December Goals

My only December goal is to stay sane

Ok - I have a project to work on for DD's Lady's team.... I am doing lots of knitting during ice times

Cheryl

I am with Cheryl, I just want to remain sane this month.

No deadlines for stitching projects this month. Just other deadlines...EGA chapter party at my house this Saturday, then oldest DS comes home for holidays and his birthday is day after he gets home, so birthday celebration for him. Then family from Texas comes for holiday and younger DS's wedding. YDS gets home TWO days before wedding! If Chicago O'hare airport does not have storms and thus back up the entire air grid. Got to love the Army for not letting him come home sooner. :( Then rehearsal dinner on the 28th and wedding on the 29th. Sometime in there I have to get hair done twice (once to get color and day of wedding to get it done up). I was thinking about getting nails done since mine are so ugly! but after the nail thread the other day I am not so sure now.

I think that is enough for this month. Any suggestions for quick meals for bunches of folks for after skiing during the holidays? I think I could use some help here.

Ok, that last was a whine...sorry...I am over it now. lol

Alice in Utah

Crock pot is your friend. You do soups (split pea is good on a cold day), a stew, or chili, or anything like that (pulled pork, etc). Serve with rolls, and salad. Any leftovers, you can freeze for later when the folks are gone (premeasure double serving sized; 1-2 folks grab one, 3-4, grab 2, etc).

Start it in the morning, and dinner is ready.

Tara

Let the crock pot be your friend. Hearty roasts, soups, stews, and casseroles are easy in them and perfect after a cold day on the slopes. If you have a bread machine (or a great source for a crusty fresh bread), you have the perfect accompaniment.

One of our favorites is a 3-4 pound beef roast (this is just for three people), cooked in two large cans of tomato juice (one regular, one low-salt), with diced potatoes, carrots and parsnips, and whatever seasonings we have on hand. Six-seven hours on low. Can cook longer if you are going to be away from home longer. Pork roast should work well this way also, although might fall apart a bit when trying to slice. Won't change the taste any though!

Thanks for the Crockpot ideas. Since there are now just two of us here (DH & me) our crockpot is a very small one and cannot hold more than about three pork chops.

I have very fussy eaters in my two nieces. One will not eat anything that is spicy. I am thinking that the older one will eat a greater variety of things since she has been at college for one semester. I have some dishes I can make ahead and freeze to pull out in the morning and have ready to put in the oven upon returning from skiing. One is called Hot Chicken Salad. This is one of my families favorites. I think the girls need to adjust their tastes and just try new things. Of course this is from a mom who had children who loved artichokes when they were old enough to scrape the leaves with their teeth. I think my DS's were about 18 months old when they tried artichokes for the first time. So they are more adventurous eaters.

At least we will go out for dinner on the 26th as that is the youngest DN's birthday. That saves one day. :)

I think I will take January off and just stitch!

Alice in Utah

1. Christmas newsletters and Christmas cards for 200 people (done).

1. Advent calendar for my kid--yes, it's cheesy, but I successfully recreated a portion of my childhood (done).

2. Stitchy project for my hubster (shhhhh). Yes, that means that while I am not working on my next ED design, I am also stitching someone else's work. The faster I go, the behinder I get.

1. Finish my stocking (it's been 7/8 finished for 3 years now) and Little Dude's stocking.

2. Christmas goodies to the neighbors.

1. Two projects finalized, kitted up, and out to model stitchers.

2. Little Dude's 1st b-day party on the 14th, with a houseful of guests (better that than at Christmas, I figure).

1. Christmas Eve with a houseful of guests, then Midnight Mass (not Catholic, but I love the music and pageantry and Little Girl is old enough to go now), then playing Santa.

2. Mom's b-day with a houseful of guests (this is also New Year's Eve).

1. Hub's b-day on the third.

My December goal is to keep my sanity.

With all those Viagra, etc. commercials out there, after seeing your hubby mentioned, you can imagine what I thought about your next "ED" design - hmm, wearing a little Santa outfit?

RDH - ;>)

Linda

I do not need to be encouraged to plumb the depths of my debauchery, dear, but it's nice to know I'm not alone in it!

Very cute. Impressive that you're all done with cards, etc. I'm thinking of doing ours this weekend.

Stockings not happening. Hopefully DH will have his next year - it's a big NP one, and, well, the stand has to come out with it so, that's for later.

It's way too soon for me to bake -that's coming. Next.

DH's is the 30th. We were planning an Open House/New Year's Eve party to cover all bases - but as the new floor isn't in yet - hopefully next week - decided it's now moving to Martin Luther king Day! At our current rate - maybe by Valentine's Day.

Very quiet holidays here - I think mostly just us. But, we'll see.

Sound's like a plan - have lots of fun while you're at it.

ellice

I'm a velvet stocking kinda gal. Not really much for the pictorial stockings. Here's Hub's and Little Girl's:

My mom would bake one type of cookie or bread (zucchini, pumpkin, spice, poppy seed, etc.) each day for a month before the holiday happenings started and freeze them. Then she would assemble a platter from the frozen goods.

I very rarely do anything my mother's way (she is a perpetual routine person, very regimented and can get stuff done a little at a time--I'm the kind that has to do a project from start to finish and not get distracted or I'm sunk), but this Christmas cookie thing is a multi-step process that's easy for me to do the little-bit-at-a-time way because each step is its own project and I can stop at any time if I get overwhelmed.

Well, I'd probably have more fun if I didn't have to work and take care of the kids, too! LOL

Nice. I like thet lettering and snowflake. Being a non-celebrant of Christmas - I'm not so much into any of the decorative things. That said, a few years back at a trade show, I saw a couple of the Tapestry Tent canvases - and got the real Arctic Santa as a stocking for DH (we'd just gone to Alaska). And then Liz and my friend the shop owner convinced me to get the prancing horse (not religious at all) done as a matching stocking - for me. So, I have those in stash. His is pretty well kitted up, had to order scroll bars for it. But, I like the look.

This year I've agreed to lights on the house - at least a bit. Last year - DH got his green faceted lights in our holly tree - it looked nice. This year - I actually found "teal, blue, purple" mini lights - so he gets to put those up. But, my dancing Dreidel lights are going on the front porch.

So, anyhow - that's why the NP stockings. We do have a lot of candles, etc around. And I do the christmas gift shopping - for the most part - for his family. All the Chanukah stuff is almost all wrapped, and I'm hoping to get it all to the PO on Saturday - when DH can help.

I understand that. DH's mom evidently did the cookie frenzy. This year I'm making the great gingerbread muffins, and some of the cranberry loafs. But, I've got to pick up a couple more muffin tins, and some more loaf pans. I did a huge one last time, and can't decide if I want to just do small loaves, or do some of the big ones and cut. It's a very heavy bread. But, I'm going to bake this weekend for the neighbors, then the following weekend for the gift baskets.

I'm about done with all the trinket shopping - and darn tired of it. Just a couple more things, and DH wants to go buy some light globey things to hang off the trellis in the back. So, I'll do that. And slugs that we are - when the wind dies down tomorrow I have to finish mulching all the plants, etc. We're so late - and I'm going to throw some more bulbs down - it's not really frozen yet.

ellice

Spew and double spew! I love you guys!

Cheryl

Well I've replied to this once already, but got an error message, so if my previous post appears, my apologies.

Main goal is to get through making all those beaded snowflakes I'm tucking into Christmas cards (I'm giving it one more week). Once I get through Christmas, I want to finish the second border section of the Fasset afghan (one week's worth of work), and the foreground of the fifth section of my Iris hanging (1-2 weeks of work). Unfortunately, although I would like to get more done, I think I've run out of weeks this year. Maybe that jewelery bag if I get everything else done early, but that is more of a wish than a goal.

Dora To see snowflakes:

It's hard to keep from being completely distracted by Christmas and railroading oneself into making hundreds of Xmas ornaments for munchkins, relatives, co-workers et al. I'm making mostly bead snowflakes to tuck into Xmas card envelopes. Even though I can do 3 in an evening my 'flake list' is steadily getting shorter. On with production!

My completion list this year was very short, mostly because my ufo list is dominated by fairly large projects, I think. I'd like to plump up the list a bit before the end of the year and finish knitting the second border section of my afghan (1 week's worth of work), and finish stitching the foreground of the fifth section of my iris section (another week's worth of work). I've got a holly cross stitch which is getting very close to completion, but I have about three weeks' worth of work left to do, so I think I need more weeks in the year. Maybe I should get that jewelery bag done. Hmm. That's not definite enough for a goal, is it? More like a wish. Dora See snowflakes at

ellice

Thanks. I've had lots of compliments on the poetry mittens, although when people try to read them they always forget to take the thumb into consideration. Dora

My condolences on you living with a Sagittarius. :-)

Tara P.S. Mine is the same day.

Oh, no! JANUARY 3 (Capricorn, thank heavens). My history (as a Taurus, I might add) is RIDDLED with unfortunate relationships with Sagittari, to the exclusion of all else but the husband, most notably and specifically Dec 18.

Unfortunately, my son (Dec 14) is a Sagittarius. I just don't know how I'll cope.

As is my hubby's...and a co-worker! So I have to put up with *2* of them. LOL

Joan