Saturday, January 4, 2014

No

I've convinced myself that you want to read about my two resolutions for 2014. So, here they are:

1. Finish what I start

2. Say no

Notice that by simply by completing this list I have adhered to my first goal, which means I'm off to a fabulous start.

Explanations:

1. I have a horrible habit of starting a million things and either putting them off because I'm interrupted until I forget about them or until I am embarrassingly reminded of their incompleteness (think toilet brush in the dirty toilet when guests come over, etc.) or until their doing is moot. (Why finish putting away the laundry when another two loads are fresh out of the dryer and will add to the pile? Why vacuum the dining room when it will immediately be littered with food chunks, big and small?)

I'm scatterbrained by nature, but motherhood with its constant interruptions makes it worse, and on top of that, my seizure medicine does the same thing. I'm quite a nightmare when it comes to finishing projects. Another, large project I need to finish is my novel. We'll see how that goes.



2. Saying no will be hard. I have a (bad?) habit of always trying to make everyone happy, no matter what it does to my sanity. Of trying to do everything for everyone, as they say. But so many things sound so fun...and so good. I want to be the person who does the fun and the good, right? The person who says YES! Let's do it!

It's just too much sometimes though, and I get tired and burned out and it makes me want to curl up in a hole, safe and warm and alone. Alone sounds beautiful. Silence sounds beautiful. I'm going to try saying no to something soon and evaluate how I feel about it. I have a hunch it will feel wonderful and cozy hole-like.

One thing I've started doing to help me keep track of the things I'm working on, and thus make it easier to finish them, is to keep a to-do list on the whiteboard in our dining room. It's because I lose my lists. I write lists on the backs of napkins, on my hand, on ripped envelopes, boys' artwork, whatever is handy. And then I lose them and forget what they said. I hate lists on the computer because I forget about them and frankly am still not sure where to find them after I write them. This way I only have to look at the board, which will not move under things or be ripped by passing children. (Though, nothing is impossible with boys) I love it.

I was going to say no to taking a picture of the whiteboard list, but it was too hard. I did finish what I started by retrieving the picture from my camera and uploading it here. Woot.

Hermitess out.




Wednesday, January 1, 2014

A Smattering of Favorite Christmas-y Pictures

I have various entries planned (in my head) for the blog, but am going through recent pictures and thought I'd share some of my favorites from the past few weeks. Merry Christmas and Happy 2014!

Teddy and Aunt Bean
Gingerbread-ing with my little sister!
Clark with our little snowbaby
Argyle brothers
My favorite elf, making a gingerbread house on the table
Santa and some elves
Wink
Jumpin' elf slippers
Concerned Theodore out tree-fetchin'
Our weird, tipping tree
The magic of the tree
times three
Competing for best-dressed Santa
Really, Mom? A Santa suit?
Oh, look at that. I'm adorable in a Santa suit!
Sassy weirdo
Christmas morning stocking
Santa and Mom combine for the greatest Christmas gifts ever
Spiderman deftly scales the counter
Teddy's first gift
First Christmas!
With focused determination, Teddy goes after another gift.
Town Center Christmas tree with friends
All six Crosson boys together! Jake, Zane, Drew, Cal, Clark, Teddy
Downtown Atlanta with the cousins- hanging out with a street musician
Cal's idea: turn our Christmas tree branches and needles into "art"

Monday, December 23, 2013

Gingerbread 2013

A couple weeks ago it happened once again. I made a ton of gingerbread and had friends come create and decorate it. This was the 9th year in a row! Craaaazy. Some firsts this year were: my sister was here for the first time to help with it all and to make mimosas the morning of, we had a grim gingerbread wildfire scene, and my icing flat-out rocked. That stuff glued everything together-- there were no structural catastrophes that I know of. My icing secret was that this year I didn't measure it when I was making it.

Too many words here. Here are some pictures. I didn't get as many pictures as I usually do, but people have been sending them to me. It was a fun and big party- held at our condo clubhouse this year.

Go time
I believe it was four double batches? I know it took a week.
Chili!
Daddy kisses
Melissa and Chelsea apply clothes to their ginger people.
Cindy made me get in a picture, so I smiles with Theresa
Carey claimed to have never made a gingerbread house before.
However, she did study architecture, so...her house was amazing.
Abby built a beautiful house...while her mom and aunt drank beautiful beers
and encouraged her from the sidelines.
Clara's first (of many) gingerbread party! 
Jackson  appropriately renamed the party "that candy party"
The Kurtz family, pre sugar-rush
I didn't quite catch Thomas before he ate the head off his man.
Scarlet was only looking at that candy that fell on the floor...
Annabelle-- looking like an icing bag pro
When Cals collide...it's Cal and Cal!
Lovely cottage
Judy with frosting all over herself making her island house- classic Judy
Carey "I've never made a gingerbread house"'s house
I don't think those cookies made it very far...
The Korin family's traditional house and landscaping--
They've been at almost all of our gingerbread parties!
Even before the kids.
Structurally sound, quaint, symmetrical, whimsical, you name it
My sister's forest fire mountain range-- I believe there is a fire fighter
meeting his untimely demise
And here is the finish wildfire scene...can't get the picture to rotate
and not willing to keep trying. It says
"Don't play with matches." You go, Smokey Bear.
It snowed.
The Kuans and their giant gingerpeople
Teddy's cheeks and Margo
Teddy loves his Aunt Bean. I think she likes him a little too.
Party-scape
Candy-splosion
Clearly Chloe is in charge of her family's project.
Jackson doesn't know where that other cookie went...
Ginger-girlies
Crys's final wildfire disaster
We've never had so many kids at a gingerbread party before...LOTS
OF ENERGY!
Trevor and Trey and their ginger-twins
Jen, Gary, and Thomas created a Somalian pirate scene
with accompanying harrowing kidnapping story!
The uneaten portion of the Kurtz Family project
As the dust settles...Teddy Elf helps with
Cal and Clark's gingerbread house
Cal and Clark's house
Good party! Until next year, Mother-in-law's Kitchen Aid Mixer. I'll see you when we meet again for a week of spreading a fine layer of flour and powdered sugar all over my kitchen in the name of Christmas cheer, family traditions, and friends. I wouldn't have it any other way. Tenth year coming up!

Thanks to all who came. And if you have a picture to add, please send it to me!
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