I only do light decorating, and it’s all centralized in the living room, save for some poinsettias I stuck in the bunk couch in the den because I didn’t know what else to do with them and didn’t want to put them back in the box.  There are also two smaller trees: one in the dining area and one on the tv.  I hung blue lights around our living room window and the kitchen divider and put a basket of apple spice potpourri under the big tree.  Overall, it seems to fit us.  I wouldn’t be up for much more, since it takes so long to unwrap all the ornaments and unfold the branches.  Yes, I have an artificial tree.  It’s too messy and expensive to have a real tree.  We have pine Febreze to “make up” for it.

Prayer

I don’t have any particular devotionals or activities that me and my husband do to keep focused on the true meaning of the season.  At the same time, there isn’t a lot of hustle and bustle to distract us either.  I purposefully don’t overdecorate, not only because I don’t have the patience for it, but I don’t see a good reason for it.  This helps us stay focused.  We celebrate lightly and sometimes we forget it’s even the holidays (is that too much on the other end of the spectrum?).  Besides the trees, our lives aren’t that much difference in December that the rest of the year, except there might be a bit more Christmas music playing.

I’ve also just been introduced to advent this year.  I’ve always thought it was a Catholic thing, but when my church set out candles I decided to research it.  I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a good thing – the holiday solution I have been searching for to make Christmas more than the commercialized holiday it’s become.  We don’t celebrate advent at home, but we do enjoy the readings they do at church.

Prioritize

I don’t struggle to stay focused on the important things during the holiday season anymore than during the rest of the year, which is plenty.  There is always something fighting for my attention, and so far December’s actually been easier than November since I was laid off last month.  I prioritize by making lists per category of things to be done (blog, kitchen, house, etc) and then compiling the most pressing into a daily to do list.  I have a tendency to want to incorporate a schedule into the list, but I know I won’t stick to it, and I get discouraged when I don’t.  Plus it’s much more satisfying to be able to go through the physical action of crossing something off my list than to simply notice I accomplished a task in the time I estimated.

Planning

“This time of year usually calls for extra baking, holiday shopping, party planning, and gift wrapping.”

I’m not much of a baker because cooking takes up enough time as it is.  If we want dessert, we buy ice cream, but I try to discourage that and stick to healthier snacks instead.

I finished most of my shopping on Black Friday.  I just need something for my husband, and I’m going to wait until the last minute for that, unless someone has any good hiding tips.

We aren’t throwing any parties, so that just leaves gift wrapping.  I do want to do that soon, to make our tree look more Christmas-y.  We’ll probably do that tonight, as we probably won’t have time again until Saturday.  Plus there is a movie we need to mail for Swapadvd so we can wrap that at the same time.

Progress

The small project I will be tackling this week is cleaning the kitchen.  I’m really bad at keeping track of food in the fridge, so there is probably a lot of stuff that needs to be thrown out.  At least my husband already took care of the vegetable drawer last week while I was sick.  I want us to eat healthy so I buy fruits and veggies, but then we just end up eating quesadillas or out of cans.   Now that I’m home more, I should work on cooking real meals for the sake of health and frugality.

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Thanks for the post about the camera on your blog.  We found it!  It was in my duffel bag…which I looked in twice and Fred once…found it on the fourth search after asking St. Anthony for help.  By the way, it was Uncle Ken and Uncle Dave, neither had it.  Now there are pictures of Grandma’s view and some funny Annabelle/magnifying  pictures on the camera. – Auntie M

And

After finding such a prized object there was much rejoicing! – Steven

ANYWAY

I’ve been having the blogging itch but in between work (and how tired it makes me), a web design project, and keeping the house somewhat in order, I haven’t had much time, although i’ve been reading here and there. Mostly skimming for deals. Hey, now that the economy’s down, i’m not so crazy, am i? I’ve got things to do tonight also, but it’s so hot i’m going to wait until the sun goes down. It was 97 in Long Beach. I seriously felt like i was going to pass out at work. Is it fall yet?

I’m working harder on trying to save money, but, believe it or not, I’m not very disciplined for that. Pretty much, our budget is “don’t spend.” I started using Quicken Online, and set goals based on average. I went over in groceries already but I’m hoping that I stocked up pretty good and have enough so that we don’t have to eat out (not so much with me, but Nathaniel is a big fast food grabber). I made a bunch of burritos, only to find out that Nathaniel doesn’t like the texture of the celery in them. Yet i’m happy to report i think they cost about thirty cents each. Tina’s are $0.25 but they are smaller and not as good. I got 10lbs of ground beef for $7.98 at Staters. ^__^

Neither creamer nor milk has been quite hitting the spot for me in coffee, so I tried soy milk and i think I found a winner! Esp since I got a 64oz carton of 8th Continent for $2.75, which spit out a $2 off for Silk at the register. Then I got a 12oz can of Don Francisco’s for $4.99. So even though i spent nearly a hundred, I saved over $40 and am pretty stockpiled. So it was a good trip. Even though i couldn’t find spring roll wrappers. Which blows my mind, considering that i live in Little Saigon.

Morning Routine: Make coffee & get ready. That’s all i have time for. Nathaniel takes care of breakfast and lunch since he leaves after me and is faster at getting ready.

Bedtime: It’s supposed to be 10p to read Scriptures, but the internet is distracting so we’ve been ignoring the alarms Nathaniel set on his phone and going to bed at 12 or 1a. Also skipping reading…yeah, so not good. We gotta pick up on that. I hope he doesn’t get home too late tonight. He’s at some sort of planning meeting with the worship team leaders at church.

Choosing Love: I have been trying to be organized and prioritize so that i’m not working on a website for hours and making Nathaniel do the dishes all the time. I pass on onions, pork, and other foods he doesn’t like in recipes. I’m keeping my eyes open for times when i don’t choose love.

Evening Routine: Clean up kitchen, shower, read the Bible. Not sure how much to count as evening. Everything from getting home? Make dinner, eat it while watching tv, internet time. As long as we don’t spend to long on the internet, it’s okay for me to browse Facebook and read blogs while Nathaniel looks at lolcats, comics, and guns/boats/apartments/whatever his main interest is that week. That’s what we do, but is that a routine? I don’t think we need to set one. I think as long as we make sure the dishes are done before doing anything else, we are accomplished. I used to think one must never rest, but I eventually learned that a little R&R is good for the body. A time to replenish energy for the next day. I just wish i could do more with that energy than just go to work, but at least it brings in money and i have my weekends. I don’t dislike work. It’s a good job and i have more energy in general than i did at Knott’s.

Waking Up: This is where we struggle. I used to not have a problem getting up (i’m a morning person) but Nathaniel’s fondness for sleep has rubbed off on me. I too have realized how comfy a pillow is in the morning. Not a good thing! It takes three alarms with all snoozes to get us up. I like to get up at 6:30a. I try and try but then just end up dreaming about it instead. I need something to get me up…you know how fast a person can bolt if they are late or going somewhere exciting? I just have to think about not being stressed because of rushing. Hmm…not enough. I need to set my personal time with the Lord in the morning. That will get me up. I hope. Marriage has been a blessing because we can help each other get ready in the morning by splitting up tasks. So why is it still taking so long to get out the door? Probably because before i never drank coffee daily or ate breakfast and i hardly ever made my lunch. I think i was a morning person at some point…just so long ago i can’t remember. I need to get up when i wake up!

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