Weekend in Review: Christmas

Lest my previous post make you think we didn't really celebrate Christmas this year, I wanted to disabuse you of that notion. Friday night the three of us sat on the couch and watched Christmas Vacation. I know, it is corny and slightly off color, but it always gets a good laugh and helps keep everything about the holiday in perspective.

Since Elizabeth had the day off on Friday, we did a little running around and got some more beading supplies for her and a start on some polymer clay for me. Then we came home and played in the studio--Elizabeth with her beads while I made some cards.  We also cleaned house--everything except my room and bathroom got a cursory (or better) cleaning. I put away everything Christmas related except for the trees, which will come down today.

Saturday morning I was the first one up, and before anyone else got up, I had made a journal for Elizabeth.  She is doing a lot of introspection right now, and I always think it is good to write out your thoughts, dreams, goals and so on. Ornery spent all day working on Elizabeth's loom, which he completed that evening. She was very excited with the finished project and in fact got some yarn out first thing Sunday morning and had a whole shawl woven by bed-time! Part of the day we spent in the studio making "hat pins" for my cards from beads and wire.  They really turned out cute!

I had a delightful surprise on Saturday when the UPS man brought me a brand new pair of Clarks shoes to replace the pair that fell apart!  I was really surprised they sent them as I figured the old ones were just worn out and not defective, but they must have felt otherwise.  I LOVE the new pair, actually both new pair, as I used the 30% off coupon to get a black pair when we were in Florida at the Clarks outlet store. These new brown mules are very comfortable and actually fit and feel better than the ones I tried on in the store and purchased!

Sunday morning I got up early and baked banana bread, started the crock pot with some stroganoff for lunch and finished off the laundry. Ornery was pretty sore from all his bending and sitting on the concrete floor working on the loom, so I gave him a neck and shoulder massage, then ran him a hot bath in the gigantic tub. I was surprised that there was enough hot water for the rest of us to shower, but there was.

After I got out of the shower, I put my hair on curlers. It was really wet when I started, but I figured the curl would hold better if I did it that way. By the time it was dry, Mom was at the door, and I raced to remove them and ended up with a HUGE fluffy 'do! Of course none of us thought to take any pictures of the day except early in the morning when Elizabeth was sitting in the middle of her loom on the floor in her pj's with her hair pulled back and messy at which time I was forbidden to locate any camera or apparatus which could record her glorious attire for future observation.

Mom, Elizabeth and I worked a couple of jigsaw puzzles, and we ate a nice dinner of stroganoff, crescent rolls, green peas and hominy.  Then I whipped up a "Southern Pie" which is like a pecan pie only instead of nuts it uses Grape Nuts cereal. We ate it with a little frozen yogurt for a nice finish to the meal.  Ornery spent part of the day in the Man Cave working on Elizabeth's box. He finished the fret work on the lid and got the sides ready to start on. Mom didn't stay very late as she needed to get home to pack for a trip, but in all it was a pleasant day.

Today we all have our respective plans--Elizabeth will be putting fringe on her shawl and taking it off the loom, Ornery plans to work on the box some more, and I will take down the last of the Christmas stuff and work on getting a few more things ready for photographing to put in my etsy shop. I will be doing a giveaway on Oops, I craft my pants blog on January 2nd as I celebrate Miller Manor Designs fourth birthday. Before then, I hope to get my shop spiffed up a bit with some new product.  Ideas are running rampant, but the execution has been a little challenging. This week I really need to buckle down and get to work!

The special order for 10 clipboards is awaiting the arrival of the boards (which should be here in a day or two) and then I will be busy on that for a couple of days. I am not really looking forward to tying all those little ribbons on--I recall that was a tedious chore--but I am grateful for the order and hope I have a lot more of those big sales in 2012!