Thursday, December 29, 2011

101 Update

Here's the latest update on my 101 list... sorry, haven't been keeping up with this, but apparently I've been getting things done on here anyway!

22. find 5 interesting places/events to visit in local area
On the 23rd of Dec, we went to the ballet in our area... saw the Nutcracker! It was amazing!

35. Pay off van (finished Nov 2011)
Did this at the end of November! Woo Hoo!!!

43. Create a nice cake for someone - (finished aug 2011)
Made another wedding cake in August, and a birthday cake for my husband and daughter... although I don't really count that one.

44. Make at least 5 Shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse (3/5)
Did 3 in November of this last year. I took pics, but I don't feel like finding and posting them. I know... I'm a bit lazy right now, haha.

53. Try 20 new recipes (16/20)
I may have done more than 3, but the ones I remember doing were in the last month. I attempted my first from scratch cream of broccoli soup (it was delish), made a smores square from golden grahams, and today I made a from scratch (no cans or boxes of anything) turkey pot pie! Woo!

58. Catch up on scrapbooking (digital)
I have my printed copies till the end of 2010, and I've barely started working on 2011. Not quite done, but so close!

63. Do a ‘week in review’ scrapbook for one year (at least) and print it
Only one week left to do! Which is this week... so it'll have to wait until the week is done! :)

70. Put up baseboards/trim on main floor (sept 2011)
Finished this in September! Woah... it is so much nicer now.

78. Learn to sew/machine embroider actual clothes (not costumes)
I'm starting. I took a current dress for my daughter and added a strawberry pocket I made and embroidered onto it, plus a strawberry shortcake image, because she wanted a Strawberry Shortcake dress for Christmas.

80. Purge old toys that aren’t played with (remove at least 25lbs of toys from house 7/25)
I removed 3.2kgs back in July... what is that, 7lbs?

85. help in Awana… somehow… (finished Dec14 2011)
I did storytime in Cubbies on December 14th.

86. buy a new devotional and use it
My sister got me one as part of my Christmas gift! Now to start using it! :)

91. Have a Transformers party (sort of in September 2011)
Did that in September... it was more of a Transformers/Hello Kitty one, but ah well. I may do another one eventually, but I think this sort of counts. The cake was a blend of Kitty and Optimus.

97. Take a pic at 11:11 on November 11, 2011
Totally missed this. Changing to 12:12 Dec 12 2012

Ok... so, that's that. now to change the actual post itself...
29 down, 72 to go!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A Christmas Rant (sorry)

Well, it's that season again... or should I say, it was that season a little while ago. Christmas always brings about mixed feelings for me. Really. I love the season, I love giving gifts, I love doing things for other people. What I don't love is everyone wanting to have Christmas on Christmas day. Seriously. With two little tykes in tow, opening our gifts Christmas morning, running to my husband's parents house for a gathering and more gifts and food for lunch, and then my parents for supper and more gifts... it is enough to drive one mad. Especially since the kids are CRAZY for it. Not kidding.

My daughter is currently throwing another fit. She usually doesn't do this... but since Christmas day, she has thrown 5 or 6 of these fits. She does NOT get what she wants when doing so... I will NOT reward such behaviour... but it does get rather ... irritating ... at best.I don't know what to do.

Both kids got LOADS of toys. Too many, in my opinion. They were thrilled, but I think they just don't know what to do with them all. I need to put some away and only have a few out. Or something. And they fight over ONE toy... and my daughter just screams and screams whenever my son starts coming towards her while she is playing... panicking and screaming and shouting. Drives... me .... NUTS! My son... doesn't really care either way, but his shrill squealing is getting on my nerves as well... from my daughter taking away HIS toys. What is WRONG with this situation? AAARRGGG!

I seriously want to bag all of these confounded toys and send them to the local thrift store. ALL. OF. THEM. But I know that won't solve the situation. At least, not really. Sigh. I never had this many toys as a kid.

I finally got my daughter to calm down to go to sleep (another thing that is usually NEVER a problem in our house... but tonight... I don't know what it is. Post Christmas Syndrome or something? Please tell me I am not alone!). She has NEVER thrown fits like this. She is usually so mild tempered.Sigh.This Christmas... I'm just glad it is over now. I almost didn't go to my own parents house due to the kids being crazy. My mom said she'd come help me get them going, but seconds after I hung up the phone, they quieted down. I don't know what got into them. I never quite got into the Christmas spirit myself... baking was almost non-existant this year (which is weird... I usually bake 10 different recipes of something), the levels of snow is rather... lacking... and we got rain on boxing day. Rain. In central Canada. In December.

Did Discord just magically leave Ponyville through my computer screen and start wreaking havoc with my world? (sorry... from a tv show).

I can't wait to start ripping down decorations... or... more honestly... can't wait until they are all put away. The disassembly isn't much fun, really. Sorry that this post seems to be so negative. It's post Christmas syndrome I tells ya.

Ahem... more positive... lets see...

My husband LOVES all his Transformers. I got him the Mech Tech Optimus with Trailer (usually uber expensive, but I nabbed a great sale) and two other smaller bots (Bumblebee... NOT the Nitro version... more of a regular version where he looks like a car) and.. .Thundercracker? A plane decepticon. Got him two Star Wars books as well. He was thrilled. Made his yearly ornament too! An AT-AT walker this year. I thought that one would be easy... HA! Man, the detailing was crazy! I just make them more complex as I go, I suppose. Ah well, it's a fun experience, learning and all that. I wonder what I'll do next year. C3P0? Perhaps Vader's Tie Fighter (I know it has a special name... it eludes me at the moment). I don't know. There are lots of cool images to use as inspiration anyway.

My hubby got me Ponies. LOTS of ponies. No joke. Three of the Canterlot ones from Target (shine bright Fluttershy, the set with all the Mane 6 and Spike, and the smaller castle with Shine Bright Twilight), and there are more in the mail... 80s ones! Yay! He also got me some chapsticks (can never have enough of those!) and the Zelda 25th anniversary Magazine! Yes! Now I wanna play through all the games I can! Although, I should probably find time to finish Skyward Sword. Our parents got me a new blender (ours was breaking... useable, but breaking), a Wilton Pro cookie press (my cheaper one snapped last month), a food processor (wanted one for years, but couldn't justify the cost), and a large (huge) box of Sculpey! My husband got Transformers lego, money, and a t-shirt. We both got books from our ticket gifts. I LOVE my new journal! I have a thing for pretty notebooks. As for the kids... they got pjs from my folks, some clothes (ADORABLE) from their uncle, and TOYS TOYS TOYS! Yeah. And the one my daughter comments on the most are the Strawberry Shortcake shoes I bought her (they are actually just polka dot shoes, but you know...) and the Strawberry Shortcake dress I made her (from a red and white gingham dress I found... made a strawberry pocket and a SSC iron on which she LOVES). I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, and she wanted SSC shoes and dress. And she said the same to Santa... and everyone else who asked. So, that is what I had to make... because I couldn't find anything ANYWHERE! She loves them! They are a bit big, but that just means they'll last longer.

Anyway... I've rambled on enough. I just posted the pics of the Star Wars ornaments on my deviantart account... here. He loves them, and he currently has 9 since I've made one for him each Christmas we've been married. It's a tradition now. One that will continue until our 20th Christmas... and perhaps beyond... although then I'll need to make him a new ornament holder...

Happy New Year everyone! Sorry for the full on rant... really... I don't mean to be so negative this time of year.

I wonder... could it be from being around so many people, with so much happening, and then the sudden 'nothingness' that comes afterwards? Could it be? Hmmm.

Perhaps I'll venture into town tomorrow with the kids for a change of pace.