A Finish and a Start

Good Morning All!!! It seems like forever since I have been able to sit here at the computer and be completely relaxed. Ahhhhh....it feels good to be back!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. Of course I was exhausted by the start of it all but it was a lot of fun and of course we ate too much.

Friday was downright blustery here. I swear it was going to snow but it was too cold. It never got to 30 F degrees here. DH was off and instead of pulling out the outside Christmas lights we went and got our passports taken care of. I needed one, DD needed one and DS needed a new one. DS went to Italy with DH 6 years ago so he already had one. Two hours later and everything was sent to the Department of State. Thank goodness that job is done. I have to tell you though that no one and I mean NO ONE other than Security will ever see that picture of me. Sheesh!!! It really resembles a mug shot. I told the photo lady she should have handed me a card with numbers on it. I even had make up on and you can't even tell. LOL Oh well, maybe 10 years from now, I will think it was a good picture.

On Saturday, DD and I started our Christmas baking. We didn't get a lot done as I needed to get out and get a few supplies. But it is started and in the course of the next couple weeks, we will finish up. I try to make the dough during the day and then in the evening after dinner is done, we bake if we don't have anything to do.

Yesterday was the worst. I went s h o p p i n g with my sister in laws to the biggest mall around here. NOT GOOD!!! First off, I hate to shop!! Second, I hate to shop when I have no idea what the heck I am buying. I tried convincing sis in laws that we should wait til during the week or next weekend to do something. Maybe by then I will have ideas or at least my kids' lists. Well I lost the argument and at 9 AM yesterday, we were at the mall. It wasn't too bad but I really didn't get a lot done. I started DD and DS and got a birthday gift for DD"s friend whose bday is on Friday. I told DH that I am better off at stores like Target, Kohl's, Bed Bath and Beyond, Best Buy and so on. I kind of just went in and out of about a 100 stores yesterday not really knowing what the heck to buy. So one night this week, we will go out to pick up some gifts and then next Tuesday my best friend and I are going out. We are going to the smaller mall close to us. At least that way, I won't be going round and round in every store. I am also hoping for more ideas by then. :)

Shopping isn't that bad and I really only devote about 4 days in December to shopping. That way I can enjoy the season more. Years ago, I would be frazzled by the time Christmas got here and it was all because of the way I shopped so much. Just devoting a few days makes the season so much brighter for me. :)

Now onto stitching and the title of my post. I have a finish. YIPPEEE!!!!! I finished Star Light, Star Bright on Friday. I was going to post a picture but I think I will post it finished. Hopefully in the next day or two I will have it finished and pretty and will show it to you then.

I also have a start. I was in my stash looking for finishing stuff for Star Light and came upon Hinzeit's Charmed Sampler "12 Days of Christmas". I had it all kitted up with fabric and Gentle Art Sampler Threads. So I pulled it out and started that. I figure if I do a number a night and a letter a night, I will have it finished in 2 weeks with enough time to display it for the rest of the holiday season. I started it late Friday night and didn't pick it up til last night so hopefully by tonight, I will have #6 and #7 finished and #8 started. (I started this in the middle).

It felt great to start something new and something on the smaller side. Between the finish and the start, I feel a new motivation for cross stitch. Unfortunately for me, it happened right at the busiest time of the year. But I will make time each day to stitch.

For today, I need to do normal household cleaning and laundry. YUCK!!! Then tomorrow is the big day that I pull apart my wall unit and get it all sparkly for Christmas decorations. I never made it before Thanksgiving so instead of stressing about it, I set myself the goal of getting it done before we start decorating indoors. DH has a good start on the lights outside and hopefully by tonight he will be able to connect everything and light it. It is looking nice and I will try to get a decent picture to show you. I think he does a great job decorating outside and yesterday DS helped. It was so sweet when I got home from the mall to see them both working.

For now, I am going to get another cup of coffee and catch up on a couple blogs.
Have a great day everyone!