So Much to Do, So Little Time.

I made up my mind a couple of months ago that Christmas would not sneak up on me and leave before I was ready.  I started decorating the house the day after Thanksgiving.  A week later, the tree was up.  Still, here I am in the wee hours of December 19 wondering where the time went.

Spending so much time in my shop, I haven't been home much during the day.  Baking and movie watching have to be squeezed into the evenings and I haven't been doing well.  My son came home from school today and I was glad that he wanted to immediately dive into #traditions.  He asked about the gingerbread house and I directed him to the "A-Frame" kit I bought at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago.  It was so much easier to put together than the ones we've been doing for years.  It was quick and easy and not nearly as ornate as usual, but it was fun, it's done, and my 18 and 24 year olds sat at the dining room table with me and we talked while we built, just like old times.  

Business was ridiculously slow today, but I did get a sweet comment from a customer on Facebook, which totally made my day.  Baby steps...only for the most patient among us.  I guess that means me.  

So with bedtime typically around 2:30a, rising at 6:30a, maybe an hour and a half back in bed before I'm up for the day, and I'm then at it again.  I squeezed a lot into today.  Travel plans, emails and phone calls, rearranging the shop window, repairing those old tables and grocery shopping (if Walgreen's counts) and I'm dreading how tired I'm going to be again tomorrow.  It's almost 1a and I have a 9:00 appointment, an estate sale that I really want to get to, and the shop from 10-5 for a final Christmas push.  I'm feeling apprehensive, yet hopeful.  Overwhelmed, but supercharged.  Sleepy, but...sleepy.  I need this cycle be over soon.

No cookies yet, but I did make a few things this week!

This same piece of wood has been about three different signs over the past two years.  Now it says "Be Merry".

Wine Crate Manger Scene!  I never have a creche.  I'm always improvising.

My niece found these beat up tables on the side of the road.  Some nails, some wood glue, some soap and water...I'm going to use these display tables a lot.

Goodwill bags.  I knew they'd come in handy for something.  Love the color!

And the Gingerbread house.  It smells really good.  Pictures tomorrow...I'm so tired, I don't think I can hold the camera right now.  I'm going to bed y'all!

Another Late Night Post!

It's getting worse.  It's after 3:30a and I'm still up!  The internet is a really dangerous thing for a person who actually needs to sleep.  

Just when I was about to scold myself for getting absolutely nothing done in terms of holiday projects, I remembered that I did find a nice branch in the back yard and painted it silver.  Big deal.  Big Deal!  I needed it to display ornaments in the shop, so I will allow myself this small win.  While the silver spray paint was out, I painted a vintage wooden bench.  I can't wait to see it in the daylight.  It crossed my mind a few days ago, but I said absolutely not.  Not on a country style bench with heart cut-outs in each end.  Too much mixing of styles...no way this is going to work.  BUT, I couldn't stop thinking about it.  And I was in the garage.  And the paint can was in my hand.  Pictures tomorrow.  I really was painting at night in a dimly lit garage.  This should be interesting.

I also made a trip to the city at 10p to pick up a couple of glass topped end tables that my niece "rescued" for me several months ago.  Nothing special about the style, but the glass tops are hinged and boy oh boy, the things that I can put in there.  I dropped them off at the store, just so they'll be there and ready for me tomorrow.  I have my work cut out for me, as they need a little repair, a lot of cleaning, and a place to be.  I'm pretty confident that I will make good use of them.

Add to that an evening meeting/reception that I actually put on "real" pants for, filing the papers and mail that was piling up on the dining room table, picking up yet another official birth certificate (I'm sure there are about 10 of them somewhere around here), and doing laundry, which I do every day, and I'd say that it was a productive day.  Had I not overslept until 10a, I would probably be in bed by now.  That said, I'm on my way.  I'll be up in less than 3 hours...

Another really bad health habit that I need to break.  I'm trying.  

Happy, Healthy, Holidays!

How can you tell that a Christmas tree is nervous?
It's on "pines and needles" all the time!

Happy Holidays!

I've fallen completely off the wagon and can no longer consider myself a blogger...I'm just someone who likes to write sometimes and I'm okay with that!  October 29 was my last post...

I've been too busy to write.  That's a good and a bad thing.  Since this is something that I do because I enjoy it, it's absolutely awful that I don't make time for it.  On the flip side, I have been busy doing other things that I enjoy and while I really want to tell my readers about it, I can't seem to get around to it.  I'm not going to do one of my "catch up" posts because that would be about 10 pages and I accept that I'm not clever enough to keep anyone's attention for 10 pages.  Rather, I promise (to myself) that I'll write a lot during these final two weeks leading up to Christmas, and after that we'll just see.  

What have I been doing, you ask?  (Did you ask?)  I have been travelling a little, working on my music management business and opening a holiday pop-up shop.  My brother told me today that I have too many hobbies and need to try turning one of them into a business.  SIDE EYE!  A small business is still a business.  Two tiny ones qualify as well.  I think he means that I need to focus on one thing but that would be extremely difficult for me, and not nearly as much fun. 

The pop up is gorgeous!



But that's just one woman's opinion.  One very important woman...I'm loving it.  Business has been slow, but I'm enjoying it as a workspace as well.  I have a huge table in the back and I use it for everything from checking emails, packing, wrapping and mailing, crafts, fixing broken ornaments to making fresh batches of Foot Beer.  I'm going to miss this little pop up when it's gone...it's clean, the bathroom is clean, bright and highly functional (you may recall that the space I rented/shared last year had a modified furnace room with a big laundry tub and a toilet that didn't work most of the time.)  It's all mine and I don't have to deal with the workplace bullies and worse.  Worth every penny.

I've done a wee bit of travelling, including a one-night trip to Memphis.  The weather was amazingly warm for December, and I was there long enough to know that I want to go back.  

There was this limo ride:

I'm not so sure that I believe the whole "lonely at the top" bit.
I was all alone in this little slice of luxury and I wasn't lonely
at all.  

So it's 2:40a and I think it's time to start the bedtime ritual.  Happy Holidays to all and I'll be back soon, I promise.  Let's count this thing down together!