Etsy Treasuries -- Buy Handmade

Do you know about Etsy treasuries? Sellers curate collections of their favorite work by other Etsy artists and it's an interesting way to see what others are looking at. I started making lists only this month -- you can see mine here -- after being featured in nearly 20. Believe me, every time I'm in one, I'm absolutely thrilled -- and honored -- to be in such amazing company.

This holiday season, consider using the Etsy treasuries to find handmade, unique gifts. When you buy handmade, you have a connection to the artist. You contribute directly to a small business. You get something very special.

Learn more about the Buy Handmade movement here. And get 15% off anything in my etsy shop when you enter "Buy Handmade" at checkout.

Holding off on starting the New Year

I admit it. I'm one of those people who's ready to take the Christmas decorations down and the tree out to the curb on January 1. However, I live with people (males) who are awfully sentimental about such, so the tree and decorations stay up until the tree dies or something breaks, whichever comes first. Which means we're in a holding pattern. A standoff, if you will.

Add to that the heaving sighs and tears this morning as two people (males) made their way back from two weeks' vacation. And Maggie has croup, so the one person who really wanted to get back to life outside of this house didn't even get to go.

So if the tree is up and at least one person is at home sick, I'm calling personal extended holidays. Which means I'm not going to get on to those big (and much-needed) organizing projects. Or any self-improvement, really. The laundry is going to wait one more day, too. And the grocery shopping. I'm just going to turn on the Christmas lights, make a pot of tea, listen to all the cool music I downloaded from iTunes this weekend, and knit for an hour. Or two. Happy Holding Pattern to you and yours!

Incidentally, Paul is planning to wear his "jamas" inside-out for the foreseeable future. So if the snow (or ice) starts to fall, you know who to thank.
(I'm sure he'll have something to say about all of this later today on his blog.)

Winter Wonderland

Well, not the snow part, but the rest of it? I think I'm finally on it. I should probably write something profound about the spirit of the season or something, but I'm really happy with little things these days...

This has been a week of school activities: parties, performances and pageants. Maggie had her very first taste of performing on Tuesday night with Weekday Nursery. Mrs. McGuirk, Mrs. Carr and Mrs. Bellamy are amazing -- year after year, they somehow manage to get about 20 three- to four-year old kids to sing a about 20 songs and recite several poems. Frankly, I don't know how they do it (even though Maggie practiced for weeks and weeks and weeks, that's a lot of memorization for such little kids!) She told Mrs. Bellamy before the program that she would "be fabulous" and confirmed it to us after the show. And she wasn't the kid digging for gold, which I count as a big win!

Paul's school had their Christmas pageant on Wednesday night. All grades (pre-k through 8) perform, and there's a reenactment of the nativity story, too. Paul was great -- a very engaged, active performer (and focused, which is always a surprise with the boy), but I think the part he liked best was hanging with the ladies while they waited. In all honesty, the ladies seemed to enjoy it, too. He is soooo much like his dad.

So I'm not ready for next week at all (still trying to get through party preparations for Paul's class!) Our tree has lights but no decorations (and I finally remembered to water it today), I haven't done much shopping or baking (weird, I know) and the house is a mess. But the Christmas pageants have once again worked their magic, and I'm feeling filled by the Christmas spirit. It's possible that I might rethink that once I take a look at the house and the tree and ... and... but for now, Merry Christmas!