Friday, December 05, 2014

Beginning of the weekend

Not quite yet - another hour and a half, roughly. But our financial systems are down for the annual W-2 related update, which makes working more challenging than usual.

Lots to get done this weekend. First up, baking. I'm in a cookie exchange with eight other people on Sunday. Fortunately, we are only making a half dozen per person, so including myself, I only need fifty-four cookies. The recipe I've chosen, pecan shortbread cookies, makes about twenty per batch.

A few years ago, I packaged up my cookies for the exchange to look like giant Christmas crackers. No one was enough of an Anglophile to recognize that fact, so this year, I'm going the simpler route, with cute little cookie boxes.

If the tree doesn't go up this weekend, I fear it won't go up at all. Ditto for the rest of the decorations. The question is how much I really want to do. Do I move the couch, rearrange the furniture and hang the icicle lights in the front window, where neighbors passing by can see them? Or do I go the easier route, and hang them across the more accessible patio doors, where only the neighbors to my east will really see them? Do I even care, since I'm really putting them up because I like twinkly lights?

Easter Seals is coming on Wednesday, so I need to finish putting together my donations. Translation: I finally need to go through my closet. I said I'd have clothes in this batch, in addition to the small television/converter, set of drapes and small box of miscellaneous housewares. Slowly, oh so slowly, the clutter is disappearing.

Time needs to be spent in the studio as well. I've the embroidery to finish up on the t-shirt quilt, plus the set of towels and apron for the work silent auction. While the machine does all the work, I can putter, sorting by color the fabric I'm done with and putting it away. The last several projects I've done have been "scrapy" in theme, which means I've lots of pieces to sort out. It doesn't help that since my stash was getting low, I've bought probably a dozen or so half yards to augment it.

I'm about halfway done with rearranging things in there, with the sewing area itself pretty much set. The new little flat panel tv with the Roku is working a treat, but I still need to attach the real antenna and hook up the DVD player. Assuming I succeed in doing all that, I have a couple of Christmas movies purchased back in July or so that I can run off while all the puttering and embroidery is going on. It sounds like a great way to pass part of the day.

So, not a hectic weekend in the sense I'll be running all around town, but fairly busy nonetheless. My fear is that I'll wander from thing to thing without actually finishing anything. I've taken the precaution of e-mailing myself a list, starring the things that really must be done to completion (I highly doubt my fellow cookie exchangers would be happy with a lump of dough, for instance).

Better start organizing things here for Monday.

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