POKEY PEAS CHALLENGE FOR December 2018

Happy December!!! Hope you all had a nice weekend. We visited my in-laws and on Sunday saw some of the city's Christmas parade. It was cute to see the little kids dancing and performing.

nylene- OMG! I am so sorry to hear about your accident and the loss of your db. Sooo, tough! I am sending you a warm hug now. I hope you are feeling better today and really taking care of yourself. I say spoil yourself now with anything that feels comforting, relaxing and flat out fun!

grammadee- Glad you are up and at 'em with Christmas cards. I hope to make some for my dh's job and family, so we will see. Thanks again for organizing our Pokey Peas card exchange.

joyfulnana- On Saturday, when we were leaving my in-laws I could see the new NFL stadium. It is so close, literally across the street. So we drove around to the front to get a better view and it is awesome! I can't wait to see it all done.

Waving hi to you all and take care!

Checking in with you all this morning and trying to get caught up on your busy lives. nylene, I'm very sorry for your loss, and for your injury on top of that. Sending big hugs your way, and prayers for strength and healing. 

joyfulnana, my BIL makes a venison jerky that's amazing. The taste of the homemade stuff just ruins it for anything storebought. I understand why your boys go nuts for it. 

I really love seeing all the photos of your homes all decorated for Christmas, and I hope you'll all post more! grammadee, the setup with the geese is wonderful - I  bet it makes you smile every time you walk by! woodysbetty, with all the packing, will you be able to have a small Christmas set up this year? I hope so, and I hope you'll share a photo with us.

Still no crafting happening here. Hanukkah is half done, but we're still using my craft table as gift wrap central. I'm hoping to finish all the wrapping today, but I'm looking at some of these purchases and I have no clue which girl they're supposed to go to. One of my DDs did most of the shopping, including gifts for herself, but she started long enough ago with the hope that she'd forget what she bought and be surprised when she opened the package. I'd hate to have to ask her... 

Good to hear from you, @elaynef. Glad you are enjoying your cards. And glad you are finding joy in scrapbooking again. Isn't it wonderful to just feel you are free to scrap "whatever" instead of finishing up a project. And you finished FOUR albums!!! Wow! And from what you have shared so far, it looks like you have lots of fun family photos to scrap.


Love your ornament story, nylene. So glad he was able to rescue them. It really feels wonderful when you realize how much the little things you do for people is appreciated. Hope your MRI results are good and that your mobility continues to improve.

I spent yesterday and today cleaning house like crazy. Our ds and a couple of their kids will be staying here tomorrow night. His older son will be playing hockey near here Saturday afternoon. The hockey player will be travelling with the team on the bus. Dh & I plan to drive there to watch him play. His dad and brothers will meet us there and then come back to the farm for the night.

We weren't sure he would be able to play tomorrow. A couple of weeks ago, he was hit hard from behind and he has been on concussion protocol. He was cleared earlier in the week to skate with the team in practice, but no body contact. Today he got the green light that he can play again. If he were not able to play, his dad was not going to make the drive. (Our dgs was planning to travel with the team even if he couldn't play. We were still going to attend the game and hoped to squeeze in a small visit with him before or after it.)

The game isn't until 4:15, but we will be leaving in the morning. Of course dh wants to make stops at Princess Auto and Home Depot and probably some other places I have no interest in going, but hopefully I will be able to make a couple of stops I want/need to make as well.

Okay. Off to get some sleep before our exciting weekend.

Kellyr21, my bd is 12-14 & I have 3 dd and 12 gc. I am blessed.
I've enjoyed getting the cards from the bd card group. I got grammadee's yesterday and of course, it's gorgeous.

I love this pokey group. You and everyone, seem to genuinely care about each other and the things that are going on in our lives and that's a big bright spot in my day!

.

Merry Monday, Pokeys! Two weeks until Christmas Eve!!!

Glad you are getting around better, nylene , even if you have to two step the stairs. Make sure you don't over do it. Thanks for asking about our dgs. He played on Saturday, and although the team lost in the last minute of play, he did really well. He was given his regular shifts and was able to keep up and play hard. Watching him was like watching his dad play years ago: he plays with heart as well as skill.

A farmers' market with added crafts sounds like a lovely way to spend a Saturday, kellyr21 . And a romantic dinner at a Japanese restaurant sounds delightful as well. We had lunch at Denny's and supper at McDonalds' on Saturday: all scheduled around the hockey game. Sunday morning I made bacon and waffles for the boys before they were off to the next game and then home.

Having home made stockings sounds like a wonderful tradition, joyfulnana . We had pre made ones for years, but don't hang them every year. One year, just after the kids left home, I made dh and I each a small felt stocking, and we each put something small in the other's stocking each day after they went up, but we haven't done that for years. Loved seeing your ornament photos in the Days of Christmas challenge. Would love to see your stockings, too.

This week will be busy socially for us. Wednesday evening dh and I will be playing cards with friends. Thursday I have an appointment for a "full meal deal" for my hair, and in the evening we have the annual Christmas party. Friday night is the local choir's Christmas concert. Saturday, justjac and her dh are coming over for supper, and I am waiting for RSVP's from my sister in law and a neighbour couple about having supper here with them on Sunday. A merry week, for sure!

I spent today kind of on hold, waiting to hear if my printing was finished, but just heard my books (the Florida albums) and calendars will be ready by tomorrow morning. I had wanted to have all my gifts for families in BC and Ontario wrapped and shipped by today, but was waiting for those two items. I like to have everything laid out before I wrap a set of gifts, but today I wrapped all the other gifts for those two families, and packed them into boxes with a box in each that will accommodate the calendar and photo book. So after I finish the calendars (gluing in the monthly pages and writing in the family dates) I can be all ready to ship. I could have written in the dates today, except that the bin that has the calendar pages in it also has the family perpetual calendar in it and that bin is at the printers'.

Okay, my novel has been written. Waving hello to everyone!

Our Tree by Jacqueline Bruce, on Flickr

justjac, PURPLE! How perfect!

I could not find a December Well I found it just after I posted, I didn't realize the thread was under the Challenge tab now I will go read all the December posts and catch up with everyone.

nylene and grammadee - thank you both so much for the wonderful Christmas Cards.

2018 found me MIA from this group of wonderful ladies, I have been focusing mainly on some Facebook groups and would love to invite any of the pokeys who are on Facebook to join me. A few of them are swap groups where we make ATC cards or Passbook Pals (registered trademark) which are 3 x 4 "stamps" and are essentially ATC cards but not has bulky as ATC's can get. It is bascially a great way to use up all those scraps we end up with when we have nearly picked through a paper collection.

Personal issues also prevented me from visiting here. It was a pretty bad year at work. As those of you who knew me from before, that is a common complaint of mine. My assistant left quite suddenly to return to her home State of Washington as her husband was unable to find work here after he left his job due to a takeover by another company. I had to scramble to find a suitable replacement. It is a unique working environment (and duties) and it takes a special individual who will be able to fit in with the environment and be willing to learn the complexities of the position. So far it appears I found an excellent fit and my stress in the last two months has been greatly reduced. I dislike coming to this thread with my misery, so thought it was better to stay away. My goal is to only bring cheer and joy, not burden others with my stress.

But my hope for 2019 is to join you ladies on a regular basis and join in the fun that seems to be going on here at 2peas.

grammadee - did you hear that Calvinball is going to be over at Scraphappy.com this year. Do you have any details.

nylene - I hope you are feeling better

I was so sad to hear of Cindy's passing. Such a lovely lady. She made me a card holder using her cutting machine a year or so ago. I think of her every time I see it.

Merry Christmas and here is to a great New Year.