What do ya mean.. no messages

I guess we are all being quiet huh? Where did ya go? Still in the turkey coma?

Rhonda

I've been wondering, too, Rhonda. We know Heidi is busy moving. I hope the others didn't get trampled in the Black Friday crowds. Things got nasty at some of the local stores. I avoided that nightmare by staying home. How's your weekend going?

Bon

hi there. My computer died, so I can only log in when someone lends me their computer or so. got a new pc already, but have to configure everything and try to recover my data

no thanksgiving or black friday here. by the way. is black friday something about sales or what?

Yes, Black Friday is about sales the day after Thanksgiving, to usher in the Christmas season, which puts most retailers 'in the black' for the year (in other words, making a profit). It gets crazier every year, with stores opening at 4 a.m., instead of the usual 9 or 10 a.m., with special bargain prices before noon (or whatever time they designate). There were crowds of people, as many as 1,000 at one store, in line from midnight on, waiting for the stores to open, to be first to get the best bargains. Then there were greedy ones who grabbed all the special deals before others could.... the police were called several times to several stores to sort out the ruckus.

It is ridiculous to fight that kind of mob to save a few dollars. My daughter and I had gone many years ago, but people these days are so much more rude and greedy..... it's no fun anymore.

well dh and i ran out to run errands. WE stayed home thru Friday and Saturday (I hate shopping), since it is cold and rainy, we did go to the mall today - it wasnt near as bad as I thought - but the sales folks said the last 2 days have been complete chaos. I can imagine. Noooo thanks. We walked the malls, and I was disappointed. I didnt see anything I couldnt live without. (besides moisturizer) We went to AT&T and I got my celly fixed. Its been not working since I got it. Looked at that new apple phone $300.. very cool touch screens but $$$$. geez. I remember when a cell phone bill was only $20 a month.

I got some coffee and I was ready to go. Got home with a headache. Blood sugar 285. its no wonder. darn caramel coffee! Good, but dern it. Now i have a headache. Greaaaaaat.

Started teh laundry (yeah the one I was going to do days ago) ... well its running now. Its only two loads, so no biggie.

We had a good time.. but Im glad to be home.
Rhonda

Oh good, folks are back!! Popped in a couple times last 2 days, but no one around - out shoppin', I figured - downright suicidal, I thot!!?

That Black Friday thing used to be fun lonnng time ago - not many folks did it then - just those who had that Friday off & wanted to beat the weekend Xmas-shopping crowds. Retailers weren't even an "active part" in it then, as far as offering special deals & stuff!? Not anymore!!

..... Really dating myself, huh??

As for me, I've been sailing along in my tryptophan euphoria, delving into the sources of the goodie recipes from you gals - happily labeling them "from Rhonda Sue", "from Bonnie", etc., so I know they come highly recommended from good sources! Trust me - 2 months from now, I wouldn't even remember where I got 'em if I don't!? ... Paula Deen's et al - they sound so scrumptious & yet so easy to do for cooks in my category! Thanx, ladies!!

Marie

thanks for the info, Bon. wow, sounds crazy. the nearest thing we have here is two seasonal sales periods 1st of july till 31 august, and then 7th january (right after The 3 Wise Men deliver the toys to the kids

no sales before xmas, because the law says sales must be controlled, in certain dates, and with certain regulations. I think it is to protect small shops. otherwise, big stores and malls would open and make sales any time they wanted to, and retailers would die away. or who knows why

marie....

You are just tooooo funny! Glad to see the messages are perkign up again. I did a PRE-ap item today in that I went and got my oil changed after work. Oil changed, thingies cleaned, and a "come back we thing the bearings in your front right tire blahblahblah" .. you can tell I listened huh? LOL I drove about 2 miles from the house and realized I left my bag there - had to tuuuuurrrrrrn my clean shiny (oily?) car around and go back to get my bag. Luckily it was still there. Back home I drove - and found hubby making calls for work - and PRAISE GOD he had made coffee. I was sooo starving too!

Things could be worse I suppose.
I didnt get my HBH done tonight, but thats okay.
Work was finally 'active' - as we took the shuttle all over and visited all the training sites and a bunch of people.. Hey at least I got my exercise in, right? Right.

Ok. Im off to re-heat something.. Im starving!
Hugs ya'll! Happy cookin marie. (s) Enjoy and let us know what you tried and what you liked.

Keep Heidi-Ho in your prayers... she is probably moving and organizing and putting her computer back together as we speak. MISS YOU HEIDI!

Rhonda

Well? Where is everyone? I know you are all busy, cleaning like crazy, shopping like crazy, wrapping like crazy, working new jobs like crazy.... but, I miss y'all, as Miss Rhonda would say!

I know thats right!?!?!

I know *I* put on deoderant... where did everyone go?

I am being pretty dern prodductive lately too!

Come back.... Come back ...

Ya'll come on back now... get yer feet under this table, right now!
Rhonda (doing her southern call fer dinner routine)

Hello darlings,

Im very sorry not to have been here a lot lately. I did read all the messages but there was just no time to actually reply. My life is been crazy lately and my house shows it. I have been ill a lot, my study work is piling up and im stressed and stretched to the limit.
I wanted so badly to follow the holiday missions, well i have like 30 now in my mailbox waiting to actually be done :S Dont think that is how it is supposed to go right?
In half an hour my aunt is showing up at this house, never have seen it before, and its a mess. Instead of flying around i decided to only do a few things and then just say, sorry for the mess. Still it hurts me a bit inside cause a while back it always was presentable, although i might have wanted it even better.

I hope to post some more soon. If you guys know how to get the edge of me (cause the pile of work is now so big, that id rather not do anything then actually start) i would love to know.

I hope you girls are all alright, how is heidi doing?

Natalie

So glad to finally hear from you again, Natalia. I'm sorry to hear that you have been so ill and stressed. I hope that you will be feeling a lot better very soon.

Honey, don't worry about those missions right now. I'm about 6 months behind on them, too. As FlyLady says, you can jump back in at any time. If you can't do them now, just delete them, then you won't feel so 'behind'.

I don't know if this will help any.... but my suggestion is to do your swish & swipe every other day, if you can, and clean you kitchen sink on the alternate days. If your bathroom and kitchen are presentable, the rest of the house looks ok. At least the important things are sanitary; the rest is just a bit of clutter. I neglected my S&S last week, and was surprised how quickly the bathroom looked shabby. I did it today, and was also surprised how little time it actually took to make it sparkle again. Just do what you can. If you can keep up with these two things, you can always make a mad dash (if someone is coming over) and hide clothes, laundry, etc. under the bed or in a closet.

The sky won't fall if you have some clutter, so don't stress yourself more by worrying about it. Put that energy toward your school work, instead. We're rooting for you, so hang in there!

Bonnie

Do NOT keep all those flymails telling yourself you will do them all later. That puts undue stress on ya. Delete them and clear your conscious. Life happens. Life will always happen. Take one thing at a time.

I didnt homebless.. but I got home today and shined my sink, started the dishwasher, culled thru the mail - and put the trashcan out. Why? Cuz the next time I go in there, I'll take trash and throw it in there, and get it to the big one ouside, so I can roll it to the curb for pickup tomorrow.
woohoo!

I am glad to see you back. I was wondering what happened to you! I'm sorry you have been sick and feeling blek... thats the poops. Get well! Take the time your body needs to restore and revive you body. That's what is important!

Just know we miss you!

RhondaSue

Thanks girls, those tips helped.

Havent done much of the cleaning yet, but i have one stressed weekend behind me now, and hope i will be able to do the "one day kitchen, one day bathroom" approach these next 2 weeks. Exams are immenent and stress is high, but we got ourselves a christmas tree this weekend and every time i see it i feel happier.. and its not even decorated yet.

How are all you girls doing with the preparations of christmas?

yuk, the kids have already set up the tree and the bethlem scenary that we do in Catalonia. I have used some trips to the store to get most of the sweets. I've talked to mum and mum-in-law about who is going to eat where and when, and that's about it. I think I won't have to cook this year, so the only thing I'll have to do is eat out and entertain kids. I plan to go ice skating, science museum, decorate a photo frame to give grandma as a present, bake muffins and cookies, and whatever comes in hand. any suggestions for things to do during those looong xmas holidays? as I'm a teacher, I'll be with the kids all the time, and so will hubby.

by the way, I've been a good girl and posted all the presents that go to england and all the xmas cards. those are the missions I did from the cruise. not a lot, but good enough. good girl

Gosh, April ~ you have done a great job of getting ready for Christmas and staying calm through it all! You are cruising right along! Like Natalia, I haven't kept up with the missions... just S&S and my kitchen, mainly.

We had our decorating done about two weeks ago. We put lots of lights outside, plus a lighted nativity scene. We have 3 small Christmas trees indoors. My DH sets up a lighted village under a 4-foot tree in the bay window in our living room, and has two of his trains set up to run through the village and around the tree. It looks so cute.

I didn't put out as many indoor decorations as usual because we still have a lot of clutter around from moving in to this house. I collect nativity sets and have over 30 from various places around the world, and I do love to display them.

OH! The big news is that DGS(15) is going home to his family this week, after 19 months and 10 days here. When they get his stuff moved out, we can use that bedroom to hide some of the junk in the dining room and office. They were going to move his things today, but it has been snowing so hard, it was not a good time to be tromping in and out of the house with stuff. We'll see if tomorrow is better, although they are calling for more snow...

My major accomplishment this week has been to finish shopping, and getting my daughter's packages ready to send to Colombia. Tuesday was the last day to ship packages with guaranteed Christmas delivery abroad, but I didn't get the first package mailed until Wednesday, and the other one on Friday. So I've been beating myself up for not being a better mother and getting them sent sooner. (Ack! The "P" word looms menacingly!) I just hope that she will get at least one of them in time for Christmas.

How are the rest of you doing?

what da ya mean, bonnie? do you thing getting all that done is not A LOT? I think doing your shopping, posting the presents, and setting up the decorations i getting a big bunch done. what else do you need to do? I'd be very proud of you if you only stopped beating yourself for not posting EVERYTHING on a specific day you go, girl

Thanks, April, but I didn't get all that done this week, it's been over two or three weeks. I know I should quit being so hard on myself.... I'm my own worst enemy, it seems.

I still have Christmas cards to address and mail. I started that today, but then my grandkids came over to use their sleds and snowboards on the big hill in front of our house (no school because of the snow), so I bundled up and went outside to play in the snow with them! Later my DD came and loaded up all of DGS's stuff to take home. After a quick cleaning, we can stash some of the boxes of OUR stuff in that room, so our dining room will be decent for Christmas dinner. Then I can spend the rest of the winter sorting through the junk! Ugh!

It sounds like you have some good plans for your holiday free time, April. Day trips to interesting places are always great fun. Do you have a zoo or anything like that to visit? Do people decorate their homes with Christmas lights there? We enjoy driving around at night to see all the pretty lights, and the grandkids love it, too. They also love the holiday concerts. Or ask your kids what they would like to do. Whatever comes up, enjoy your time together as a family.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Bonnie

That sounds so pretty, to have all the homes decorated on the outside! That doesnt happen here, you can sometimes see the tree through the window (since its somehow a dutch tradition to keep curtains open - which i do not do). We have had our tree for ages, but we didnt decorate it till last sunday. Im glad we did do it now though. It looks so pretty and makes me feel much more in holiday season. Too bad i still have exams to go, last one this friday.

I got mad about our tree at first. We bought quite an expensive tree, and he is already falling out completely, though it is one of those that shouldnt. I think the salesman did a small trick on us there. First it made me wanna cry, but now its decorated you dont see as much that it misses so many needles already (sometimes whole undersides of a branch are without needles). Had a bit of perfectionism there but atleast im happy with my tree now.

After fridays last exam i will have to go think of what to make for dinners and stuff. I know that Flylady says i should have done that weeks ago, but hey, atleast im a good cook so whatever i think of i can make Will do the rest of the decorating after friday too.

Merry Christmas

thanks for the suggestions. we don't decorate houses on the outside because we all live in flats, but there are public nativities and trees, which are fun to look at. we could do a night tour

we do have a zoo very near, and I hadn't thought about it, thanks. and that made me think of the open air xmas markets, too. and I'll get the kids sit with me and make a list of things they wish to do, that will employ another morning, heheheheh

There you go, April! You and the kids will think of other interesting things to do, I'm sure. Another possible idea: Have them do some research on Christmas customs in other lands....? My DGD (in 6th grade) had that assignment at school, so I told her what you and Natalia had shared about your Christmas customs! Thanks, girls!

Natalia, good luck with your exams! You can do it, you know you can! As you said, Christmas dinner will work itself out. I'm doing the same thing. I did a wee bit more shopping today and plan to start wrapping gifts tonight or tomorrow. We have our grandkids' Christmas concert tomorrow night, and Friday night is a party with Santa for the 5-yo twins, so I will think about cleaning and cooking after all that is over. One thing at a time, or I get frazzled.

Bon, i wish i was that sure about my exam tomorrow.. but this teacher is weird. I know all theory, but i have a testexam and half of the questions i dont even understand.. and it supposed to be a freshmens course, and only an introduction into the stuff. So im now puzzling with the book and my notes through the testexam, to see if i just missed things or he has a really weird way of asking questions.
I so hope to make it though, because ive spent my whole last two weeks on this exam, let go of another one, because i wanted to get this one right. And my house.. well i have let that go to, to study. Didnt get to me though, till yesterday when i found out i was out of underwear and socks Did some laundry then.
Oh well, we will see.

I agree its fun to see different christmas traditions. In France people make a pie on 6th of January and put a little puppet in there. The one that gets it is king or queen for the whole day and decides what they go do and stuff. Most times they make sure a kid gets that puppet.

Here most are not practicing Christians anymore, so it isnt much about Christ, but about family being together, having time to spend together and stuff. For us its mixed, seeing how my mum is Catholic, my dad Protestant (?) and i just believe, no religion atm where i feel at home, and my bf, brother and sister dont believe at all. So its about Christ, family, food, and all other things you can think of

That's interesting, Natalia. Those who are believers, are they mostly Catholic? Are there other Christian churches there? It's sad that so many people have no faith to guide them and give them strength throughout life, or hope for the afterlife. I, for one, would sure hate to think 'this is all there is'. I can name many, many examples of God being at work in my life, and cannot imagine not having the comfort of knowing He is looking out for my family and me.

Good luck with your exam. Stay calm and don't try to over-analyze the questions. I'm sure we all wish you well!

MERRY CHRIStMAS EVERYONE

AND


HAPPY NEW YEAR

LINA

hi everyone. i've been sort of away for a few days going out to xmas dinners with people from work and other places, then proper xmas dinners and all. today it is aholyday in Catalonia, so we overate aswell .

any news about the test, natalia?

and about the 6th of january, it is when the kids get their presentes, and we eat a traditional cake that hides a coin (wrapped) inside. it also hides a bean. if you get the coin/toy, you are king/queen for a day. if you get the bean, you pay for the cake (it's usually homemade, so paying for it is only a joke.

we do the presents on the 6th of january because it was on that date that the 3 wise men supposedly took their presents to the newborn jesus. all our holydays come from catholic tradition, but most people do not believe in god, also it is a culture based in catholic traditions. Spain is a laic? laicist? country, but has been catholic for many years, so that is the tradition. I would be considered as a non believer with a catholic background, even though my family doesnt believe either. all traditions have a cultural basis here.

there are other religions here, but they are very very minoritary. some newly arrived are muslims, some people (mainly gipsies) are evangelists. some very small jewish community in the big city, and the rest are even smaller. it's curious about the gipsies. they have their own practice and religion, but they always join an evangelist church. donno why. i'll have to find out if they are related in some way or other.

what are the main religions in the USA?

oh my, sorry about that looooong dissertations about traditions and religions.