Hi, my name is Kiki

Hi, my name is Kiki.

I am suffering from Holiday Stress Disorder.

I'm stressed, and my life is in disorder and there is a holiday that is arriving a couple days early.

Tonight is our family's Christmas Eve as the kids will fly off to Florida tomorrow to see their Grandmother (over the hill, through the woods & down to the Gulf Coast)

My tree is up, but only 1/2 the lights work and it doesn't have a single decoration.

Today's plan is:
Decorate the tree
finish wrapping presents
make Kringla (click the label to find out about Kringla. it was a much better post than this one)
Make date nut balls. (I'm sure there is a joke in there somewhere)
Make dinner for 10 since I thought it would be nice to have a big holiday dinner.
clean kitchen
curl up into the fetal position and cry

Yes, I did bring a lot of the stress on my self, but I had planned in advance. I have an easy meal. Some how I thought I would be spending today doing finishing touches, not starting everything.

I didn't count on losing my grocery list, getting stuck in traffic at the farmers market & 2 grocery stores (because, this is Reading and you can't get everything at one place. really)

I didn't count on starting yesterday with a minor melt-down, (which followed one the day before), I didn't count on teenagers being teenagers (yes, some things still surprise me), I didn't count on just plain not getting my shit together.
I did count on my husband having most of this week off, but I didn't count on him working from home most of the day Wednesday, a portion of the day Thursday and then going into work on Friday.

So now I'm stressed and my naked Christmas tree is dropping needles and the Christmas spirit is stuck down the street.


So really, I just need to get off the computer & get my whiny butt in gear.

I will take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas. Really, the season isn't about the boxes under the tree, or the food under the table, so I will try to put on some Christmas hymns and let the REAL spirit of Christmas help me through this day.

Oh, I will tell ya what I'm making for dinner
Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions (served on a dish of my own making :) )
Pasta in Vodka Sauce
Grilled Asparagus
Salmon Basilica
Assorted Cookies & Ice Cream.

Read more...

a post of random thoughts

Sorry internet. I'm sure you are out there & I'm really just not.

I've had a lot of ideas for posts, but have not been able to flesh them out. Ok, maybe it would be more effective if I sat down & tried, but I have not been very good about that either.

Honestly, I'm having a very slacker month. It is beyond the middle of December, I haven't sent my Christmas cards. I haven't finished my Christmas cards. There is no tree in my house and when everything came out of the kiln, I think I'm still short on presents. It looks like I'll have to actually buy some.

In my defense, my husband is chairman of the Centre Park Christmas House Tour committee, and that means the end of November & beginning of December were an awful lot of work. Add to that the finishing of the Centre Park headquarters (that needed to be done before the tour) and I got sucked into a lot of the work. Not sure why it worked out that way, but it did. And last weekend the weather was too crappy to accomplish much of anything. Except some napping and a little partying. And a lovely Christmas concert with the The Girl's high school choir. Now on to important holiday thoughts.

I made a pledge to myself that I would not step foot into the mall this holiday season. Thus far I have been successful with a few small allowances. While I have not entered a "MALL," I did visit the stores across from it that are kind of in a strip mall type thing. I have decided that doesn't count, after all I needed to hit Borders & AC Moore. I just did.

I have made many presents this year. I have made all sorts of pottery items, perhaps I'll line them up & take a picture. (Really, I should, but don't hold your breath for that) I have completed one scarf and am about halfway through another. (I need to check out more movies so that I can sit and complete the other one!) (ooh, I just looked at my library account and I have 3 that are ready for pick up today! yay!)

I have visited alternative shopping locations. I bought presents from GoggleWorks and The Reading Public Museum. I've done a small amount of online shopping (Ok, I still like getting the boxes even if I know it's not for me) I hit the bookstore that isn't in the mall. I even went into Office Max for something. I'm most excited that I was able to make some nice presents for my family & friends. I hope they like them! I like the idea of buying gifts from the non-profit sector. I like that my purchases help them and I find unique gift items. I'm also planning to check out some of the boutiques in West Reading since it is a nice day and I am still looking for an item for The Girl.

Tomorrow's shopping adventure will take me to Philadelphia. Our currently planned activities include a visit to IKEA, which is almost as big as a mall, but has the organizers I want cheap. We'll also be visiting a guitar store or 2 looking for accessories for The Boy's new guitar. But the stop I'm looking forward to is here. OK, I'm becoming a little bit of a geek about this stuff, but it keeps me out of trouble!

So if anyone has any great gift ideas for a 15 1/2 year-old girl or her 18 year-old brother (who turns 19 at the end of the month so I also neeed to find a birthday present for) let me know!

I'll try to stop in a little more often, 'kay?

Read more...