June 2010 Rudy Day!!!

[SparkleNana]

HAPPY RUDOLPH DAY!!!!! And/or Happy Rudolph WEEKEND! WOO HOO!!!

Winged One..... your Christmassy post was exciting! I love reading about your sewing.... even though I do not sew.... I can enjoy it vicariously by hearing about your projects!

The office/guest room is My Christmas Room!!!! And.... since the air conditioning doesn't work in there..... I have been keeping it closed off! However.... today is A BIT less hot/humid..... so I can go in and out! And actually get my hands on some Christmas things.... to work with them. (Really, I will be playing with them!)

And.... it is now cool enough to actually go outside and water the poor plants!!! This summer is making them SO STRESSED! I must take this opportunity to take care of them! So.... I will return after the rescue mission.

 

[snickerdoodle]

Wow June Rudy Day already! Today I will be making a list of stocking stuffer ideas and will make a trip out to look for them! I am going to meet the challenge of finishing the stocking stuffers! I'm also going to Hobby Lobby to see what they have out for Christmas. Last week when I was there they were just starting to put out the ribbon. I want to get a couple of snowmen for my mantle. I know in my mind what I want this mantle to look like but not sure I can find what I need. I had a flocked tree that we haven't used in a couple of years. I took it apart and will use the branches on the mantle as a base and add to it. It may be 90 outside but it's Chrstimas in my world!

 

[luludou]

Happy Rudy day!!

Yesterday was a bit of a Rudy day since I finished crafting my christmas ornaments for my friends.

Since I'm off from work today I'd like to take this afternoon to go over my lists and work on my notebook - do my challenges properly. Also see what crafts I have left to do and work on these.
:tree2: :tree2: :tree2: :tree2:

 

[Kim Loves Snow]

HAPPY RUDY DAY!!!!!!!!

I think I'm going to a bit of Christmas over the next few days. I am going to look through my notebook and see what is still in need of attention and I'm going to look through the gift totes I have at the house and make sure all those things are recorded and then I might even go to storage to see if I can find any of the other gift totes that ended up over there.

For me it's down hill fast from here!!! Crunch time to get all my reindeer in a row so I can sail into the holiday season stress free!

Snickerdoodle, your mantel sounds like it will be cute!

 

[Winged One]

I have a few UFOs on the go knitting wise at present. A cardigan for the now 4 month old niece (it's sized 6-9 months, I tend to do a lot when being driven to Cork, and we are going down the next 2 weekends in a row, so I should get it mostly finished on those 2 trips!!). I also have an angel with no wings, a handful of dishcloths with ends to be sewn in, and a baby boy cardigan that has the back, 1 side and half a sleeve done- but that may need to be ripped back as I can't remember what isze it is.

I wasn't on Rudy day at lunch - despite my plan to be. DH rang and suggested we meet for lunch instead of me going to the other fabric store. So we met, ate, found shorts for him for summer, and an exercise leggings for me. Then we wandered through the sale in another store and he suggested loads for me to try before he had to go back (his office is further) - so I tried and liked a few things. Checked the kids section for DD for next year sizes and got a few more things, and the same in the shop beside. So I had a few bags going back to the car. And my shoes, newly heeled (2 pairs) got collected also.


One thing that I did another day I met DH this week, speaking of stocking stuffers, was I went into the Art Gallery near my office (I rarely get time) and wandered through the shop part - and saw fab funky things for stocking stuffers! A set of 5 markers in the shape of a flower (the petals are the caps). A pencil that was about 18" long and bendy. A similarly long rubber with a few different colours through it. I think I'll grab a few of those in a couple of weeks. And I also picked up a bottle of a young woman's perfume in one store when I was buying clothes today (in the sales rack!) - which I will put into a makeup roll for a cousin who will be 10 along with a lipgloss etc - a crayon roll for big girls!!

 

[happy2bme]

Happy Rudy Day!!

I will be watching Holiday Inn this afternoon. Can't wait to see it.

 

[SparkleNana]

Rudy Day Fun!!!!

I went into the Christmas Room/office/guest room. Behind the king-size bed - there is about 2 feet of "Christmas storage". (The bed is pulled 2 feet out from the wall.) I keep SOME Christmas necessities there. Two wreaths. Some Christmas window-candles. Wrapping paper. (OK - 14 rolls of Christmas wrapping paper!!! But.... I AM thinking about having a "wrapping party"..... AND we have our MHH Wrapping Parties.)

Also.... some wrapped Christmas gifts from last year..... that didn't get given.... and I've forgotten what they are. I think I will have a little "unwrapping" party for myself!

ALSO... some incredibly beautiful ornaments from the Pier 1 90% off sale..... which they have at the end of January every year!!!!!

AND.... a few boxes of Christmas twinkle tiny lights.

So.... I moved that stuff out to the side. I will be playing with it today. I can't wait to unwrap and admire the beautiful ornaments!!!!!!

I STILL can't find my Christmas notebook! Well... I am just going to make a Christmas-In-July Notebook. And I WILL keep that in the desk with the Christmas cards.

Are you having fun yet? Fun isn't all I am doing! I have ALSO been organizing... and even sorting/shredding more paper....... working outside..... lots of regular stuff! The ONE THING we have learned is that the "regular stuff" has to keep going on....

 

[MamaCat]

Football season/Christmas prep

So glad to hear others associate football season with Christmas prep time! For years I've connected the 2 together. Once training camps begin in July, I start my own "training camp"! LOL! Got to have something to think on & plan for while hubby watches 20 football games a week! LOL! Ok, a slight exageration--but not by much! I'm kind of bummed, though, about Christmas in July! My nephew is getting married that weekend, so I will be away from home & partying with family & miss CiJ on QVC & all the other fun stuff that weekend! I already ask my nephew what in the world were they thinking, planning their wedding that weekend!

 

[Kim Loves Snow]

Mamacat - Did your nephew not realize that he was getting married on such an important weekend? :0)

I had a sweet Rudy Day surprise in my office chair today. I will not repost, but head over to the chit chat thread to read about it. It put a huge smile on my face!!!

 

[ChristmasRose]

Happy Rudolph Day!

Today I'm doing a little on-line Christmas shopping, and looking for recipes while I'm at it. Have you all been to www.duncanhines.com? Lots of mouth-watering dessert recipes there. I went there to find the grilled angelfood cake recipe that is in their current magazine ad, and could hardly tear myself away.

I smile every time I think that we're half-way there! Can hardly wait!

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

One day late to celebrate Rudy day but I am looking forward to today. I will soon put on some Christmas music and get the day started. I am going to go through my sticky tape, tags, ribbons and gift boxes to make sure I have enough for when we start our wrapping parties on August 1st. I will also just flick through my notebook and see where I am up to with the gifts. I know that I can check off stocking fillers. I AM DONE!
Would like to start thinking about how I am going to decorate this year. Will it be reserved or will it be a Christmas explosion? Do I need anymore decorations...I don't think so. Will I buy more?...of course I will. I want to do something different with my mantle this year so I might have to work on that.

Hope you all had/have a good Rudy day, the time is really going to go fast now isn't it???

 

[pattycakes]

I burned my Christmas Cookies Yankee candle...the kids thought I was making cookies! (Sorry to disappoint. )

And I found a cute fabric Christmas tree to make on one of the blogs I look at regularly:

http://mousechirpy-polkadotpineapple.blogspot.com/2009/08/ruffled-christmas-tree.html

I hope to step up this year and participate more in Christmas prep through the summer and fall instead of waiting until the last minute! You all are such an inspiration!

 

[SparkleNana]

Pattycakes -- that link has such an adorable little Christmas tree! TFS!

Hi sweetpumpkinpye and Christmas Rose! Are you continuing with Rudy Day fun this weekend?

Kim Loves Snow - what an incredibly wonderful surprise -- someone celebrating Rudolph Day and YOU - in such a beautiful way! Christmas Spirit does live all year! And -- it shows how great a true surprise can be!

MamaCat - It DOES seem shocking that people could plan a wedding on the weekend of July 25th!!! Well.... weddings do take over peoples' entire brains! Did you know that QVC is having a "pre-Christmas clearance" on-line sale now? They have good stuff -- and a few real bargains! So -- you can spend as much time with QVC as you like! I bet they will have their 2010 Christmas items on-line pretty soon!!!!

Rudy Day Weekend continues for me. As soon as I get our bedroom straightened up a bit....... I will start bringing things OUT of the office/guest room/Christmas Room..... INTO our bedroom, with the TV -- AND air conditioning! One treat will be to unwrap the Christmas Decorations I got last January/February at the Pier 1 90% off sale. I KNOW that there are some adorable, life-like 4" long birds....... and I am wondering if I can bring them into our bedroom....... without freaking out my dh! Maybe I can line them up on top of the TV set...... I COULD put them away when I am through working in that room.

Considering that MOST of my Christmas decorations are upstairs in the attic...... there ARE an awful lot of Christmas things downstairs in our small (cozy.... but SMALL) home.
If I celebrate Christmas In July with a party...... I could use AND also give away..... some of these wonderful things...... Hhhhmmmmm

 

[Kim Loves Snow]

I'm home alone!!! DSS12 went home with his Gradmom yesterday and DH and DSS10 just left for some kind of Yughio card tournament DSS10 wants to try. All alone. All by myself. No one to feed. I am excited!! On goes my Christmas music...Rudy day here I come!!!

 

[SparkleNana]

Kim Loves Snow --- You have discovered The Secret! EVERY married woman LOVES to have time at home alone! It is DELICIOUS! Of course we love our families! But there is absolutely nothing like time HOME ALONE! I don't know if men feel this way or not. I THINK it has something to do with our feeling "responsible" for the happiness and well-being of everyone in our home! And.... when they are ALL out of the home.... that responsibility is temporarily gone!

I would LOVE to hear from men on the board.... to hear if they love this "time alone" too.

I am TRYING to get to Rudy Day Weekend stuff ----- but that darn REAL LIFE keeps getting in the way! The food!!! EVERYBODY wants to eat! I even want to eat! And.... when you eat... the food runs out! Shopping.... we have to go shopping for food! ALL. THE. TIME.

I went grocery shopping. I LOVE it when people say they went "marketing". It sounds so old fashioned and delightful. OK... I went "marketing". It's hot. I carry the bags in. EVERYTHING has to be put away..... and on and on it goes!!!

REMEMBER THIS - Christmas Lovers! No matter HOW MANY Christmas Parties and Special Teas and Holiday Brunches there are....... there will still be SO MANY regular meals that keep coming up! No matter how much we want to immerse ourselves in Christmas Stuff.... from Black Friday onwards....... REAL LIFE will NOT be denied!!!!!

And.... when you are IMPATIENT to get to Christmas Stuff..... the way I am impatient today for Rudy Day Stuff.... you realize HOW LONG this Real Life Stuff takes! So...... be warned! We NEED to take advantage of Christmas In July.... and take advantage of every single helpful thing we have here at our Magical Holiday Home! why? Because WE want maximum pleasure and maximum peace/joy at Christmas for ourselves! It goes without saying that we want maximum pleasure/peace/joy for the people we love! And we WILL make that happen! What we CAN do.... by preparing early.... is get some of that delicious peace/pleasure/joy for OURSELVES!

OK. I am off now.... for Rudy Day Stuff (you ask?) NO! I am of to water my plants.... which will DIE if I do not water them. THIS sort of stuff is Real Life. And then.... neighbors who do not have cable TV will probably come over at 2:00 to watch the US play in the World Cup. And THEN..... dh will want dinner. (And I will want dinner too.) BUT.... I WILL have Rudy Day fun today.... because I am going to do the MINIMUM of Real Life Stuff. And THAT will leave a bit of time for Rudy Day/Weekend stuff!

So... let's just keep on Keepin' On! Let's Keep On INSPIRING and ENCOURAGING each other, delightful people! Because.... every Christmas since I have been with our MHH Family has been better than the Christmas before. AND...... Real Life is better than it was before I took great courage....... and jumped into posting here at MHH! CERTAIN that every single post I wrote would be stupid and boring. But knowing that the gentle people at MHH would welcome me anyway!

And then.... after a while.... I discovered the miracle.... that NOBODY does stupid and boring posts here. That all of us in the MHH Family absolutely cherish and enjoy EVERY person who posts! That those people - who posts - make our own lives so much richer! And that we need..... and love...... to hear from them!

I think that Gingerbug took a great leap -- greater than the leap that any of the rest of us took! I think that she thought "Oh.. I'm too busy..... this is too much responsibility... I can't possibly create this place for all the magic and miracles to happen!" And then...... she did it anyway! She created our Magical Holiday Home! And because she leaped out in faith -- we have formed friendships and love all over the world -- with people that we know through their spirits -- as expressed here at MHH.

And Jeff Westover, who has his own boards at the Merry Forums.com, has stepped in -- as busy and overwhelmed as he is -- to provide safety for us -- keeping us safe from the kind of mentality that thinks it would be "funny" -- to destroy us.

How do you repay people like these two? There are lots of ways to thank and support them. But let's not forget to say a prayer -- that the blessings they have given to us -- those who post and those who never post -- let's pray that they will be repaid with magical, beautiful blessings far beyond our ability to imagine! And let's ask for the kind of courage that they showed -- let's ask that that kind of spiritual courage will be granted to us.... at some time.... in our own lives. To help bring some miracles to life at some future time.

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Sn. I like to thank the people who make my life better. So.........

THANK YOU SPARKLENANA

 

[sweetpumkinpye]

Had a lovely day yesterday. Like Kim I was in the house by myself and had a lovely time. I put on some Christmas music and I sorted through the boxes that hold my ribbons and bows and tags and just looked at them. I really do not need to buy any this year but I know that when I see them displayed at the store I will have to buy some. I am a sucker for Christmas wrapping paper. Can you ever have too much? (DH is YELLING YES)!!
I went through my calender and wrote down a few more important dates and marked QVC CIJ which hopefully I can watch on line.

Went through the menu for our CIJ meal and I think I am pretty much on track with that and sorted through a few gifts in the closet to see if I have the appropriate box for the gift.

Really a lovely day. I hope that you all had a wonderful June Rudy day and are ready to head straight into CIJ

 

[Winged One]

I managed some RD celebrations!! DD was tired on Saturday evening, so DH turned on the tv to find a film she could watch - we saw the end of Garfield, and then "Elf"!! Not my favourite Xmas movie, but DD was delighted and DH just groaned!! He realises that there are 2 Christmas nuts in the house!!

We also filled in the forms for the Santa Train tickets. To DD's delight. She was checking that I had enough tickets booked so her Godmother can come too. And that it wasn't the weekend her GM has a wedding. (Dh has very kindly offered that, should GM still WANT to go in Dec, he will forfeit his tkt for her, and we have tried to get tkts to suit).

I didn't get crafting like I'd hoped, but I DID make 8 pots of redcurrant jelly - at least 3 or 4 of which will become gifts! There is some slight pulpiness at the top of the jars, and I am not 100% sure if they set yet (I left too early to check this morning), but they are still glowing pots of red gorgeousness!! (And now to find a use for the other half of the redcurrants still on the bushes - would redcurrant vodka work, do you think??!)

July RD will be the second day of our holidays, and I am intending to bring a lot of crafting stuff with me in the car (as we will be bringing both cars). I think I should be able to get some knitting, and some sewing done while there (borrowing my Mom's holiday house for the week) - which would be a great dent into the Xmas project plans!!

 

[AuntJamelle]

SparkleNana - Love your post! All I can say is...{{{HUGS}}}

And that goes for Gingerbug and Jeff too!!!

pattycakes – LOVE, love, LOVE the blog that little fabric Christmas tree is from. There are LOTS of awesome looking crafts on there that I cannot wait to browse through! Thank you SO much for that post!!!

sweetpumkinpye – Too much Christmas wrapping paper? NOT possible! Can't happen.

Your DH and my DH would probably have plenty to say to each other about that, huh?

Winged One – I have to admit, I have never tasted a red currant. They sound lovely! I know what you mean though about loving how the little jars "glow" in the light. I was admiring a similar glow from my jars of strawberrry jam a few weeks ago.

OKAY - my Rudolph Day news to report!!!

Bought a few small presents. Bought a few stocking stuffers. Updated my master gift list.

The Gooseberry Patch Christmas book (#10) I ordered arrived on Saturday - so I had fun browsing that!!!

Hallmark flyer advertising their ornament premiere was waiting for me when I got home on Friday and I saw a couple of cute things in there that weren't on the website I was peaking at the other day - really cute coffee mugs and some other things!

The rest of the weekend was taken up with baby care , housework, laundry, grocery/other shopping and food prep for the week.

Thank GOODNESS it has been such a wet summer so far - no need to worry about watering all my flower beds yet! Our hose system is shot and will have to be replaced!!! Not cheap! And it takes time to take out the old and put in the new too.

Our mistake was leaving the old system out over the winter. Both DH and I have a tendency to "forget" things over the winter. {sigh} I guess that is the last vestiges of our irresponsible youth...LOL

In any case, I am going to try and focus on clearing clutter from my craft room this week so that I am ready to jump in and "play" when July begins!!!

 

[Merry]

I had a wonderful Rudy Day listening to Christmas music and looking at the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Dreambook on line. I also had some time to go through my notebook and change out some pages and look for some recipes. I'm glad everyone else had a great Rudy Day!