Book Launch Party

Stacy has had her second book published and she had a book signing/launch party on Saturday at Boerner Botanical Gardens in Hales Corners. It was really a nice place (an annex of the main building) and just the right size for the 100+ people who came.

She had brought 2 cases (50) of her new book and several of her other book along -- and they all sold! She had made a lot of food/snacks using recipes from the book and there were lots of give-away/prizes.
Stacy's best friends from Oklahoma all came, along with her Mom, and many, many good friends from the Milwaukee area. Additionally, Stacy's new birding friends from Ohio made the trip. After the party, we went to watch Jack play indoor soccer and then to The Chancery for a quick drink, some food, and those of us who didn't have to drive home stayed for some karaoke. Since it was also Stacy's birthday, it was a full and fun day. This is going to be a really busy month with birthdays, Pinewood Derby, and trips; this was just the first!

Done!

Had to take a migraine day yesterday, but I was up bright and early at 5 a.m. this morning and the tree is down!  I swore it would be done by Twelfth Night (Epiphany), and I cut it pretty close but made the deadline.

I bought a couple of red & green totes a few weeks ago, so now all of my ornaments are safely tucked away in totes -- one in the garage with stuff that can't freeze and the other in the basement.  As of today, I have 2 huge and 1 medium totes in the basement full of Christmas stuff, plus 3 totes and 2 boxes in the garage -- plus the stuff on the shelves and the Christmas tree itself.  It's a good thing we reorganized the basement a while back or I wouldn't have space to store all of this stuff.  Once again, though, I'll collect ornaments on our vacations again this year.  Great memories as I unpack them every year and put them on the tree.  Each of the little kids have 6 ornaments now; some day I'll give them to each of them for their trees.

Holiday Tear-Down

Today is the day that the Christmas decorations will all come down.  Jeff took down the outdoor decorations and put them away the day after Christmas.  The weather was warm and the ground not frozen so it really worked out well this year.

On the other hand, I worked the 3 days after Christmas and then we went to Rice Lake for New Year's weekend.  As a result, I've been sleeping a lot of days so I haven't been able to tackle the indoor decorations.  Woke up at 4 a.m. today, though, and started the process around 6:30.  By 7:30, I have all of the dishes put away and the upstairs bathroom done.

Not sure why it makes sense to drag all of that out every year for roughly 4 weeks.  The dishes alone take forever to put away.  Still, not sure if it would seem like a holiday otherwise and it really is pretty.   As I put things away, I'm also sorting by room and getting rid of things that I don't use.  That's my plan anyway, we'll see if it works.

A couple of notes about Christmas this year.  A)  I made waaaaay too many cookies and treats -- around 18 dozen cookies or something like that.  I had to pull a lot of cookie dough out of the freezer because Jeff put pheasants and venison in it and it just was too full.  B)  I think we're tired of having lasagna for Christmas.  Because we have it occasionally during the year, I don't think it's that special.  The ravioli with white sauce is a bigger hit.  C)  Opening gifts right away in the afternoon is a great idea.  Gives everyone a chance to relax then and watch TV or play.

Continued....

So, by noon everything is done except the living room (including the tree).  I took the opportunity to clean as I went along, and completely moved all of the furniture in the dining room into a more pleasing arrangement.  I think I've been up and down the basement stairs 100 times!  Stopped for lunch because I definitely need to rest for a bit.  I'm pretty sore from moving the furniture and from running up and down the stairs.  Two of my plants have been moved into the dining room and I think I'm going to move a little of the furniture in the living room, too, to make the space more user-friendly.

Kind of sleepy with my early rise -- may need a short nap this afternoon, too.

Continued...

So, no nap this afternoon but I did rest for a while before tackling the living room.  Now, at the end of the day, everything is done except the tree.  Except for the things that need to go in the garage, it's all put away, too, so I'm pretty proud of myself (and my poor aching back!)  I'll finish up tomorrow.