Good intentions

"I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together by good intentions." Augustine Burroughs, Magical Thinking

I had good intentions, but I guess I ran out of steam. And as far as excuses go, I got sick, and I fell. Twice. I guess the "sick" part was just a bad cold, but I stayed home from work two days (worked from home, though), and I still have a lingering cough that I'm trying to get rid of.

Tuesday morning I fell in the parking lot at work, slipped on the ice and fell to my knees, caught myself with the palm of my right hand, and then actually hit my face on the ground! I don't think I've ever done that before. My knee is bruised, my hand is bruised, my LIP is bruised, and I have a little scrape on my cheek. It took me awhile to stop shaking from that one, but I didn't tear my clothes or get especially dirty or anything, and I didn't chip a tooth or break my nose or any other bones, so I considered myself lucky.

And then, to add insult to injury, when I was getting the mail at home that same night, I slipped AGAIN, and this time fell on my butt. The ice I fell on that time was melting ice, so I also got soaked. And caught myself with my left hand this time, so I bruised that palm, too.

The good part was, though, that my boss had told us that if we didn't have any deadlines pressing, and didn't have any particular reason to come in, that we could work from home, or just take the day off. We had originally planned to work a half day anyway. So I took the day off and spent it wrapping gifts and making party mix to give to my dad and brother, and Bob's dad, as part of their Christmas gifts.

The one thing that I did stick to pretty well was my "handcrafted Christmas," i.e., giving people things that were consumable, such as soap and food, and not a lot else. Normally when I make stuff for Christmas gifts, I start worrying and feeling guilty, and end up buying things anyway, but this year, I really didn't. Everyone got soap--the girls (mothers, sisters, aunts, nieces) got soap, candles and tea, and the guys (fathers, brothers) got soap and party mix. Boyfriends got Starbucks gift sets with coffee cups and cookies.

So all in all, it worked out pretty well.

Barb is coming over today to exchange gifts and then go out to lunch (or maybe the other way around, depending on how hungry we are), so I'm heading upstairs to shower and dress.

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Advent Calendar - Fallen Behind

Okay, so I've fallen behind on the Advent Calendar. But I have one more giveaway to do, so don't give up. Later today I'll update the calendar and bring it up to date for the last few days before Christmas.

Soap Giveaway

Using my highly scientific method of choosing a winner, I wrote everyone's name down on a notepad, cut them out individually, folded them up, put them in my Christmas candy dish, closed my eyes, held the bowl over my head so I couldn't cheat, and picked one. The winner was Monique! After Christmas, when things settle down a little, I think I'll put some of my handmade soap up in my Etsy shop, so if you didn't win (that would be everyone except Monique), and would like to try it, you'll have another chance.

Check the Advent calendar for this week, and be sure to check any days you missed from Week One and Week Two.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar Updates

I've been sick, and busy, and haven't been keeping up on the journal entries, but I updated the Advent Calendar today, so check it out.

Check the Advent calendar for this week, and be sure to check any days you missed from Week One and Week Two.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - Weekend & Monday

I'm home sick today. Several people at work have been sick, and Bob had a cold last week, and I finally got it. Yesterday wasn't too bad, but this morning I'm coughing, so I decided to stay home.

Bob is off today, so he went out to McDonald's and got me breakfast, then left to go look for a Christmas tree. When I went to the ATM last night to get some cash, it was either broken or turned off or something -- there was an orange traffic cone in the lane -- so this morning I gave him all the cash I had -- $50, and hope he can get a tree for that.

In my quest for a hand-crafted Christmas, I made a TON of soap this weekend. Well, not literally a ton, but a lot. I made: Oatmeal (oatmeal, apricot seed and honey); Oatmeal Spice (oatmeal, nutmeg, cinnamon and honey); Green Tea; Sandalwood Vanilla, and Chai Tea. I still need to make Peppermint, Cucumber Melon, and Orange Spice. Last night I wrapped a lot of bars, and I bought flat metal tins to package them in.

I like making soap, it's a lot of fun. I dread starting it, because it's kind of messy and takes up a lot of room, but once I get into it, I really enjoy it.

Saturday night Bob drew a name for the "Murder with all the Trimmings" gift, and Sharon won! I mailed the book out yesterday, along with a bunch of Christmas cards and a few CDs. They'll all go out in several batches, so if you don't have one yet, it should be on its way soon. I'm cutting off the CD offer, but if you want a Christmas card and aren't on my regular list, or haven't let me know this year, please do.

Check the Advent calendar for this week, and be sure to check any days you missed from Week One and Week Two.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - Day 12

I spent my evening last night making prayer beads, and photographed them this morning and put them up in my Etsy shop. I haven't really done any jewelry making since before I had the surgery on my hand. I've really wanted to get back into it, but I've been so busy lately that it's been hard to find the time. It was really too late last night, but it felt nice to get out the boxes of beads and findings and actually make something.

Someone pointed out that in the Advent Calendar for Day 11, I asked for your "mailing list," but I really meant "mailing address." Sorry about that. Fixed now!

Check the Advent calendar for this week. Last week's is still up, also.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - 10 & 11

I'm in the process of posting new things to my Etsy shop, so if you're interested in the prayer beads, especially, check back soon.

Check the Advent calendar for this week. Last week's is still up, also.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - Day 9

For Thanksgiving dinner at my sister-in-law's house, we had ham, which was very good, but I kind of missed having turkey and all the other things that usually go along with it, so Bob said he would cook a turkey for us, which he did Friday. He left that evening to go hunting, so he carved the turkey and put the meat away, then yesterday afternoon when he came home from work, he made mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing, and we had our own little Thanksgiving at home last night.

After we ate, we filled up little containers and took dinner over to the store to his boss, which was fun. They've really gone all out with the Christmas decorations; I took a few pictures while Bob was talking to people. There are a few more on the Moblog.

We got our first substantial snowfall today; I'm going to go home and have a turkey sandwich for dinner.

There's a new Advent calendar this week, but if you missed last week's, it's still here.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - Day 8

We went to Bob's Christmas party last night, and Bob was named Associate of the Year! They choose an Associate of the Month each month, then at the end of the year one of those twelve is named Associate of the Year. This year was different in that they held a vote among all of the employees to choose who would be honored. Bob was extremely surprised.

The party was very nice. They had the food catered; it was appetizers -- fresh vegetables and dip, boiled shrimp, potato skins -- those were the things that I had, but there were other things also, some kind of chicken or beef on skewers, barbequed chicken drumsticks, just lots of interesting things. The employees all brought desserts, so there were LOADS of wonderful things. I made cheesecake brownies.

We had planned to go straight home after the party because Bob was getting a cold, but since he was the honored guest, we went out to a bar afterward with a few friends.

All in all, it was quite a night.

There's a new Advent calendar this week, but if you missed last week's, it's still here.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - 5, 6, 7

This year I've been thinking about gifts that are "consumable," i.e., that get used up, or re-used. A couple of years ago I made homemade soap; last year I knitted quite a few scarves. I've always tried to make a least some of my Christmas gifts. It's hard, working full time and doing that. Of course, I could have started months ago, but I'm never very good at doing that.

I remember several years running when I tried to at least make something for my parents; there's a crocheted wreath that my mom brings out every year, and a big plaster candle holder that I painted for her. Of course, years after the fact I'm a little embarrassed by those homemade things, but I know that, just like when I made an ashtray in kindergarten, my parents would love anything that I made, no matter how clumsily.

When I got my hair cut on Saturday, my hairdresser suggested a book of family recipes, and that would be a really good idea. I'm sure that my sisters would appreciate it. I'm going to think about that. I probably won't do it this year, but it's a good idea.

The Advent calendar has been updated!

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - Day 4

I heard on the local news yesterday morning that two people had been robbed at gunpoint after arranging to meet someone to purchase iPhones that had been offered on Craigslist. Two things that made me think of -- my sister bought something from someone on Craigslist over the Thanksgiving weekend, and we were talking about it, and I asked her how she was going to get it. She said she was meeting the woman at a parking lot somewhere -- I can't remember where, but a public place, which I thought made sense. Now I'm wondering if even that's safe.

I occasionally sell stuff on eBay, usually yarn that I no longer need, and a couple of weeks ago I had someone ask if they could come pick an order up. This person won a $5.00 ball of yarn, wrote and said she lived fairly nearby, was retired and thus "flexible," and could she just pick up the yarn and have me remove the shipping charge from the order.

Well, in the first place, the shipping charge is not just for the shipping part, it's also supposed to cover "handling," i.e., the cost for the packaging and my time in preparing it. Not that it's a big deal, but that nickel-and-diming thing is always a little irritating. Also, the reason I love things like eBay is that I can be my normal antisocial self and don't actually have to interact with people, sad as it may be to say.

Anyway, I thought, well, no, I don't want to do that, but should I? I felt kind of bad, but I wrote back to her and said that I wasn't comfortable with that, and would prefer to mail her the package, and she sent me the money with no more conversation, which was a relief.

It didn't really occur to me until later that, while I'm sure everything would have been fine, it could have been a scam, or a ploy -- buy something cheap on eBay, then rob the person who shows up to deliver it, or, I guess more likely, rob the person when you show up at their house and they let you in. I'm glad I didn't agree to it, in any event, and will keep it in mind in the future. It's too bad, but that's the world we live in.

I was reading this the other day: Thoughts on Japan from a first-time visitor, and this comment struck me:

Perhaps what I liked the most is the very strong sense of security. You never feel threatened or insecure. You never worry about that sort of thing.

It would be nice if we could feel that way here.

Be sure to check out the Advent calendar.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - Day 3

Getting into the Christmas spirit doesn't have to be expensive. And I don't mean stuff like using last year's Christmas cards to decoupage an old tray or something, or stick cloves into oranges and hang them on your Christmas tree. I mean just doing the things that you normally do, but giving some thought to making them special, or just doing little things that help get you into the holiday mood.

I was thinking about that tonight as I was driving home listening to the all-Christmas music radio station Kansas City's Star 102). Radio is free, and you hear a lot of great Christmas music without having to buy it. And as I was getting that link, I see that you can actually listen to the station online through a browser. They play a good mix of old familiar songs and a few new ones; it seems like I always hear a couple of songs that I've never heard before.

We don't take the newspaper anymore, but you don't have to buy TV Guide to find out what's on television, you can access TV Guide online. I've been looking for Christmas movies, hoping to catch some old favorites that I don't have on DVD. I watched "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer" tonight; I hadn't seen it in awhile, and now I'm really glad I didn't actually buy it -- it doesn't hold up very well.

Of course, if you have favorite Christmas movies, you can always rent them rather than buying them; I do buy my favorites, but DVDs aren't terribly expensive anymore. And you can even rent them from iTunes, usually for $2.99. And during the holidays, iTunes gives away a couple of holiday songs for free each week, you just have to remember to go get them.

Amazon also usually has a few free MP3s to download; right now they have a free 5 song holiday sampler that isn't bad at all. Another good thing about iTunes or Amazon MP3s is that you can buy just one song, if that's all you want from an album, rather than buying the entire album. They's usually just 99 cents, and that solves the problem of what to do when you really, really want just one song, but can't bring yourself to buy the whole album.

And those Christmas-patterned paper towels and paper napkins? I buy that stuff anyway, and the holiday-themed ones don't cost any more, so why not get them? And the same thing for liquid hand soap, bubble bath, or any kind of personal care product like that -- as long as you're going to buy it anyway, buy a special holiday version. I know it always makes me feel better. I took a bath tonight in Bath & Body Works' Wickedly Hot Chocolate bubble bath, one of my favorite things in the world. Of course, they don't carry it anymore . . .

The same goes for the cranberry gingerale I bought over the weekend -- I buy it as a special treat, but I'd be getting soda anyway, so it makes sense (at least to me) to buy something a little different that only appears in stores over Christmas. Of course, that doesn't extend to those weird Jones Soda flavors like turkey and gravy. [Shudder.]

Be sure to check out the Advent calendar.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - Day 2

I'm having this struggle with what I carry back and forth to work. (Bob will laugh at this!) I've got a laptop for work now, which I carry home and back to work so I can work at home if I need to. It's really working out very well. Before, if I had a document that I thought I might need, I'd either email it to myself, put it on a thumbdrive, put it on my iDisk, etc. If I remembered. If I didn't, I was out of luck. So while I'd been avoiding it -- I liked my iMac at work with the big screen -- when Cello offered to buy me a laptop, I took the offer. Well, what he actually did was buy himself a new laptop and give me his old one, but that was fine. He's such an early adopter that his old stuff is never very old.

Before I had the laptop, I was carrying my big Franklin Planner -- big and heavy, but it wasn't any big deal until I started carrying the laptop, too. I carried them both for awhile, then decided to leave the planner at work since I hardly ever opened it up at home. But there are notes in there that I sometimes need, so it's been an ongoing dilemma.

This morning I had a meeting out of the office, but I was planning on going to the office first because I was riding with someone else. Then this morning, I had a voice mail that I needed to drive myself and meet there, which was fine -- I would just go directly to the meeting place, I had plenty of time. But then I realized that I'd left my planner in the office, so I had to go to the office first, go upstairs and grab it, then hurry over to the meeting place. I got there, and it was fine, but the traffic was bad, and I'd never driven there by myself and wasn't exactly sure where it was, so I was anxious.

And I still don't know what to do. Because after I stopped carrying the big work planner, I bought a small, compact size one for personal stuff, and I'd been carrying that. So now I feel like I should theoretically carry the laptop, the classic planner and the compact planner, so I'm even worse off now than I was before.

The struggles of the obsessive-compulsive personality . . .

Be sure to check out the Advent calendar.

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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Advent Calendar - Day 1

More stuff I thought of to add to my list:

• The all-Christmas radio station
• Christmas lights
• Hershey's Candycane Kisses
• Christmas return address labels
• Candy Cane Tootsie Pops
• Canada Dry Cranberry Ginger Ale

I bought the gingerale tonight when I stopped at the store for a few groceries. I made Bob macaroni and cheese with ham and broccoli, something I used to make for him a long time ago. He doesn't get home until after 10:30 tonight, but he'll be happily surprised to get a hot meal.

I had this idea for an Advent calendar, and I've been struggling with it tonight, and finally decided that I wouldn't do the whole month for now, just the first week. I mean, who says an Advent calendar has to be done all at once? This will be Part I:

Click the thumbnail above to go to the Advent Calendar page. Once there, click on the number corresponding to the day of the month. Some of the days will have details on little contests or drawings, so check each day for a special note.

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