Whatcha up to..... ?

All I know is that I'm driving MYSELF crazy!!! 

So much to do...

So little time...

So VERY little money..... 

What's a girl to do - besides drive herself CRAZY!

Have you noticed the jolly little fella to the right???  

I just realized that we are  slidin' on in... I think we're rounding 1st base actually... 

8 month and 2 weeks... 

YIKES!!! It is time to get serious people!  I mean SERIOUS!!!!  

Between working full time and trying to keep up with the single-married mom tasks, taking care of my Mr. trying to keep my girls on task with school, work and their crazy's......AND trying to stay FOCUSED... I'm getting a little overwhelmed... It is time to open up that cute little planner I purchased and put it to work again... my brain just simply can not keep up anymore.... So, I opened it up today and discovered that I had a few things left to "organize" and "plan" so I did just that! Made my plan of attack... Things are just going to keep coming at me - like it or not - so I've got to stay FOCUSED and do the best I can.... and OPEN that darn book EVERYDAY! :)  That is what it's for right??? 

My goal for last month was to get my tree skirts and stockings done...  (oops!) it seems like such a "SIMPLE" task... but it has just pushed me over the line... (I think I have A.D.D.... I just can't seem to stay focused) I start one project and go to get something to move on to the next step and find something there that needs to be done - and then go to get something else and find yet another something needing some attention - and haven't finished a DARN thing! AGH!! So frustrated with myself!  So, back to my tree skirts and stockings... this is one of those "projects"... my mind is going 100 miles a minute and for some reason, I just can not "complete" a project because I don't have the "FINAL" decision made... And heaven forbid if I start ONE thing and complete it without the other thing completely figured out!  SHEESH! I really do drive myself crazy!

I want to have 3 Christmas trees this year.... 

One in the family room upstairs, because even though there is not a TV in this room, this is where I am 99.9% of my "mom" time (after work), and I LOVE Christmas ;) so there just HAS to be a tree in this room....for me..... one in the living room, because this is the first place that you see when you walk into our home, and the Christmas spirit needs to be felt the minute you walk in... or for that matter, just driving by, what good is a big front room window without a lit up Christmas tree?... Looks kinda BAH-HUM-BUGGY don't you think?.... And one in the family room downstairs ... after all the family is getting bigger and they will all be home for Christmas this year, so we will need to do Christmas downstairs...a tree downstairs is a must!  OH! And after Christmas this year I found a SUPER - DUPER deal on the 2' trees... $2 each! So of course I had to get them so that the girls can each have a tree in their bedroom and I'm sure I'll need one too! :) 

Each tree has a theme... and that is where the problem was coming in... the tree in our upstairs family room is gingerbread boys, candy canes, peppermint candy.... just a little "candy-shop" theme... red and white.... it flows right into the kitchen so it works well with my 'holiday baking gingerbread family shelf sitters'.... The tree skirt I'm visioning, is a red and white round peppermint candy with a red ruffle....maybe..... 

The tree in the front room is new - (we've only had one every year because I've been kinda LAZY about it all) ... so after Christmas at the sales, I purchased decorations for this tree... it is more "elegant" - all silver and white.... glitter, shimmery.... snowflakes ...

I have the vision... in my head... but getting it to "turn out" is another story in and of itself... 

I thought that just a simple "white satin" tree skirt would be appropriate for this room.... 

Stockings... I think that they too need to be elegant... 

they will only be "show" stockings.... with a twist :) ... 

I'm thinking that these will be good stockings to use for our "Gift to Jesus" stockings. Instead of just writing our "gift" on a slip of paper as we have done in the past, I want to buy "simple" white notebooks and place in the stocking with a pen. 

I think it would be great to just "write" our gift and then journal our progress at Christmas time each year.  I think it would be really fun to go back each year and see how we have each grown, and how we have done with our "gift" throughout the year - just a little evaluation.... I think that I will also do this on the Sunday evening before Christmas, (our review) of the year and then on Christmas morning, we will write our new gift in our notebooks, tuck them back into the "special stocking". I've got to iron this out a little still obviously....

And then there is the tree downstairs... this one has been really hard for me.  I don't know why... kinda silly though.  For years I mean YEARS I have wanted a "MEMORY" tree... I have made a list of things that have taken place through the year that had a significant impact on our family... Like the year we were married.....I can't tell you how many times our family would tease us about "our 9 month" surprise!  NO! It was NOT a baby!  And that is why we were teased so much! Because that is what "USUALLY" happens.... ;)... Instead, I spent our 9 month anniversary, in the hospital having an emergency appendectomy..... AND we found out that through all the excitement of getting married and such, my Mr. forgot FORGOT to add me to his health insurance at work... I had no insurance!  Within hours, my sweet father-in-law had our vehicle sold, our furniture sold, our washer & dryer sold... I'm surprised he didn't sell me! OH! Wait, I wasn't worth anything laying in a hospital for 6 days! LOL! But through great blessings, because my attack hit while I was working, and I was taken from work to the hospital, somehow it was covered under the credit unions insurance... BLESSING!!!! We didn't have to sell anything! SHEW!!! (I was going somewhere with this....) Oh yes!  So, our first year, I wanted to make a ornament with a STORK delivering "appendectomy"... We also bought a house that year, sold my husbands "baby" (his Blazer) to buy the house, and bought a Toyota Corolla - with power nothing! Not even a air conditioner!

For every 28 years we have been married, I have 3-4 "important" life changing events that I thought would make a fun tree... but.... it exhausts me to think about it... thus the reason it has never gotten done!  I have drawn patterns of "events" to cut from wood, then I will need to paint them... and it just seems so much... I'm wondering if it would have the same meaning if I just cut circles, or squares and printed up a "blurb" of the event, with the year in big numbers at the top would work.... maybe throw in some of my favorite "traditional" ornaments... what do you think... ??? 

See why it is never done.... I really wanted something for my children and grandchildren and even great grandchildren to have when we are gone... I want them to know that we had a sense of humor... that we had trials... that we laughed... that we cried.... that we worked hard for the "good" things in life.  I want them to know us... to remember us... I just can't seem to "get this one together..."  SO, because I can't get one together... nothing is together.... nothing is done... SILLY HUH!?!?!  I want to have stockings for every family member... but personalized to them... or what my Mr and I see in them...  Remember, over a year ago I made a purchase ... it was a BEST STINKIN DEAL ever!!! Well... I have over 80 stockings... I think that should suffice my posterity for a while... don't you think :) ...

I just have to UNPICK and RE-DECORATE them... All the girls are RED and the guys are GREEN - and of course their names will be embroidered on them... but do I want to "decorate" each stocking with their personality in mind?  

Or do I want to keep them simple... names only.... agh....   

that is a large task... being I've got 11 to do now... and then stay on top of it... (Oh and of course the "doggy-kids" all have to have one too...) see what I mean.. I can't decide... because... what happens in 5-10 years from now and the grandkids just start ROLLING in (I'm so excited!) will I have the energy and AMBITION to "DECORATE" a stocking for them all??? or will putting their name on it be more than I can handle...??? What to do... what to do.... see! This is why I can get NOTHING done!

So... I'm on the search... 

Searching for some tree skirt patterns (remember EASY sew!) 

and thoughts and ideas for the #3 tree

AND... stockings... keep them simple with just a name... or add some "cute-sy" to them.....

Help me out peoples!!! Help me out!  This project MUST be completed by the end of this month! It just MUST!  Too much to do!!!!