guilty, because like the article said, we only wear about 9 outfits anyway. Now if I could just get my husband to do the same!

4) Eventually I plan on doing the Japanese thing about "does this item bring me joy?" I don't guess I'll follow it to the letter; I'm way too sentimental for that! But I need some guideline for getting rid of stuff and that sounds as good as any other reason.

5) I would like to organize our family photos. I have a central place that most of them are kept but now most of them live on a hard drive or on an internet account. First up: gather old photos that I've always wanted to have hanging somewhere and make it happen. I have a long wall that I've always wanted to make a 'gallery' and the pictures of grandparents and great-grandparents, as well as great photos of us and the kids. It's one of those "Just do it" type of things. It would make me so happy to be able to see them every day-why does it take me so long to do this stuff??? Second: dig through digital photos and make books- kids, birthdays, holidays, vacations. We take great photos and they live inside of an electronic device. That's sad.

So it looks like I have at least a year's worth of work ahead of me. Wish me luck!

A Day in the Life

Last Friday was a banner day around here, and I'm not sure I would have believed it if I hadn't lived it myself. This is normal around here, actually.

6:25- Alarm goes off. (This is our late day. M-Th is a 5:15 wake up. I'll spare you one of those.)
6:26- Start the coffee, feed the dog.
6:30- Get HB#2 up and moving.
6:35- Drink coffee. Duh. And check Facebook.
7:00- Make sure HB#2 is on his way for breakfast. He didn't want me to cook today. Yay!
7:15- Get HB#1 up and in the shower.
7:30- HB#1 actually gets in the shower.
7:45- Drive HB#2 and his friend to school
8:00- Return home. Have 2nd cup of coffee and play games on iPad.
8:05- Get HB#1 out of the shower.
8:06- Return to game.
8:15- Make tomato and cheese omelet for HB#1 because he had his wisdom teeth out last week and can't eat anything else.
8:40- Get puppy in crate.
8:45- Take HB#1 to school.
9:00- Meet a friend at Starbucks. Order a breakfast sandwich and ice water.
10:10- Leave coffee date reluctantly.
10:15- Return home to let the dog out. Have to put her on a leash since the gardeners are here and they leave the gates open.
10:30- Take the dog next door since said gardeners are here and I have to leave.
11:00- Pick up HB#1 at the high school to go to a follow up appointment for his wisdom teeth.
11:10- Race across town. Half way there realize I could have taken the freeway.
11:30- Make it to the dentist e.x.a.c.t.l.y. on time.
12:00- Leave dentist's office.
12:02- Hand HB#1 more money so he can go into Juice it Up for a smoothie with protein for his lunch.
12:07- Say a prayer that I can make it up the street to the gas station.
12:15- Fill up with gas so we can make it back to the high school. (It's only been 2 days since my last fill up. This pisses me off. At least gas prices have gone down a little.)
12:30- Arrive back at the school to sign him back in.
12:40- Get home and go get the dog and her brother. It's really hot and after 2 hours in the yard they are ready to be in. Plus they drank all of their water.
12:45- Collapse on the couch.
12:46- 2:20- (I'm not exactly sure what I did. Fed the dog. Oh! I visited with my neighbor when she came to get her dog.)
2:21- Talk about afternoon plans with HB#2 when he gets home from school. Give him a few minutes to breathe before we have to leave.
2:30- Take HB#2 to get new shoes. (For the love of all that is holy, could this kid's feet stop growing?? He's in a 10 1/2 at 12 years old, and needs new shoes every 3-4 months.)
2:40- Arrive at shoe store.
2:50- Convince him to try on a pair.
2:55- Success! Pay and we're outta there. Run into Toys R Us to see if they still have baby pools. For the dog. No luck.
3:00- Go across the street to get the kid frozen yogurt.
3:10- Text our hair stylist to see if she wants some.
3:17- Get her yogurt.
3:25- Leave for 3:45 hair appointment. Get on freeway.
3:27- Freeway comes to a dead stop.
3:35- Have kid text hair stylist that we're stuck in traffic.
3:45- Make it to the salon e.x.a.c.t.l.y. on time for HB's haircut.
4:15- Leave salon.
4:30- Arrive at the park across from the high school to pick up HB#1
4:45- Arrive home and collapse on couch.
4:47- Remind kids to get their things ready for their night time activities.
4:48- Text neighbor who is giving HB#1 his haircut that we are home.
5:00- Neighbor comes to cut his hair. Chat.
5:30- Leave to take HB#2 to football practice.
5:50- Drop him at his practice, head home.
6:05- Arrive at home. See if HB#1 is ready to go.
6:15- Leave for the church.
6:35- Drop him at church for an all night activity. Leave for home.
7:00- Arrive at home. The traffic was horrible on the way home so it took much longer!
7:01- Call HD to see if he can for sure pick up the football kid. (Otherwise I would have to leave in about 20 minutes.) I'm in the clear.
7:15- Open and Angry Orchard cider. Check Facebook.
7:20- HD and HB#2 arrive home. Want to know what is for dinner.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

I know someone out there can relate. Right?

Anyone??

Getting it Done

You might remember that about 4 (5? I'll have to check,) years ago we had a flood in the house? It originated in the laundry room and in the fixing process I was able to repaint the room. It really came out pretty but it wasn't finished until yesterday. Ahem.

All I really had to do was put the finishing touches. This cute switch plate came from our trip to the Virgin Islands last year. The frog is perfect with the yellow wall color!

The gecko came from a trip my parents took to the Caribbean about 15 years ago. I love having him hang out to help with the laundry. You can see the curtain rod on the edge of the picture... We finally hung it yesterday. I have a simple sheer curtain on this window since I don't really need privacy there.

On the other side of the window hangs this washboard. Let me give you a closer look...

My grandfather made a few of these and I'm lucky enough to have one of them. It's a 'Receet for Washing Clothes' and has instructions for building the fire, which clothes to wash first, what to do with the dirty water, etc. My mother has always had hers hanging in her laundry room and I love that I have one, too.

I also cleaned out and organized our front hall closet. I pulled the extra shelves out of my son's closet earlier in the summer when we moved things around in his room and closet. While they don't fit all the way across, it works perfectly for my extra totebags. (I have a serious problem with bags. I should tell you about it sometime.) We also have a jacket problem. All of these jackets belong to me and Headless Dad. Not one belongs to the boys. Yes, we do live in Southern California, where we need them for about 4 days a year. I will say, however, that only about 1/3 of them are mine!

This is the bottom of the closet where the extra toilet paper lives with the rarely used (but really nice,) snorkel equipment lives. Before I cleaned out the closet you could not see the floor. The extra stuff that was in there went to live elsewhere or went into the Give Away bag. 

I am jazzed that I was able to get these things done... FINALLY!!

This post inspired by Melisa, who finally got a few of her favorite pictures on the wall and switched out her kitchen cabinets for better functionality. Go check it out and get some ideas!

 

Why #1

Why can I NOT keep my kitchen clean? Yes, I realize that it gets used at least 3 times a day. Holy cow, this room is a disaster area. Crumbs everywhere, a perpetual sink of clean dishes, not to mention the parade of dirty ones that fill the other side of the sink and trail off to the right.

To remedy this I have: started making the boys empty the dishwasher more regularly, begun to teach them where the handwashed stuff goes. Next: try to sweep daily, do better at throwing things away so I don't have as many piles on my counter. (I am a serial pile-maker.)

What do you to to keep the kitchen under control? I need a serious intervention!
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Behind

And thus begins the portion of the show where I freak the heck out.

I've got 3 tons of stuff to do and less than a ton of time to do it.

Please, if I'm missing something major in your life or on your blog direct me to it. Know that it's not you, it's me. I'm going to spend the next several days offline (except for shopping!,) and try to get caught up.

Do you have any tips for me for getting caught up? Right now I need a clock that goes back in time!
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Decorating

Last year we had a crappy Christmas. Well, it just didn't much feel like any sort of holiday since our house was torn up after our flood and I couldn't decorate. Do you remember the sad little tree that I put up in our family room?

Well, you'll be happy to know that I decorated today. All of the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. The sad little tree is up in the family room and it isn't quite so sad this year. The only thing that isn't done yet are actual ornaments on the trees. Tomorrow and Sunday. Not kidding.

I had fun decorating this year. I did some things differently than I usually do which makes it fun for me. I actually cleaned off an entire table in my front hall and have a nativity on it with 2 other of my 'Christmas collections'. I think I'll take pictures tomorrow so you can see some of what I've done. And yes, Liz, I'll show you where I put the tree!

Confession: I still haven't found homes for a few of the boxes that you saw in the last picture of my progress. Honest to pete I cannot seem to get rid of them. They are full of random stuff. Old pictures, a map of London from our trip there in 1999, some old business files.  Certainly if I would just go through them I could at least combine them into one, right? Anyhow, that's what I'm up against.

Viva Saturday!
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Progress #3

Here's the living room, complete save the pile of crap right there in front. Already being moved as we speak. Looks pretty good, eh? Also, I got a couple of stains out of the carpet. I don't know if you'd be able to tell from previous pictures. I'm motivated because I'm planning on putting up the Christmas tree ASAP. Maybe tomorrow if I can finish up.

Also completed:

• bills paid
• current laundry done
• boys thank you notes and chores
• some of the paper has been dealt with
• shelves on the bookshelf reorganized

I've just been informed that we're going out to dinner tonight. Just HD and I. Hmmm. Wonder if he remembers that our anniversary is in 3 days? (Don't tell him, HG. Seriously.)(He never remembers on his own.)(I'm not kidding HG. Don't tell him.)

So I guess I'm off to see what I can wear that I won't freeze my butt off. California decided to embrace winter with a vengeance this month. See ya tomorrow!

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Not Tonight

I am tired. It's already late.

Someone in my family needs my attention.

The boys need to be herded into bed, yet they're watching 20/20 or something like that. About polygamy. Niiiiice. Oh, and eggs. *shudder*

My goals for this weekend:

• Post the 'after' picture of my living room before I screw it up again decorating for Christmas. 
• Finish laundry. (HA! It's never really done.) 
• Make sure the boys finish thank you notes and chores. 
• Pay bills. 
• Make a decision about Thanksgiving. (No, we still don't have plans. Maybe we'll just kiss and go to bed?)
• Go through a couple of piles of papers and deal with what's there or throw it away.
• Make some shopping lists: grocery, Costco, and Christmas. 

So there you go. A non-post-y-post. And I get to go to bed. ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......
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5 Minutes

...until the boys get home. Ready, Go!

• My HB#2 made the starting Offensive line and played every offensive play last week. Yay!
• My HB#1 started piano lessons back in June. Not just because he's my kid, but DUDE! the kid is talented.
• My HG had a fantastic time in Africa this summer. (I really should write more about it, or maybe I'll ask her to?) She has decided that she loves travel and is now planning on spending second semester in Israel. Wow! And: Yikes! 
• HD is busy, busy, busy at work. Good and bad. Good=Yay! Someone is paying the bills! Bad=Boo! I never even get to chat with him, much less anything else. I kinda like him, ya know?
• I need to come up with an EDITORIAL CALENDAR. Do you have any suggestions/links that might help me? I've got to get organized. I'm determined. Tell me what you know!

OK. My 5 minutes are up. Bye!

Re-Entry

Yeah, yeah, BlogHer, blah blah blah.

I went. I Tweeted. I came home with an insane longing for the internet to move in next door.

Desperately behind since my kids started school about 16 hours from when I pulled in my driveway.

Laundry under way.

Desire for the weather here to be just as nice as it was in San Diego. (Please, oh please, oh please!!)

Got my parents off this morning and taking today to decompress and regroup.

Have so so so much to share with you all. Soon.

XO

Monday, Monday

 I know you all love a list, right? Just go with it, will ya?

• I did end up getting that car. I am insanely in love with it. It is the nicest car I've ever owned and we got a smokin' deal. 
• Making the deal took all week, which means that I'm a week behind on getting all of my stuff done for BlogHer.
• On Saturday I started and finished my Back to School shopping. Granted, the only item that needed to be purchased was skater shoes for HB#1, but still. 
• On Sunday I made a menu and a massive grocery list, then did the shopping for the whole week.
• My To-Do list for Monday includes getting every thing done in the house: bathrooms, laundry, ironing, and hopefully packing.
• (Who am I kidding. The packing will get done on Wed. morning at the last minute.)
• My awesome parents are coming to help with the kids this week because Headless Dad has to work all next weekend, so I feel compelled to do things like wash sheets and scrub bathrooms. (Yes, Mom, I'm doing it anyway.)
• Tuesday is my Whatever-is-left-Day. Please-oh-Please let it be a day that I can have fun with my kids and relax a little. (Yeah right. I'm not holding my breath either. A girl can dream, right?)
• I also have to pack one kid for camp-he'll go and come home while I'm in San Diego. Weird.
• In the midst of all this I still have to get my kids to football and piano and try to stay sane. (Who am I kidding, right? Sanity is not my strong suit.)
• Good News! I lost 3 lbs. last week! The real teller though was the white jeans that I wore for my reunion a few weeks ago. I wore them again last night and by the end of the evening they were almost falling off. Loving that!
• Do you have your tickets yet? I do, and I can't wait.

OK peeps. Wish me luck on my UberBusy Monday!

Summer

...is kicking my butt.

Busy June, (but not nearly as busy as July,) vacation for 2 weeks, out-of-town visitors. Upcoming scout day camp, football practice, church camp, BlogHer!

And then? School starts. Literally the day after I get home from BlogHer.

BuhBye, Summer.

Good Start, It's the Finish that Needed a Little Help

Today I planted flowers and cleaned the kitchen... all before 9:30 am.

Then I helped the boys to clean up a mess on the back patio before the gardeners got here. Showered. Went to Costco.

[Note to self: Do Not take the entire family to Costco ever again. I totally could have gotten out of there for HALF the cost.]

...and after that? I kinda putzed out. HD went to another store for the few things that we couldn't buy at Costco. I helped him fix dinner while sipping my wine.

I made the kids do the dishes.

There's always tomorrow.

Getting Busy

I'm keeping myself accountable, people.

Here's what I got done today:

• ALL of the ironing, except what was washed today.
• ALL of the clothes washed and folded, about 6 loads.
• swept and mopped: kitchen and dining rooms.
• cleaned the kitchen and ran/emptied the dishwasher.

I've been on my feet all day and I'm pooped, but I did it.

Check in all weekend because come hell or high water I'm going to work like this ALL weekend long. I'm not going to be paralyzed anymore.

Unplugged

I'm taking the day, and possibly the weekend off. I need to unplug.

The lack of sunshine in sunny Southern California has zapped my mojo for anything other than clicking from this to that and back again without making any click count. Hey Mother Nature? Bring back my sunshine, would ya? This reminds me of my freshman year in Knoxville when I didn't see the sun from November to March and decided that, No, I couldn't spend 4 years in a gray fog.

We are getting my new washer and dryer today. Exciting to no one besides me. And maybe, just maybe, all of you that have had to listen to my endless Fa*ebook updates about heading to the laundromat yet again. I will say, however, that that is the cleanest laundromat I've ever seen. It deserves a post of it's own.

I have a dozen other urgent things on my to do list as well. The first being to take a shower. Maybe I'll find some mojo there? At least I'll have clean hair and freshly shaven legs.

Happy Easter everyone! He is risen, indeed.

In 2011...

Before I forget, if you live in Southern California I'm giving away 4 tickets to Disney On Ice at the Ontario Citizen's Business Bank Arena! Go on over to Inland Empire Family for your chance to win!

Rather than writing a bunch of 'resolutions' that I'll blow off forget by February I think I'll follow the lead of some others and make a list of goals. Of course mine may look a little more like a To Do list, but that's ok since it's my blog, right?

• Deep clean and organize areas of my house. This is in direct reference to the lingering dust but since they still have to do the baseboards and the stairs I can't exactly do much cleaning until they are done. I'll start with the wet bar, then move on to my desk, then the living room..... If I focus on one area at a time maybe it won't seem too overwhelming.
• Do weekly meal plans. I usually do this but I've been slacking for a while and I totally feel it. Out of whack, non-nutritional dinners are soooo 2010. Right? Not only will it help the psyche but I'm hoping that it will help the waistline too. Ahem.
• Related: Work out regularly. Buy a workout game for the Xbox Kinect that my kids got from Santa. (Yes, I'll write that post, Carmen.) Biggest Loser? Something else? (See, my 25th reunion is coming up this summer and I'd like to lose those 10 lbs that I found this fall. 10 in 7 months? Should be attainable!)
• Do the blog re-design/re-organization that I've been promising myself for far too long. (My last redesign was in July of '08. Yes, it's time!)
• Attend or plan on attending a second blogging conference in '11 or '12. I love BlogHer but I'm ready to branch out a little. I'd love to go to Blissdom but don't think it's in the cards this year. We'll see what comes up but if I'm going to do more than one trip I need to plan and save a little better and a little more.

I think that's about it. Goals should be attainable, right?  If you see me slacking just slap me, wouldja?

Thursday

How did this week get so full and crazy?

Hardly time to breathe in between places to be.

Need to grocery shop. Desperately.

Have to prepare for company and Thanksgiving.

Also need to do a Target run. Desperately.

I honestly don't think I have an hour before Saturday afternoon for anything except busy, and none of it involves shopping.

Busy can be good, I just hope I can figure out how to feed everyone.

Behind

On Wednesday we had a food allergy scare and, as the saying goes, I'm so far behind I'll never catch up.

Laundry
Cleaning
Birthday week next week, haven't shopped
Parents coming in town
Ironing

You know the drill....

However. After I get a bunch of this stuff done I plan on getting back here to tell you about that food allergy scare and a few other things like how awesome Headless Dad is. Seriously, I couldn't have gotten through this week without him.

Meanwhile, check out what I've been up to around the ole interwebs:

I Love... over at Inland Empire Family. Ironically, I wrote this mere hours before my week blew up.

and I guest posted over at The Big Toy Book about birthday season... Uh, that would be fall if you weren't sure.

OK, well, see you soon! Happy Friday!