Journal Your Christmas - Day 25

Merry Christmas! Happy Holiday!

We started early; but not as early as we could have. Kids woke me up at 8. I put on my red robe, we got our coffee and "off to the races". The kids sorted everything and then we took turns opening gifts; sipping coffee; etc.

The gifts were all well received. Sheridan's primary gift was the Mac (Note: haven't seen much of her since!); Lucas's primary gift was the ipod Touch - of course then Susie spent alot of the day trying to get it to work with Lucas's iTunes account - she was successful later in the day!

As always, Larry gave me some nice stuff. I got a yarn swift; an Eileen Fisher sweater (sale I hope) and a Spa Noa facial gift certificate. He also found a place that sells watch parts so that my Tissot watch can get put back togehter (yeah). He wasn't sure why he got the PS3; but finally noticed the part about the blue ray player.

After gifts, Larry made Belgian waffles and we ate them in the kitchen. During the afternoon, we worked on some of the Christmas dinner, played Risk, tried to play this weird clue version and talked to faraway family members.

Dinner happened around 7 when everything was ready. (It was really yummy) We ate the first two courses at the dining table with the pretty stuff (china, crystal, sterling and cloth napkins) then had dessert (maple pecan pie) while watching the new blue ray player. OK - so maybe District 9 was not the best Christmas viewing; but it's what Lucas and Susie wanted to see. Then, we went to sleep. All in all, a really nice Christmas. (And there was some knitting in there too!)

Merry Christmas.

Journal Your Christmas - Day 24

It's Christmas Eve and it's been a busy day! I got up at 6 and went to work for half a day. President Obama gave the feds a half day off which means we got it too (we appreciate it!). I got the work done that needed to be done and straightened my office up since I'm out next week. I left about 12 and headed out for the stocking stuffers. First I stopped off at Uniquities for a few knitting things for Susie's stocking. Of course, I had to look at all the pretty yarn. Then, I headed off to Dick's Sporting Goods for winter socks and golf tees. Next up was Kohl's. Found an inexpensive kids watch for lucas and makeup for Sheridan. This all took longer that it should 'cause the lines were pretty long.

I got home around 3 and treated myself to a Torpedo. Larry was making the maple pecan pie for tomorrow (yum, yum, yum). Then, Susie worked on the green bean casserole. I wrapped up the last presents and started my new knitting project. It's gonna be awesome.

I made cheese fondue for dinner. Susie cut up the bread. We discovered that we were out of corn starch (this was about 6:30). A quick check on the internet showed us that Giant closed at 7 - so Larry and Sheridan took off and got it (yeah!) - the fondue was saved. We also had swedish meatballs, cream gravy and baked fries. Then, there was the rose sparkling wine - Lucas had sparkling cider in a champagne flute - very cute.

We did a little caroling - Sheridan and I practiced our silent night. We did record, but may try again tomorrow. If we get one we're willing to share, it'll be on Facebook. And, of course, we ate our Christmas log from the Amphora - now that was really yummy.

Right now, we're watching Julie & Julia (she's blogging!)

Journal Your Christmas - Day 23

2 days to go. Lucas can barely wait. He's constantly stalking the tree looking for new gifts.

Anyway, we like the tradition of Christmas stockings. We always had them growing up. My Mom made the first one that I remember. When I moved to DC, I made stockings for Larry and me. Somewhere along the way, Nancy made fancy stockings for me, Larry, Susie and Sheridan. Unfortunately, she never finished one for Lucas - guess I'll have to do it at some point. The stocking that he has came from one of the Nutcracker performances. I always put it in the middle because it's bigger. I used to put them up with thumbtacks. Now I use fancy metal hangers. They don't always deal with the weight once the stockings are filled, but they look really nice. On Christmas Eve, all 5 will get filled with little goodies. There will be chocolate and other stuff. I talked to Santa and know that they will also have some pens and pencils, some sticky notes, some bubble bath and other fun things.

Journal Your Christmas - Day 22

• 3 days to go. 1 1/2 days of work left. Lots to do!
• Christmas To Do List:

• Decide on the menu for Christmas dinner
• Make shopping list
• Get stuff at grocery store (Larry)
• Wrap Susie’s last gifts
• Finish straightening the house
• Figure out how to put toner cartridge in laser printer
• Decide if we need more stocking stuffers
• Don’t forget to blog
• Take more snow pictures
• Post picture of sweater
• Update vacation list (work)
• Turn on “out of office” (work)

Sheridan and her friend out in the snow!

Lucas hugging me in my new sweater!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 21

It's the shortest day of the year! Way back in 1994 (or maybe 1995) I spent a this day in Stockholm -- user training of some sort -- it was dark when I left for work; it was dark when work was done (and a fair part of the actual "at work" time too!)

We're getting close to being ready. Fed gov't closed today so work followed suit. While I still had one meeting, the rest of the day was busy with non-work activities. Like shipping. I procrastinated and paid the price! I planned to ship today from work; but work was closed. So, Larry and I trekked off to UPS to send the packages. It cost more and took longer; but the packages should arrive on time. (And there's some good stuff in there).

The house is a mess. Those who know me know thats not really the exception case. But, part of the house is pretty too! I got most everything wrapped; and the tree looks nice with them underneath. And, I finished my sweater. Mom will say the stripes make my hips look bigger. I DON'T CARE!!!!! Tomorrow I'll post a picture of it.

Anyway, here are today's pictures!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 20

We've gotten lots of pretty cards this year. It's nice to find out what's going on with everyone! Here's a sampling ...

Journal Your Christmas - Day 19

Dear Santa,

I have been a good girl. It really wasn't my fault what happened at Maria's Christmas party. It was Hope who spiked the punch with too much Tequila. I can't help it if I drank 22 glasses. It was so good---smelled and tasted just like Chanel #5.

I thought it was funny when I put Kathy's sweater on my head and danced the tango on the wing chair while singing `Smoke Gets in your Eyes'. I didn't mean to break Maria's iPod and don't know why Maria would sue me for burglary.

I don't remember calling Eric's wife a smoky cow---even though she looked like one with blue eye shadow and purple lipstick! And when I threw up on Amy's husband's hand, it was only because I ate too much of that chocolate.

After all that fun, I admit I was a little tired. So I fell asleep on my way home and drove my Jaguar XK8 through my neighbor's dining room. I don't think that was any reason for my neighbor to call me a gorgeous thoroughbred and have me arrested for speeding!

So, Santa...here I sit in my jail cell on Christmas Eve, all hot and tired. And I'm really not to blame for any of this twinkling stuff. Please bring me what I want the most---bail money!
Sincerely and amazingly yours,

Judy (Really a nice girl!)

P.S. It's only 12 bucks!

(Madlibs are fun!)

And, more snow pics!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 18

We still haven't decided what we're doing for Christmas dinner. Since we're snowed in, maybe we'll figure it out today! Here's what we do know!

1. Who does the shopping? Oh, it will be Larry. He says he doesn't like going to the store, but I'm not really sure about that.


2. What's on the shopping list? Depends on what we make. We know there will be meat, and vegetables, and something chocolate. There will be wine. On Christmas Eve, we'll have cheese fondue, Trader Joe's appetizers and a Yule log from the Amphora, (http://www.amphora.com/). For Christmas morning, we'll have champagne (maybe mimosas), and belgian waffles. Lunch will be a munchy sort of affair.


3. Who does the cooking? That would be mostly me.


4. Who does the baking? That would be Larry.


5. How long will it take? Not sure yet


6. What recipes will we use? Larry likes recipes out of the Washington Post; I'll probably pull veggies from one of the WW cookbooks.


7. Who comes to Christmas dinner? It'll be the 4 of us and Susie.


8. Where you eat (whose house? What room? What table?) We eat Christmas dinner in the dining room using the china, sterling and crystal. It will be really pretty. Christmas eve dinner will be in the family room.


9. How long does it take to eat dinner? A good hour and a half by the time we're done with dessert. We will eat in the evening.

So, we're having a humonguous snow today. They're saying it will snow all day. Here's what it looks like now!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 17

I believe that I've found really good gifts for the kids. Larry, I'm not so sure about. After Christmas, I'll revise the posting with the list! I doubt they look at this, but you just never know!

Teacher gifts this year are really cool. I got sachets from MVLE (http://www.mvle.org/). People with disabilities make the sachets and sell them to support the organization. They're pretty; they smell good; and they support something worthwhile. We decided not to give Mr. Abrams one of those, though. He gets a Dallas Cowboys hat. Some of the other gifts were found at one of the local craft fairs. Lucas and I spent a few hours a couple of weeks ago attending 2 of them. I especially like supporting the local crafters in this challenging economy!

Everyone in DC is all aflutter. They're calling for a big snowstorm. It has started already. Sheridan and I went to Target to finish up her Xmas shopping, and they were out of lots of stuff. Lucas ended up getting Men's small long underwear. All the kids were gone. Weatherguy says we might get 20 inches. I'm ready to hunker down. Maybe I'll get caught up on the blog, the knitting, and the wrapping! (Pictures coming tomorrow)

More Happy Holidays!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 16

Hmmm. OK, I'm a day late. But, better than never! It was a busy day yesterday. i worked on the knitted bowl, my sweater and getting the Christmas cards out (They went out today - yeah!)





Thinks I'm grateful for this holiday season:

• The kids (even though they argue and whine)
• Larry (even though he argues and whines)
• My sisters
• Mom
• Having a job at a place that seems stable
• Having a job that's good more than it's not
• Good friends
• Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay
• A comfortable bed
• Texas A&M somehow got in a bowl game (thanks, Baylor)

Journal Your Christmas - Day 15

10 days to go! I must be tired. Work was hectic today - went from one meeting to the next. Pretty much everything did not work out this evening. I tried to finish up the Xmas cards. I made little inserts that I intended to attach to the inside of the card; ran them all thru the Xyron machine (attaches adhesive to the back) - well, turns out the adhesive was not good. So I potentially wasted 40 sheets of cardstock; lots of ink; and my patience. I'll look again tomorrow and see if I can save it. Cards will not go out tomorrow! (at least the envelopes are addressed!)

Then, tried to get Sheridan and Lucas to finish the sugar cookies that they wanted. more drama. first batch burned (Larry says they taste OK, though).

Then, I started knitting my last gift - a bowl. It says not to twist the yarn when you attach the round. I twisted the yarn; didn't notice for an hour. Ripped out the knitting; got the yarn all twisted up. Decided to stop knitting.

Tomorrow will be better!

Merry Christmas!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 14

OK - Week and a half to go! So much to do. I'm having a glass of pinor noir as I type; light stress relief!

At this very moment, there is only one gift under the tree. it's there because it's too big to hide. Lucas thinks he knows what it is; he may be correct, however, I'm practicing misdirection -- "Grandma wouldn't buy you that ..." We'll see if it works. Other gifts are hidden around the house. I won't wrap until the last minute 'cause the kids will obsess over who got what; how big it is; etc.

We open gifts on Christmas morning. The kids will pass them all out (we've tried to just pick one; pass it out; open it -- but they don't have the patience for that). Then we take turns opening until they're gone. Larry always has a sequence that he wants us to open stuff in; I'm not usually that anal about it! As I've written previously, we'll have champagne while opening gifts; and most likely we'll eat belgian waffles after. The wafflemaker is one that we were given as a wedding gift (1987). Still works!

Happy Holidays!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 13

Christmas music. You love it or you hate it. I fall into the first category most of the time. Exceptions: Country versions. This year I've been listening to the Brian Setzer orchestra more than other stuff. I like the jazzy, bluesy versions.


Of course the kids are performing this year. Lucas on the bass (concert on Wednesday) and Sheridan in the Chorus. If we're friended on Facebook, you can see a short video of one of her songs.



My favorites:

1. Hark the Herald Angels Sing (all time favorite)


2. O Holy Night


3. Angels We Have Heard on High


4. Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer


5. Let it Snow


6. Silent Night (trying to get Sheridan to sing it with me - not an easy task)


7. Ave Maria (OK - not technically a Christmas song)


8. Jingle Bell Rock

It's 11pm and I've been baking since yesterday. We've got cookies and candy - yummy. I made Velma Harwell cookies (think butter) with chocolate icing; peanut butter balls (Mom's recipe); forgotten cookies - 2 batches (also Mom's recipe); gingerbread men (Martha Stewart's) and pecan lace cookies with chocolate drizzled across it. Tomorrow we'll ice the gingerbread men. Larry made shortbread which smells divine. In the next day or so, he's also planning to do the flourless chocolate cake - in cupcake form. We're all operating on a bit of a sugar high. We did all this today watching football and White Christmas!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 12

Since the kids have gotten bigger, Christmas is pretty much the same every year with a few variations.

For example:

• We stay home; no traveling
• We have cheese fondue on Christmas Eve
• We drink champagne while opening presents
• I say the kids will have fewer presents, and then buy too many presents (doing better so far this year)
• We have a non-traditional Christmas meal
• We watch football on Christmas
• We decorate the house; although the level varies
• I (Judy) don't take a ton of vacation; work is quiet and lots gets done
• We (for the last 7 years) have gone to the Conservatory Nutcracker between 3 and 10 times to watch Sheridan perform. This year -- NOT!
• Get ahead of myself with the crafting. As usual, I'm behind! We'll write more about all that later!

Some new stuff:

• Going to watch Lucas's basketball games
• We're taking golf lessons thru the winter - maybe it'll help!
• I'm baking (haven't done that for 10 years)
• I'm blogging - have never done that. It's not like anybody read this junk!

Back to football!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 11

• I love Christmas Trees. I have a lot around the house. They're not all completely decorated yet, but I have high hopes that they'll be done (or done enough) by the end of Saturday.
  
  The "big" tree is in the living room. It's 9 feet high and looks like a spruce (nope, it's not real). It also has tiny pinecones on it. I like to decorate it in blues and grees which match the living room colors. Sometimes, it's hard to find pretty ornaments in these colors, but I add a few each year. I added LED blue lights to the mix (no green to be found).
  
  Other trees around the house:
  
• We have a small 3 foot tree in the family room - it gets done in any color; any ornament.


• We have a small aqua-colored tree in the corner in the living room - it's also in the LR colors
  
• We have a painted tree in the Dining Room. I made this back in the tole painting days
  
• A couple of years ago, I painted a couple of trees that I saw in a class at Recollections. Then I made "earrings" and hung on these.
  
• And of course, I have other tree statuary hanging out.

Journal Your Christmas - Day 10

All scrapbookers like pretty paper. Of course, our idea of what's pretty is extremely variable. I have lots and lots of stashed paper, but have a hard time resisting getting more - especially when it's Basic Grey and Imaginesce. The upside is that I have plenty of paper for Christmas projects without a trip to Angela's or Michael's. yesterday, I actually constructed my Christmas Projects book that we talked about a few days ago. It came out quite cute. I used a tag from Designer Digitals on the cover. Eventually, I may add a picture.

My love of pretty paper extends to wrapping paper also. But, I don't tend to put lots of decorations on the packages. Usually, that's because I'm wrapping late at night, on the floor, with deadlines and just want to get it done. This year, I'm gonna try to make them pretty. Lucas and I bought some straw decorations at the Norwegian market and it is my intent to use them on the presents. I don't have to buy paper this year; I've got lots left from the Innisbrook sales from the elementary schools in years past. It's all pretty and good thick paper. Guess I'll have to see how it matches up with the Norwegian stuff.

Journal Your Christmas - Day 9

Christmas traditions have changed for me over the years. When I was little, everything revolved around church. Dad was vicar at St. John's in West Point Georgia. The church ladies made beautiful ornaments in gold and white and decorated the church. The choir worked hard to make beautiful music and it all culminated in a wonderful midnight service. When I was a little older I helped make ornaments and sang in the choir, too. I can't remember what kind of meals we ate - it was probably good!

Before the kids, Larry and I often traveled for Christmas; we spent one year in Banff; another in Martinique; and of course, several with family in Texas and Ohio. We spent Sheridan's first birthday in Salzburg (stunningly gorgeous).

Nowadays, we tend to relax more than anything. Larry and I get vacation; kids are off school and we take advantage of that. We decorate the house; but in varying levels every year. We always put up one or more trees of varying sizes (I like decorations in the rooms I hang out in). We almost always put up some lights outside.

We usually have cheese fondue on Christmas Eve and champagne while opening gifts on Christmas morning.

Journal Your Christmas - Day 8

The holidays just look different! Thank goodness! The festiveness of everything is lovely. The neighborhood looks different; not dreary at all! Right now, with snow on the ground and leaves still on the trees it looks kind of weird - then add all those lights on top of that. Last Christmas, I went to NYC twice; once with Mom and Susie; and the other time with Larry and the kids. They definitely decorate for the holidays up there. Enjoy the photo montage!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 7

OK - the posting is 7 hours late (sorry!). Organization. Some people have it; some people don't. I aspire, but alas, generally don't! I get by at work from lists, and more lists. Then, I look for the lists. At home, it's not much different. Every year I seem to make some kind of holiday organizer to get me thru. Sometimes it's on the computer and sometimes it's just a little book I carry around.


This year, I'm tryout out Shimelle Laine's forms. The good news is that I know what all the stuff is that I haven't done. The bad news is that there's too much of it!


First things first! Gotta get the Christmas card addresses updated and envelopes printed; and we have to draft some kind of Christmas letter. We haven't done much this year, so I don't know what it'll say. I'll probably play with design and put in more pictures!


Monday evening, Sheridan's "Treble Chorus" group performed. I tried to upload a video, but blogger choked!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 6

Happy Holidays! (not) Just not a fun day today. Got up at 8; picked up Sheridan from her friend Maria's and went to golf class. I wasn't really in the mood to go; can't say why. Sheridan started off early with the back-talk. I told her to shut up and sit down. The last thing I needed was to convince her to try a little; I needed to focus on my own game. So, I shut my brain off and just listened to Benny (our teacher). On a positive note, I made a couple of swing changes that felt OK. We'll find out in the Spring! After that, Lucas had his first BB game. He's the center (position 5). He didn't do bad for a kid that hasn't played before. His team trailed the whole way, but won in the end.

When we got home, it was time to do some house decorating while watching football. Redskins almost won. Go Saints! Anyway, the kids were awful. They said they wanted to help, but just whined instead. It was supposed to be fun; it was supposed to be a family activity. They really just wanted to watch something stupid on TV. So, I decided to put some of the decorations away and just focus on a few things. Tomorrow, I will have less stress!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 5

The kids got Advent calendars at Trader Joe's. They're the fun kind with chocolate inside. Over the years we've had several different kinds, but the kids prefer the chocolate!

In the spirit of counting down, here are things that make the holidays fun!

25: College Football

24: Peppermint Bark

23: Christmas Trees

22: Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (already watched it this year)

21: Gingerbread

20: Holiday Parties

19: Champagne on Xmas morning

18: College Basketball

17: Cheese Fondue (Christmas Eve)

16: Picking out presents

15: Making gifts

14: Scrapooking it all

13: Christmas Music

12: Vacation from work

11: Christmas Movies

10: Snow (occasionally)

9: Decorating the house

8: Driving through neighborhoods with lots of lights

7: Scented pinecones

6: Amayllis

5: Nutcrackers & Smokers

4: Friends

3: The kids

2: Scented candles

1: Relaxing and enjoying the decorated house!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 4

What is the perfect Christmas? Clearly, it's different for everyone. I like the decorations up early (right after Thanksgiving) so that I can enjoy them for the longest possible time. I like spending time trying to figure out the right gifts. I like it when work is light during December so that I can think about the holidays and enjoy them when I'm at home. Nothing spoils the perfect Christmas like a big work deadline on Dec. 31! (Been there; done that)

In recent years we've gone light on the decorations mostly due to the time constraints associated with the Nutcracker performances. This year we don't have that; we'll see if I can get more stuff out this time. I like to put the big tree in the living room and decorate it in blue and green. The family room will have decorations too. We've done the mantle already; we needed that for our Xmas card photo (see previous post).

The perfect Christmas would have all the goodies I love; without weight gain. So, I guess a perfect Christmas is out of the question. It's already had peppermint bark - yum. Perfect christmas does not require a traditional dinner; which is not to say that we don't have traditions. More on that in another post.

My perfect Christmas is not overtly religious. I'm focused more on generic peace and goodwill. Some don't like that - but then they're entitled to their own view of the perfect Christmas!

By the way, here's a pic of last year's tree.

Journal Your Christmas - Day 3

I’m making progress on the Christmas cards. This year I have not been able to get in the mood to make the cards; thank goodness for Shutterfly. Chris T took pictures for us before Thanksgiving. I loaded the pertinent picture up into Shutterfly and quickly designed the card. I was able to order them (101 cards) during one of the many sales. And, they showed up in 3 days!

I’m considering stamps from stamps.com, but will probably just go with regular Christmas stamps from the good ole USPS. Then, we need to draft the annual letter. I’m hoping I saved the one from last year and can use the same layout. We didn’t do much this year; not sure what’ll be in it. Gotta address all those envelopes; hope the HP printer can handle them and use mail merge again. These cards will go mainly to the US; but a few will go overseas!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 2

This morning, it’s 37 degrees; it’s overcast; and it’s dreary. All in all, a somewhat normal December day in Northern Virginia. Generally speaking, it’s not too cold this week; often, it’s 20 degrees colder. For the first time in a long time we’re not in the midst of Nutcracker mania; Sheridan quit Conservatory Ballet this year after about 8 years. More often than not, we got snow during that frenzy. And as far as I know, there's no forecast of snow over the next several days.

I prefer fall weather to winter. I like it cool; but not cold – so it's cold enough to wear cool sweaters – either my favorite brand (Eileen Fisher) or something I made. Winter is cold, colorless and boring; Christmas helps brighten it all up!

Journal Your Christmas - Day 1

The manifesto! Starting today, I will keep a Christmas journal. I will write something every day to reflect on the holidays of my past, enjoy the holidays of the present and dream about the holidays of the future. Christmas gets crazy around the Johnson household. Although, a little less crazy this year since Sheridan is not participating in the Conservatory ballet Nutcracker. On the other hand, Lucas is playing basketball for the first time and Sheridan is performing with the Rachel Carson Chorus!

This Christmas, I will make something with my own hands, my own words and my own memories.

Journal Your Christmas

For the month of December 2009, I am going to try to keep up with Shimelle via the blog. Last year I followed along but let it go at the end. This year, I'm going to fill in any missing days in the paper book; and try to do the writing here. If I'm lucky, there will be pictures too.

From Shimelle "Welcome to Journal your Christmas 2009! December is here and I am so excited! Today we start with prompt one, our manifesto. With daily albums, it's important to live the day before you record it...but it's also important to state your intentions so your goals and wishes for the project are clear in your mind. We'll start with that today!" Check out more at http://www.shimelle.com.

I'll get to the manifesto shortly!