HGP Week 14: December 1-7, 2013

[HouseElf]

Holiday Decor Week

By Cynthia Ewer, Author of Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Organized
Decor is central to Week Fourteen at the Holiday Grand Plan: it's Decorations Week!

The holiday season is here, so we'll bring it home this week, organizing holiday decorations and decor storage.

In holiday prep, the Christmas tree makes an appearance as we complete holiday decorating. Are gift packages ready for mailing? It's time!

Ready? Let's get organized with Decorations Week at the Holiday Grand Plan!

Deep Cleaning/Organizing Area:

Holiday Decorations and Storage
Holiday Decorations checklist

Holiday Prep:

• Decorate house and yard for holidays.
• Have a craft day for children.
• Prepare all packages for mailing and mail this week and next. Mail all overseas cards.
• Plan a caroling evening or other social family evenings.
• Procure and water the Christmas tree!
• Order turkey.
• Are we having the company Christmas party? See checklist.
• Read "The Polar Express" aloud to kids

 

[HouseElf]

It has really started now ladies! First Advent this weekend!

Our outside lights will go up - once the temperature warms up! Too frigid this morning still. Should be good to go this afternoon!

Our tree we will put up this evening - will be interesting to see how the new puppy reacts!

Cards and gifts will be shipped off today too - everything is ready!

 

[Winged One]

We are making progress here too. We are not decorating until next weekend, but the gift purchasing has nearly been completed.

I will make a big dent in the remaining ones tomorrow - the national craft fair is on from Wed to Sun and I have a ticket to go anyday, but a day off tomorrow combined with 10% off all purchases on opening day means I will sort BIL, SIL, DSis and the au pair all in one spot, and possibly an aunt and her family, and an aunt of DH's. I hope. I haven't been for a couple of years, but it is a HUGE fair with loads of different things to suit all tastes and budgets. Then I only have to get 3 boxes of chocolates for crèche minders and driver, and alcohol (1 bottle of bubbles to go with champagne glasses for PIL, wine for Christmas lunch in BILs, and a few Christmas beers for DH).

I will bring my cards in to work tomorrow, to try and get those written at lunchtimes. I haven't started them yet, and need to get the overseas ones off this week!! Yikes!!

But otherwise, the house is still in chaos. I get one section done and when my back is turned, it is upturned again. So I am putting down my foot and laying down the law to DD and the AP - at least the sitting room has to be clutter free and ok for grown ups to sit in, and I will tackle the others as I can.

I ended up making freezer space over the past couple of weeks, but filling most of it again over the weekend - we needed chicken breasts and the bag of 8 was very good value, and crab meat was half price so I got 1 pack, and we never had desert over the weekend so that got frozen too. But as DH is away for the next 10 days of so (he left this morning, back Saturday week), I will use up a lot rather than do a big shop.

I did remember to get the advent calendar out though, and to fill it. I just know though that I will forget a day, as in 3 days I remembered once when I was already in bed and barely remembered before bed another.

And at least I don't have to post any parcels this year - my 2 DBros are coming home (1 for Christmas, the other flies overnight on 26th) and I already gave DSis hers when she was home 2 weeks ago.

But while I don't have any parcels to post, I really ought to get on with the wrapping this week as well. Once the mending is done and out of the way (I've made progress in gathering all the items in 1 laundry basket, complete with sewing machine, which is currently residing on the kitchen table - where I hope to be able to use it later tonight once DD is in bed to run the straight seams needed on PJs, pillowcases and a dress underarm - and perhaps even throw together the tote bag that DD bought the material for over a year ago from her own pocket money!).

 

[Winged One]

I didn't get to the craft fair yesterday - DD was sent home sick from School on Tuesday afternoon, so I had to look after her Tues evening (just temperature and "sore tummy" mostly, but some complaints about sore ears too that I can't ignore with her history) - although she perked up enough to eat 6!! crab cakes for dinner! We couldn't get to the doc on Tuesday, but had an early apt yesterday instead - which was good because it wasn't DD's regular GP, another Dr in the practice - and she explained to me and then clearly on a diagram to DD, exactly what was going on in her ears (usually it's infections causing the inner ear to bulge out but now it's negative pressure there causing the inner ear to get sucked IN causing the bones to get squished up and hurt). And she also cleared up another couple of things for me in passing about DD and her sore tummies (all related to glands - aren't they just so wonderful normally, but annoying when they aren't perfectly functioning!!).

Anyways, that meant I had to bring DD for a hot chocolate and some (more) food before going in to school (she was back to normal temp-wise so fine for school) - but it meant my quiet start of the paper and a long coffee and a cake for breakfast, did not happen and I was chasing my tail for the day.

But I did get to the big grocery store and buy 2 cart loads for the goodwill collection (our local Archbishop is saying that the charities giving food are running out there is such demand this year), and the batteries I need and some wine to have over Christmas for us (I was using up 2 different threshold spend vouchers).

And then I got a LOT of the sorting and organizing done at home - cleared under the study desk, listed what I have, fully stocked my self-catering utensils box, gathered the food and drinks items I want to bring with us, filled the Christmas Eve hamper, got the Christmas candle and a couple of regular ones, and put all of those things under the desk ready for DH to bring straight to the car the night before we leave.

And then I wrote it all up last night at swimming (waiting for DD to finish her class) and typed those lists this morning. So I know what we need in the grocery store when we get there, what last minute things I need to buy here, and the rest of the organizing that I need to do.

And I managed the mending on Tuesday night, after DD was gone to bed, so that basket has gone back upstairs again too. And while I was sorting the food yesterday, I cleared off the top of the kitchen cupboards, chucked a few out of date items but also organized it.

Step by baby step, the important pieces are getting done and I am making some small progress on the house too. Which is important in case the power company strike threat happens in 10 days time, and I need my candles and woodstove to be stocked and working!! (Luckily, we DO love candles, and have a wood stove as the gas central heating needs electricity to work the boiler, and while the oven is electric, the hob is gas so we can cook - and we have a BBQ outside too!!).

Sorry, this wasn't meant to be such an epic post.

 

[luludou]

Wings you impress me! wow! you get so much accomplished. Hoping there won't be a strike with your power company.

During the week I never accomplish much but next weekend I have TONS to do... especially wrapping. I've put ordinary things aside while I was prepping for Christmas, need to get back to 'ordinary housechores'.