Good Morning

How is everyone today ?

Well I did some shopping and 4 hrs of Christmas wrapping this weekend....LOVE IT ! I still have to pick up a few things. I'm almost there girls, almost there

No boss this week yahoo. Got tons to do but oh w/no stress, what joy. We are moving the office too, upstairs to the 3rd floor which should be crazy for me cause i'm the only one here. But you know what ??? I'll love every minute cause I'm by myself

I'm making a pot of coffee, got my sneakers on and I'm listening to my Jim Reeves Gospel Favorites......what could be better (at work that is ??).

Have a blessed day all !!

Huggggggs, Leenie

DARN, I just wrote out a huge post and it disappeared AGAIN! This happened last week.

The tree is up and done. the cards and letters are on their way to the post office along with the packages. R helped put up the HUGE Xmas tree in the church on Saturday. It hits the ceiling. Guess what happened in the evening when the kids were decorating it. Yup, it fell down across the pews and broke a ceiling light. No one was hurt though. It's back up and pretty and all is well.
Hey I got into the chatroom last week! Wow, first time in weeks. I had to refresh once and there I was! Of course it was so empty that there was an echo!
See you later.....

Good morning! Hi Leens and Tippy and all to come!

I worked all weekend and if nothing else I can count my blessings for being so well while so many are so sick at this time of year!

I have sent both girls off to school and when I am done here I am going to go and put all the gifts on my bed and start wrapping and figuring out exactly what I have and what I need still. I have to mail my cards today too!

I think that we are doing ok in terms of getting organized....

Hope all is well...it sounds like lots of Xmas fun out there!


Eliz

Hi guys. I have no voice today. I was kind of hopping the boss would say go home. But, I am still here. I had to go in for my pap this morning. Thank god that is out of the way. I really do hate going there. It is like I have to pay to be inspected. They changed my BC pills to one that doesn't cause water weight. Boy, that would be nice. Not to put on 5 lbs the week before I start.

I guess I have enough to keep busy with out talking for today.

Everyone sounds like they are pulling everthing together for Christmas. I am close too. I have a few more things to get but then that is it. I can't beleive that this year will be the first year that I didn't have to shop on the 24th.

I think my Serzone is working. I have more energy than before. I used to sit around and watch tv for hours. Now I can't keep still. I am actually doing the things that need to get done on a daily basis instead of just letting them pile up. It is kind of weird. I have been like this for so long that I don't know how to act with all of this new found energy.

Have a great day ladies and I will be checking in later. Leen, don't have to much fun at work. That just doesn't sound right. lol Do you get the e-mail that I have been sending you?

Kem YUP YUP YUP I've been getting your emails, it just takes me longer to read them since they are in my Yahoo account. Being she sits next to me (boss) she can see when I'm doing things I'm not suposed to be

THANKS !!!!!

Hi Ladies,

Happy Moanday.. ugh. A gloomy dreary Monday here. Had a stormy rainy windy yucky weekend here, but I stayted in and was able to enjoy it .. DRY!!

I baked cookies over the weekend and I am DONE!! Yippee. Got my cards mailed out on Saturday and all the presents in the mail/UPS last week. I got most of those darned cookies out of the house.

Arggh.. sales people are bothering me today and whining. I stopped being polite when they acted like I was stupid. I think that the last one who called has now dropped to the very borttom of my favor list.. guess how long HE is going to have to wait for anything out of the ordinary? Let me see.. is h*** freezing over yet? Nope..

People are scarfing up my cookies. I bet a lot of people are going to be sick this afternoon. My cookies are all butter and they don't taste greasy so they don't realize it.... later on they will.. I have two kinds of chicken marinades going at home, so I am set for the week for main dishes. All I need to do is cook a few veggies for dinner. I am into low maintenance cooking this week after baking the past two weekends.

Does everyone decorate their homes for the holidays? Let's hear about it. What special traditions does your family follow.. might be educational for everyone to hear about the differences. In my family, we have always done the big celebrating of Christmas on Christmas Eve. It is common in Sweden I guess to do that, so that is what I was raised with. We decorate with a lot of straw things.. goats being a big thing. I have no idea why, but every house has a straw goat . A smorgasbord of items is usually served for Christmas dinner.. cheeses, meatballs, pickled herring, beet salad, flat breads, meat casseroles, pickled veggies, lutefisk ( blech) as well as other items I cannot remember. All of this is served with spiced cider and a deadly hot drink called Glögg ... think hot booze. Desserts are cookies and cookies and some other things. There was also an elf who drove a sled and it was lead not by reindeer, but by a PIG!

Hope everyone has a nice day... stay warm!

The only thing that was a tradition was we would get our tree on the 15th. That was my sisters birthday so we would make it a big deal. We would all pile in the car and go cut the tree ourselves. We would go home and all decorate it together and afterwards mom would make a special birthday/ tree decorating dinner. I took some getting used to buying the tree earlier when I met my husband. Now we have to have it up the weekend after Thanksgiving. I still have a hard time getting excited about it until around the 15th. I guess we did it so long I can't break the habit.

Hey Gang - its busy busy busy.

Kemp - I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better!

Leenie - how's the moving going? Are your sneakers worn out yet?

Tip - that sounds like something out of a crazy Christmas movie with the big tree in the church falling down - wow. Hey - you just let me know when you have a a minute to chat during the day and I will break my neck to meet you there - ok girlie - just email me and if I'm not busy at work I will be there.

Liz - are you off from work for the rest of this week? Hope you get everything wrapped before the girls get home.


Linda - I have never heard of a straw goat for Christmas! Now you are just gonna have to check and see where in the world that came from - what the tradition behind that is? and whats the deal with a pig pulling the sled??? too cute! Here in Louisiana I see lots of yard ornaments that have alligators pulling the sled but no pigs! haha

I hope that everybody is able to take a minute for themselves this week while we are running around and doing everything for eerybody else. ;-)

hugs,
Cathy

Well....I guess it was simple but fun and wonderful warm memories for us...we had lots of kids and no money but Xmas was always special...we always had a real tree with lots of silver tinsel....we napped on Xmas eve and then all went to midnight mass...after that we came home and as we got older ate tortierre (sp) and other goodies like Xmas cake, whipped shortbread and mincemeat tarts...jesus went into the nativity scene under the tree after mass...Xmas day we were up early and I usually got a special doll because that is what I loved...treated them like they were alive...and then of course big turkery dinner...stuffing and gravy being the best part...we always had lots of company, lots of games, card playing etc....it was a happy time

In our family now we still try to go to mass on Xmas eve and then wake up for a relaxed Xmas morning followed by brunch....cinnimon buns, coffee with Baileys and Xmas oranges, eggs, bacon etc....we try not to plan too much so the kids can just enjoy...we get together with my side of the family and do a big Xmas dinner (on a different day-Dec 28th this year) and gift exchange amongst the kids. ON my husbands side we get together for a meal (on Dec 29th) and exchange gifts between the cousins.

I like to spend time sledding, skating, having friends over for cards and a visit and go to a few Christmas singing events. We try to do something for charity as well....this year we did boxes for Operation Xmas child. I like the kids to see it as more than just about the presents and I think that they do.

One question for everyone????Do you wrap presents and put them under the tree as you go or do you put them under the tree after everyone goes to bed Xmas eve....what did you grow up with?

We had nothing under our tree when we went to bed Xmas eve and it was all there in the morning...but I hear alot of people say they put all theirs under the tree as they wrap. What about Santa presents? Are most presents from Santa or Mom and Dad?

Just wondering....

We used to have some presents that were wrapped from mom and dad and my sister and brother. The santa presents came out Christmas day unwrapped. I used to love that feeling. Running down the hall into the living room and seeing three big piles of stuff sitting out. I remember the thought I had of he knew just what I wanted. My husbands family (the ones in CA) wraps almost everything. They only put out a few things from Santa. I really hate that but what can I say it isn't my house.

I have a question... did you guys get small items in your stocking or candy? Mine was always full of candy with an orange in the toe of the stocking. Maybe that is why I have a problem with my weight.lol

Hi Ladies,

Sounds like everyone has got it together, I'm really close to being done too.

Still planning the Christmas Dinner, I bought a ham at Costco, never tried one, thought I'd give it a taste this year, I'm not much for ham, but the family likes it.

I sure miss talking to you Leens, Linda T, Kepyd, Cathyxxx and liz321.

I have to learn to balance work and other things, it'll be awhile.

I found out I've passed 3 test I've taken for clerical positions open one for a middle/high school dist. One for a college, now I have to hope the'll call for an interview

I miss ya guys

LadyPal

Good Luck Lady !!!
Kem we got both, candy and small fun silly gifts in our stockings.
Liz, we had presents under the tree on Christmas Eve because thats when we would open our gifts, my Dad was the worst one because he couldn't wait to see us...so it bacame a tradition. When I got married, hubby insisted we open ours on Christmas day, so thats what we will do with the baby.

Leenie