Merry Christmas, Quilters!

about 22C here yesterday, nice in the morning but clouds dumped on us in the arvo but not for long. so few of us in the house this year at least we didnt melt from being stuck with the doors closed while it rained. hope its cooled down a lot there for ya today, Heather. happy boxing day!! j.

"Dee in Oz" wrote..

Thanks, Jeanne!! All here are well, terribly spoiled and quite full. paulette

I hope you are enjoying your holiday as well!

cooking - 100% done eating - 100% done dishes washed - 75% done desserts eaten - 25% done wine drunk - not nearly enough yet!

It's been a quiet day!! We celebrate on Christmas Eve with all the kids and grands here. On Christmas Day DH and I are home alone.....to rest and relax....my favorite day of the year. I had a nice long nap. Woke up to more snow!! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and the Best New Year to all of you.

Betty in WI

Okay, everyone who fell out of their chair from shock, get back up off the floor. ;)

Just wanted to pop in and say Merry Christmas! Hope it was a joyous one for all y'all!

Not much news on this end, same old, same old going on here. Had a great day with my folks, ate too much, Santa was good to me, blah blah blah, woof woof woof.

So, what's gnu with you?

Happy New Year to y'all too!

Hugs, Tigg

Sorry to be so late on this one...finally got to sit down with the computer for a bit..lol. I hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday time with their friends and family and that you have enjoyed your "vacation". We had fun...after our oldest insisting that there was no Santa, he then insisted that we put out cookies and milk as well as some carrots for the reindeer . I made the rule that they couldn't dive into presents until they had eaten at least one pancake (made from an egg-free recipe that I found, and cooked up last night...lol). They scarfed them down along with their milk and vitamins and were ready to go.....Ken and I chugged cups of coffee. I got them into separate seating areas (they tend to be a little crazy when opening packages), and started divvying up presents. Trust me when I say that by the time they were done with boxes of clothes and miscellaneous things, their eyes were glazing over...lol. Then I announced that they had TOYS!!!!! Oh boy, you should have seen their faces!!

We now have a slot car race track taking up a good portion of the dining room/kitchen floor and have had a blast with it (Toms present, along with a desktop planetarium and a telescope) once we got it all set up. Bek is playing with her Vtech laptop right now because we know that if we let her have anything else, she'll never go to sleep ("Mommy Make Me Better doll, Cabbage Patch kid named Rebekah - she also has one named Larisa..go figure, and a remote control Pupcake..don't ask). I think we did well in not getting them toys out the whazoo, but the grandmothers went completely overboard. Mom2 and Dad did exactly what was expected - called to ask what we wanted the children to have then sent it...we said books, and each child got a book...can't go wrong there.

Ken got clothes, which he was a little leery about because he has said numerous times that I'm the only one who knows what clothes to get him....reminded him I went through the boxes that were sent for me to wrap and pulled what I knew would look good on him.....the entire family completely forgot that I hadn't opened any presents at all...lol. It was ok because I could open them in quiet while they were all off playing with toys and games.

So, we've had a nice day - just the 4 of us - relaxed, fun, and we actually remembered to eat lunch and dinner...lol. Tomorrow I will be running out briefly to grab some things that we are running low on and to take all the trash to the dump, then I'm locking myself away in my sewing room and detoxing from the inundation of "stuff".

Hope you all had a wonderful day....catch you all either before the end of the year, or right after the start of the New Year....lots to get done between now and then.

Larisa

Merry Christmas from the north end of the state as well. Still can't wiggle much from the big meal here. Had a great day and now just having a quite night with me and the Monkey dog (who's wearing her new sweater that Grandma and Grandpa gave her).

Happy New Year! Hugs, Tigg

Sounds like you had a full day! glad you got some quiet time. So, inquiring minds want to know what Santa brought you? My "rockin' chair sis" [long story] gifted me with a Jim Shorewood angel - who will stay out all year!, and a new pony from the Trail of Painted Ponies. Verrry cool!

Waiting now for a few more minutes, then go for a walk in the nighborhood and look at lights. It's been very windy all day here.

G> Sorry to be so late on this one...finally got to sit down with the

Additional categories: gift-wrapping paper, tissue, bows and boxes disposed of in any manner available left-overs sent away with the willing or unsuspecting notes to self written legibly and coherently on the 2008 December calendar

Polly

I'll piggyback onto KJ's message to also wish everyone a Merry Christmas from Iowa. It was a beautiful day - sunny with no snow or wind, but we definitely had a white Christmas!

For the first time in years, we weren't up at the crack of dawn to rush off to someone's house to open gifts. We used to go to DH's sister's (kind of a leftover tradition from the days when we lived out of state but stayed with her when we came home for Christmas). She's not in the best of health any longer, and her kids, grandchildren, etc. total about 21, so it's kind of a wild and crazy morning, and she just doesn't need anyone else to add to her stress! Our second stop was always my mom's house, but my brother and his family (the only two little ones left in the family and the reason for getting up early on Christmas morning!) won't be here until sometime in January, so we won't have our gift exchange until then. Instead, the rest of the family from here in town just kind of drifted in and out of her house as the day went on, so we all spent time together, but were much more relaxed than on Christmases past! We played dominoes, worked on a jigsaw puzzle, ate way too much, and just enjoyed the day. DH and I are now at home, complaining about how much we ate, but pretty darned happy just the same!

Now it's time to rest up for New Year's (coming from the one who is lucky to still be awake at 10 p.m., let alone midnight!).

and from Virginia:

god jul och gott nytt år!

same sort of hectic.

yesterday was swedish church julbön service (christmas prayer) and after someone else had planned the program, she handed to my wife to actually execute. among other things, that meant I got to do page layout for the program. One of the pieces was a 'holy night' piece written by a famous swedish radio person of the mid 1900s. My wife found teenagers for most parts, a couple parents for the 'old' sheepherders, but no one would take the part of Herod. thus min fru, my swedeheart, took it. she borrowed clothes from our methodist church and then even with a beard she thought she looked visible, so she wore her sunglasses. great hit. after the service when she had disappeared and slipped back in in street clothes, one of the kids involved asked her who had been Herod? That was followed by getting home, a walk for her and nap for me and then to Methodist church for christmas eve program where she sang in choir.

this morning was up at 7am to prepare dinner with a daughter (34) and boyfriend coming at 11; well they showed at 12.10. that all went okej. simple things went well. i have swedish beer glasses which have a hexagonal section bottom and an open hex section at top connected by a 1 inch by 6 inch tube. the concept is that when you are drinking from the glass, the beer stays in the bottom, held by the physics about vacuum, until you tilt far enough and then it comes quickly! i explained so they were careful but challenged. daughter raved about dad's mashed potatoes wanting to know how i fixed them to taste so whipped and and airy and not lumpy but with taste. shhhh. secret. lunch continued well followed by gift opening. my gift to each was a check prepared with their names and amounts using a christmas font. that was more significant than the amount!

afterwards, a nap, a search for football games (none) and then dinner of leftovers. ahh. enough turkey remains for several days. now the real crisis begins. all the stacks and stuff that had been sitting in the living room got moved to the second bedroom. may i please find my papers in their new stacks? The loom and yarns are easy but recovering the others ... thats a challenge. now don't tell me if i had put them away sooner they wouldn't have been moved. there is someone here who does that role already :-)

klh in va

It sounds like you had a great day with your family. Enjoy your sewing time tomorrow. I actually did a little bit today. I want to get 2 UFO's finished by January 8th.

Sherry Starr

"off kilter snipped-for-privacy@somwherequiet.net" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...

And from the northern (well, west-central) end of Nevada in Reno and Sparks. Yes, love coming home to the quiet apartment.

Well, the serger was my BIG Christmas present. Mother gave me some clothing and a pocketbook with an organizer and such. I also got some ornaments...we all get new ornaments every year. I also managed to get through some of my fabric stash..well, that was yesterday, but still a present for me.

:-) Larisa

ahhhhhhhh, Merry Xmas to you too Tiggs and Amber. much the same here, too much food, too much drink (that'd be two glasses of bubbly for me), then a nap and more food, some prezzies in there somewhere but i'm very pleased to say no one went overboard at all. i got a game called Blockus Trigon (its also online at Blockus.com if your interested later, free reg to play), a yard of bootiful fabric from DD, bought myself a silicone loaf pan and baking mat. thats it and enough to make me happy. i'm just happy DD came up cuz without her we'd not bother doing anything special at all. dh is a poophead about xmas and birthdays, youngest ds like his father, other ds in the philippines. thats all there is going on here, lol. {{{{{{{{{Tiggs}}}}}}}}}}}}}} and woof woof to the monkey child of yours, lol. snorfle, j.

I just heard one the news that it reached 44 degrees C in Perth.... Thats way too hot

Happy Boxing Day to you too, Jeanne. My visitors have just gone and I can sit down and have a cuppa at last. Great fun to have the extended family here when part of mine is overseas. Finally found room in the fridge for everything. Nice day here a bit humid but sunny and warm. We were rather chilly yesterday had to have the aircon on Warm, but today was great. I can rest now until 31st then start again. Best wishes to all. Ruth Sydney