Organize your online Christmas shopping

A friend of mine, Karen, mentioned on her "Now Don't Get Me Started" blog that she has begun her online Christmas shopping. I used to live where Karen lives (Salem, NH) and she's right -- trying to get through the traffic there consumes more time than it's worth when you have the option to sit at your computer and shop in your jammies while sipping a good cuppa tea! I've been purchasing about 85% of our Christmas gifts online for four or five years now. I've never had a gift not arrive, I've never received a wrong item, I've never received anything broken, and I've rarely been disappointed in the quality of an item I've received. (I say "rarely" because honestly, the one drawback of ordering online is not being able to put items through the in-person "touch" test to assure yourself of good quality.) And surprise, surprise, I have a "method" to my online shopping that I thought I'd share with you. First, in my normal day to day exchange of money, I use a debit card. I'm married to a finance person -- we don't do credit cards. However, we both have one credit card each. I use mine for online purchases ONLY. My debit card info never goes out over the Internet. (I've been through having my debit card stolen and my checking account wiped out in the blink of an eye, and thanks, I'd prefer not to go through that again!) This confines your online purchases to one card, which, with most major credit card companies, is very easy to monitor online to make sure the only purchases going on it are ones YOU made. In the case of my card company, I receive email notification for every online purchase and an actual phone call if a purchase over (any amount I set) is made on that credit card. If something happens where that credit card info gets into the wrong hands, it is easily stopped with one phone call. Next, when I make a purchase with that credit card, I deduct that amount from my checking account, just as if I'd written a check for that item. Why? So I have the funds to pay off the credit card immediately when the bill comes in. This also keeps me on target to staying within my Christmas budget. Next, I use email folders to keep track of all my orders. Every company I deal with sends an email confirmation of my online order. I have created two folders in my email called "Internet Orders" and "Received". When the email order confirmation comes in, it goes in the "Internet Orders" folder. When the item arrives at my door, that same confirmation email gets moved to the "Received" folder. If for any reason I have a question on my order or need a copy of the invoice to mail an item back or collect a rebate, I can simply look back in my "Received" folder and there it is. Once I begin ordering in earnest, I check the "Internet Orders" folder frequently to see if I'm missing any items that should have arrived. I save my "Received" folder for several months after Christmas. Again, if I need to return something, follow up on a rebate, exchange an item, etc., the invoices are right there at my fingertips. The other helpful hint I have is to place your wrapping paper station in an area close to where your package arrive -- I use my dining room table -- and wrap those presents as soon as they come in your front door! Is there anything worse than going into a panic and having to wrap presents the day before Christmas?! Things I'm Thankful for Today

1. Sleeping late on Saturdays
2. A warm and cozy house on a cold day
3. Having a husband willing to help me get caught up on housework today
4. Talking to my son on the phone last night
5. Being married to the person I love most in the world -- how cool is that?!?

1. My blueprint for success includes having someone other than me do the housework! 2. Leftover Halloween candy was the last candy I ate. 3. The best facial moisturizer I've ever used is good ol' Noxzema. 4. Quilting can be good therapy. 5. I'd like to tell you about my sparkling clean house -- I'd like to, but I can't because it's a disaster right now! 6. Being organized is my strongest characteristic. 7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a quiet, relaxing night after babysitting all day, tomorrow my plans include sewing in the day, having my grandson overnight and Sunday, I want to take my grandson to the Flea Market!

Need Christmas ideas for a single mom

Hello, my blogger friends. Funny, but many of you are actually starting to feel like my good friends! I just want you to know I appreciate you every single time you click that button that sends you to my blog... OK, put the hankies away and on to today's business. I don't talk about it much, but my 28 yr old daughter is a single mom (well, a mom in the middle of a divorce from the worse-than-your-worst-nightmares dad). She has a good career and works hard, she's an absolutely fabulous Mom to my two year old grandson, but she frequently gets overwhelmed by all she has to do to maintain her home, her job, her child, and everything else that's involved in daily living. For Christmas, I'm trying to think of ways to help her. She has mentioned several times that she knows she needs to work from a daily To Do list and calendar like I do, and she always complains that she needs to get more organized, but she never seems to find the time to actually do it. I'm thinking of creating her an organizational notebook for Christmas. So far, it would contain pre-printed sheets for the following:

• Emergency phone numbers and contact information
• Instructions for babysitters
• A daily printable To Do List
• A yearly calendar for scheduling
• Grocery shopping list
• List of family birthdays, anniversaries and addresses

I'm going to buy a three ring binder, make a pretty fabric cover for it, and print the lists out on pre-punched paper, in a variety of colors according to subject. I'd also include a list of web sites where she can go when she needs to print off more. I've never been a single mom, so I'm open to any and all ideas you might have that would be a good gift for someone in this situation. Maybe Toddler Activities for when she runs out of ideas? What else? And in case you're wondering, she rarely reads my blog! I think the only one in my family that does read it is my daughter-in-law (Hi Lisa!). So I'm not revealing any gift ideas here! Help me, please!

Our Creativity Day

I spent the day with my friend, Lynn, in her wonderful Sewing Studio. We are trying to motivate each other to get some Christmas sewing / quilting done, and thought spending a day together might do the trick. Well, we thoroughly enjoyed the day -- the coffee, the carrot cake, the exchange of ideas and patterns -- but not a lot of sewing got done! We get so busy chit-chatting (that's not a complaint - I thoroughly enjoy Lynn's company) and discovering the newest additions to Lynn's sewing room, that we often lost sight of the goal of being productive. We did work on one project -- and found neither of us had thought to bring handles for the purses we wanted to do! But one goal I did accomplish was to take pictures of Lynn's sewing room to share with you. She and her husband bought this house just a few months ago, and the basement level is a complete mother-in-law apartment. But there's no room for Mama now -- Lynn has the entire floor dedicated to her sewing. Lynn is my hero when it comes to finding good buys at yard sales. We live in the same town, probably go to many of the same sales -- but she can find bargains like no one I know. Lynn has her room broken down into "Zones" -- this is the computer zone. Behind it on the left you can see terrific red storage cabinets complete with shelves and drawers and a long counter top that fits all three custom cabinets in place. Found at a yard sale for $25! Me? Jealous? You bet! This is her "Sewing Zone". She's currently sewing on a Singer Featherweight, and it was a lovely little machine to sew on. Other machines and serger are in the back. Just to the right, behind the black lamp, you can see a TV Remote Control caddy she picked up at a yard sale to use for all the tools she needs at the sewing machine. Such a creative idea! And here's Lynn, saying "Don't take a picture of me!". LOL! Click! Too late! This overlooks a very comfy area to sit and read or do handwork or watch TV or any combination of those! And just to the right you can see a Christmas tree. Lynn keeps it up all year long. It's supposed to motivate her to be more productive. It's decorated in sewing notions! On the left you can catch a glimpse of the kitchen area. This is where we tend to congregate and chit chat over coffee and goodies. See the ironing board stool in front of the kitchen island? There's two of them. How cute are those? Again, yard sale finds. What you can't see are the three? four? other rooms on this floor, including a full bathroom and laundry room (there is also an upstairs laundry room), bedroom, sitting room and more. Most of the rooms are used for storage of Lynn's fabric and notions. Whenever my husband rolls his eyes when he sees more fabric coming into our house, I want to take him by the hand and show him Lynn's sewing room and say, "See? I don't have that much!" LOL Thanks, Lynn, for an enjoyable day. Hope to see you again next week (and I'll bring my handles!).

I won!

Now, see? All this blog visiting and reading that I do has paid off, in a very nice and surprising way. I actually won a blog giveaway over at the Honour and Love Your Husband blog -- a Dr. Seuss book! I think this is actually the third time I've won something from another blog -- a great package of organization e-books, a revamp of my blog (which I forgot to take advantage of), and now this book. Yay, me! Today was a babysitting day for Brayden, and I have to tell you, it's one of the very few days that I wasn't looking forward to having him with me all day. My back has been giving me more-than-normal problems lately, and when I woke up this morning -- it was definitely in ouchie status. Hurt to turn, hurt to stand for more than a few minutes, just generally hurt no matter what I did. I put on one of those back ache patches and gobbled 3 Motrin, and at least got out of the ouchie stage and into the "ugh, that hurts" stage. Bless his heart, Brayden understands that there are some days my back hurts more than others, and he's pretty good about letting me sit down when I need to, and picking his toys up off the floor for me. Today we actually went on a nice long walk -- exercise seems to help quite a bit. We walked up to the end of our street, then to a street we've not walked on before, and down the street across from us. It was only about a half mile or so, but that's the longest walk he's taken with me. Tonight, I'm tired, though my back feels better than it did this morning. I stayed up last night to listen to Obama acceptance speech, then got up at 5:45 to get ready for Brayden's arrival at 7:00. I somehow managed to get four loads of laundry done (with Brayden's help - he loves to do laundry), and made a dent in the ironing, though I still have a ways to go. Why did I only make a dent in the ironing (as in, two shirts out of twelve)? Because there's a chatty two year old in the room with me. I start ironing and the conversation goes like this. B: Umma, is that iron hot? Me: Yes, it's hot. B: Umma, can I touch it? Me: No, you know you can't touch hot things. B: Umma, is that iron plugged in? Me: Yes, it's plugged in. See? B: Umma, if the iron isn't plugged in, is it hot? Me: It stays hot for a little while. Make sure you don't touch it. B: Can I touch it when it's cold? Me: I'd rather you didn't touch the iron at all. B: Can I touch it when it's freezing cold? Me: I'd rather you didn't touch it at all. B: Umma, is the iron hot NOW? Me: Yes, it's hot now. B: Umma, Can I touch it? Me: I'd rather you didn't touch the iron, sweetie. B: Can I touch it when it's freezing cold? .....and round and round we go... When my eyes start crossing at answering the same questions over and over and over again, I tend to give up on that particular activity. I did get some sewing done yesterday. I'm working on the Mary Englebreit placemats that I fell in love with. It's machine applique and I got about 3/4's of the way through one and a second one cut out yesterday afternoon. So pretty! So vintage looking! The next step is some hand embroidery stitches, and I hope to get that done tomorrow evening. Tomorrow my friend Lynn and I are having a "Creative Day" at her house. I will bring my camera so you can see her "studio". Phew.... it's to die for. She and her husband bought a home a few months ago, and the basement was divided into four rooms plus a laundry room, bathroom and full kitchen -- and she claimed the entire floor for her sewing room.... I'm guess it's at least 1200 square feet! It's decorated with antique sewing machines and even an artificial Christmas tree all year long, decorated with sewing notions and supplies! She uses old wooden ironing boards turned into stools at her kitchen island. It's just wonderful and you can't help but feel "motivated" when you're in that space. I'm taking a purse pattern that I've cut out and Brayden's I Spy Quilt to work on. Hopefully we'll motivate each other and get some things done! Still no pictures of Brayden in his Halloween costume. I keep asking my daughter, but to no avail. I would have liked to see how he looked in the costume I worked so hard on! (Was that a poor me moment?) THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR #4

1. My husband's department is finally hiring more people, which will mean less hours for him. YAY!
2. Motrin.
3. Creative Friends who don't mind me hanging out at their house.
4. My grandmother teaching me to knit when I was young.
5. That my husband doesn't mind "quick meals" when I'm too tired to cook.

More from My Grandmother's Cookbook

I'm enthralled with reading through my grandmother's handwritten cookbook that I found last week. I thought I'd post a few more recipes that I found interesting. Again, she doesn't give much in the way of detailed instructions, but fairly experienced cooks will be able to figure it out. I think Gramma was born around 1910 or 1911, by the way. The most loving, happiest, family-oriented, home-oriented woman I've ever known. I love Mince Meat Pie. It's a tradition at our house. Now I'm wondering if this is the reason -- did I have "real" mince meat pies when I was young?? Here's Gramma's Recipe: Mince Meat 2 qts or 4 lbs chopped beef 4 qts chopped apples 2 qts sweet cider 1 qt molasses 4 cups sugar 2 tbsp pepper 8 tsp cinnamon 6 tsp cloves 2 pounds raisins 1 pound citron (????) Boil 30 minutes. When cool, add 1 1/2 pts Brandy and add 4 oranges. Brandy?!? Shoot, no wonder I liked it so much as a kid. I'm not quite understanding the oranges though -- dice them up, perhaps? And I assume by the quantities in this recipe that she may have canned it. Gramma's cellar had a LOT of canned goods! Chili Sauce 2 quarts tomatoes (remove skins and cut up) 2 onions (cut fine) 2 cups vinegar 1 cup sugar 2 tbsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp ground cloves 1 tsp black pepper Boil until thick and bottle cold. New England Harvest Cake 1 1/2 cups Pumpkin 3/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup shortening 3/4 cup sour milk 3 1/4 cups flour 4 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Baking Soda 1/2 tsp Nutmeg 1/2 tsp Cinnamon 1 tsp salt 1 tsp ginger 3 egg yolks. Beat in order given. Bake at 350 about 40 minutes. I assume this would be in a 13 x 9 x 2 cake pan or two layer cakes. I also have to assume you would grease and flour the pan(s). I'm surprised raisins aren't in this cake, as many of her cakes had raisins or nuts. I might add both to this recipe. That's enough for now! I also have my Mom's cookie cookbook to look through and will post recipes. My mom was NOT a great cook, but she was an excellent baker. Every year at Christmas she would bake around 50 dozen cookies to give away to neighbors, family, co-workers, etc. And they were amazing cookies! You'll just have to come back for more! THINGS I'M THANKFUL FOR #3

1. My grandson lives close to me and I get to visit with him often.
2. Craft ideas I find on the Internet - what a never-ending resource!
3. People actually take time out of their day to read my blog.
4. Digital cameras - one of our best technological advances, in my book.
5. Freecycle people who actually pick items up when they say they will.

MY TWO CENTS ON THE ELECTION RESULTS Obviously, the election didn't go "my" way, but it did go America's way, and that's what counts. I listened to President-elect Obama's acceptance speech last night, and there's no doubt the man has charisma. One thing I believe in, even when I was the most disappointed with President Bush, is that our President deserves our respect. So I will give Mr. Obama the respect he deserves, I hope he does good things for our country, and I will keep in mind that perhaps all those Americans who voted for him know something that I don't know, and give them the benefit of the doubt. This is one of those times that I would love to be wrong.

OK, I'm blogging after all...

Wow. I am still in shock. I went to my voting place this morning and guess what?? NO LINES!! DH and I went to vote at 9:15am, and I was first in line for a voting machine. We even parked right in front of the building. So here we have the media telling us 1) Obama has already won and 2) the lines are four and five hours long. I'm sure many folks have decided not to vote because 1) why bother if the election is already decided and 2) why stand in line for hours if the election has already been decided? I say - go vote no matter what. And if there's a line, be patient and stand in it. Smile, talk to other people in line, remember how wonderful it is that this many people are turning out to vote (vs many years in the past when only 15% of voters turned out). Smile, enjoy the voting experience. But vote. Don't let the media convince you your vote isn't worth anything. Vote vote vote. No matter who your voting for - vote. Now I'm going to go turn on Fox News and see what's happening. How exciting is this?!?

I'm not blogging today...

I'm out voting. And I hope you are too. You can watch live results right here! Things I'm Thankful for #2

1. I live in a country where I can vote.
2. I live in a country where every vote counts.
3. This presidential election will have record-setting turn out of voters. It's about time Americans voiced their opinions!
4. Whichever candidate wins, I am grateful that both men made us sit up and pay attention.
5. Sarah Palin - love her or hate her, you have to admit she added a new facet to this election.

Being Thankful #1

Thanksgiving is fast approaching and that, combined with reading many blogs that often have Gratitude lists or Thankful lists, I've decided to each day add a list to my blog of five things I'm thankful for, and continue this each day through Thanksgiving. I invite you to do the same! I know in "difficult times" (and yes, we all have them), I find this exercise to be most helpful. I may not be having difficult times right now, but it is always beneficial to count your blessings. Here are mine for today. Things I'm Thankful For:

1. Beautiful Fall weather
2. A husband with a sense of humor equal to his sense of responsibility.
3. The cat doesn't need to go to the vet after all.
4. That first quiet, relaxing cup of coffee in the morning.
5. That I've picked up knitting needles again, after many years without.

Leave a comment if you add this to your blog and I'll come and read it!

My Simple Woman's Daybook - 11/03/2008

Outside my Window... Gorgeous Fall day, bright blue skies, some color left in the leaves - a day worth going out and enjoying some fresh air! I am thinking... about elections tomorrow. Want to make SURE you're voting for the candidate who thinks like you do? Try this! I am thankful for... My husband taking the next two days off. I love it when he's home! From the kitchen... Chicken thawing for tonight's dinner, counters need to be cleaned and trash needs to go out. I am wearing... Jeans, long-sleeved white shirt, socks and sneakers. And I'm thinking about putting on a sweater! I am reading... "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski. So far (one-third through) I'm not sure what all the fuss is about. It's good, but so many people have called it great! I am hoping... my back will continue to feel better all day. I am creating... placemats from that Mary Englebreit craft book I can't stay away from! Also, knitting socks for Christmas presents. I am hearing... Joey meowing to go out, the bubbling of the aquarium. Around the house... Too much dust, too much stuff laying around -- need to definitely do a good general pick up today. One of my favorite things... the new Mary Englebreit craft book I picked up at the flea market yesterday. Full of so many exciting ideas! A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Errand day today, voting tomorrow, a creative day with friend Lynne, two days of babysitting - hmmm... when will I do housework?! Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... One of my favorite quilt borders that I've done (the flowers are 3-D). Hey, I need to get this quilt quilted! I'd forgotten how pretty it is! Write your own Daybook each Monday and join the meme at The Simple Woman's blog.

Menu Planning Monday - Watch out for B1G1 sales

I thought I'd mention briefly how I do my menu planning to keep in line with my food budget (which I have lowered by almost 50% in recent months). I do 90% of my grocery shopping at Krogers. I've shopped there 20+ years, and it's important for me to know the lay-out of a store and know my prices. I also like the fact that several times a year, Krogers sends me what I call "loyalty coupons" which are $1.00 and over coupons for items coming up on sale within a few weeks. Included in these coupons are wonderful coupons for 10% off my entire bill. When I get these, I try and do at least two weeks shopping at once -- in an effort to get 10% the most possible! This morning is menu planning morning, so the first thing I did was look at the ongoing list on the fridge to see what had been written down during the week. Next, I take a look in my freezer and see what meats are in there (these are meats I have bought on sale previously) and mentally get some meal ideas from those meats, then write those down on paper. Next, I sit at the computer and go to the Kroger web site, sign in, and pull up their current week's ad. Yes, I do get the paper ad every week, but I prefer to do this part on the computer. I sit with my box of current coupons, and look through the ad, and look at the list of meal ideas I have. This week in the freezer I have ground beef, boneless pork chops and chicken tenders. So one of my first meal ideas is Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I see that Kroger has Oatmeal on sale, and I need that for the meatloaf, so I simply check the box for that ad, and the web site adds it to my shopping list. They also have a good sale on canned veggies this week, so I check that box as well. I know I need eggs for the meatloaf (as well as for two breakfasts), so I click on "Notes" on the web page, and type in "Eggs". I go all the way through the Kroger ad, clicking on items on sale, hopefully matching items up with my coupons, and typing in items in the "Notes" section that I need whether on sale or not. Then I simply hit the PRINT button and my Shopping List is ready for me. I then mark items that I have pulled coupons for, and paperclip my coupons to the Shopping List. I need to mention Krogers Buy One Get One Free sales. Watch out for these. They very often put the price of the "one" up SO high above what they normally charge that you're paying more for TWO than you normally would for one. A good example this week is the Eckrich bologna - Buy 1 Get 1 free and in tiny print you see "Save up to $2.99 with card". That means they're going to charge you $2.99 for one, when the normal sale price on this product is .99! You can wait and buy three of these on sale, for what you would today pay one! The Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage is B1G1 at $4.09. These are frequently on sale for .99 and non-sale price is normally $1.99! These B1G1 sales often COST you money, so do be careful! And by the way? That Eckrich bologna is nasty stuff anyway... lol... not even worth the .99 cent sale price, in my opinion! So with all that said, here are my menues for the week. As always, Wednesday and Friday are the days I babysit my DGS (darling grandson) and he doesn't leave until 5:30pm, at which point I'm exhausted and don't feel like cooking. So either I plan a "quick meal" or he and I put together a crockpot meal in the morning. Monday BBQ Chicken tenders on grill Mixed green salad with tomatoes, onions, croutons Tuesday Meatloaf, beef gravy Mashed potatoes Canned green beans Wednesday Leftover meatloaf in open-faced sandwich Green salad Thursday Stuffed baked pork chops* Brown rice (make extra for Saturday) Green peas Friday Bagels w/cream cheese Tomato soup Saturday Baked chicken tenders Frugal Rice Pilaf w/veggies Sunday - Breakfast for dinner A cheese dish DH saw on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-in's and Dives Sausage, onions, peppers, potatoes and eggs cooked together English Muffins Now I'm off to do my grocery shopping!

More flea market finds

It's an absolutely beautiful day here in southwestern Ohio, so Jeff and I headed back to the Turtle Creek flea market today. We both enjoy it so much, and we do a lot of walking, which really help my latest round of back problems. I had $9.00 in my pocket, and decided that was my budget for the morning. And yes, I found some great buys! The glass bowl with lid is for our Sweet n' Low packets that stay on the kitchen counter near the coffee maker. The pattern of the jar just happens to match a very large jar I have that holds all our variety of tea bags. The box on the right holds 25(!) hand-crocheted or embroidered hankies to add to my collection. That was perhaps the bargain of the flea market at $2.00. The book is a Mary Englebreit craft book, and I feel in love with the bluebird kitchen placemats. And the little frames in the back are little tiny (maybe 1.5 x 1.5 inch) pen and ink drawings and SO cute! I can't quite read the artist's signature - Jarvis? Jovis? They're done in a very simple country way. Not in the photo is a new old man "smoker" to add to my "collection" of one! I love the time change. We spent an enjoyable morning at the flea market and were home by 11:30am! I have two loads of laundry to do and need to head back to the basement to hunt up some new yarn for more sock knitting later today while we watch the race on TV (yes, we are most definitely NASCAR fans). I think I may even do some kind of baking this afternoon... it's just that kind of day. We also have plans to head out to our favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner. We don't eat out often, so this will be a real treat.