Scrooge opened tonight, so no more costumes to make! Now it's just a matter of repairing everything as we go along. Show closes Sunday; Monday we get back to normal life and all the things I thought I'd get one for Christmas. First up is simple -- an Ant Man pillow case for dd.

How fun! We won't get a chance to see it until next week -- too busy with other commitments. Although if we let go of our need for sleep we might be able to swing it .... Anyway, enjoy it twice as much for us, too!

Hah! I see what you did there!

Also, an iron and ironing board. A lot of the sewing process doesn't take place at the machine. It involves things like pressing seams and pressing hems. And fabric prep, and pattern prep, and generally keeping track of the bits you want to put together. It's lots of fun, though! Enjoy! http://www.mesewcrazy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Edna-Mode-Sewing-is-my-Superpower.png (Posting the above as a link since we're not supposed to include images. I'd really like this as a t-shirt.)

Oooooh, this sounds like a great idea! I'm going to suggest this to my family.

Dd made 15 dozen for a fundraiser for her choir. hey put together cookie trays -- people pre-order, then pick them up after the Christmas concert). Right now we're up to our eyeballs in Scrooge -- 4 performances this weekend (2 of which are already sold out, WOOHOO!). After that it will be back to the kitchen. This will forever be the year remembered as "that time AA gave us her Ginger Crinkle recipe". Actually, it's just a standard recipe you could google and have pop up on a bunch of cooking sites. We'd never tried it before and are totally hooked. Looking forward to another batch next week!

Yes, if I have something to say. If lots of other people have already made the same point I don't bother.

One year I did that, and had some big surprises when I opened them! We're keeping Christmas very small and simple this year, so the gap between "haven't started" and "almost done" is pretty small. :P

We each take a small blanket along when we travel.

I always pictured them sort of nodding their heads in time with the music. Sort of how members of a band marching along to the beat of the drums can be said to be keeping time.

:grouphug:

I know various people who don't put up the tree until Christmas Eve. That used to be the way things were done -- tree up just in time for Christmas Day, up for the 12 Days of Christmas, then everything tidied up on Jan 6th. To a great extent I wish that we're still the case. However, our tree is up. It isn't decorated -- lights only. Younger dd wanted older dd to have a chance to help with the ornaments. (One family doesn't put up the tree until Christmas Eve due to cat and dog issues, fwiw. It's not like we know people who make these huge philosophical points with their Christmas decor. It's just more practical for them.) Our kids do a treasure hunt for their presents; Dh figures that out every year. Then we eat omelets and watch all the Star Wars movies. Bizarre traditions, but they've become comfortable.

Dd had to make 15 dozen for a fundraiser for her choir. She ended up making 4 different kinds; and, of course, it's hard to be exact when making that many cookies, so we ate all the extras :laugh: It's a fun way to try out new recipes, by the way. I think I could have eaten all 6 dozen of the ginger crinkles all by myself ... as it was, we decided that a LOT of those were "extra" and needed to be taken back out of the freezer to make room for some of the other cookies she'd made.

Dd (16) just started this series ... I've already read most of them, and it is really fun. I also read the "grown up" series (which I do not recommend for teens, but is also lots of fun if you like vampires, werewolves and steampunk all rolled together). She also adored the Lunar Chronicles, although she found the final book disappointing. This year she wants Clint Emerson's 100 Deadly Skills. I wonder if maybe she's taken the Etiquette and Espionage books a little too seriously.

The woman who owns Gorgeous Fabrics has a blog, and has discussed making ballroom gowns on it -- she has made them for her son's ballroom teacher. I don't recall how much detail she gave, but I think she discussed her decision making processes. This was years ago, by the way, so would take some googling. Don't some people use spray starch on chiffon to help it behave while cutting out? I just made a Ghost of Christmas Past dress for dd that had chiffon, and other than the way it crawled all over when I tried to cut it, it really wasn't that bad to work with. I serged everything as I went along. And probably care less about details since it's a stage costume. I would look for more tips online at places like the sewing forum on Artisan's Square -- lots of older seamstresses there who have done all the things, tried all the techniques. They have a specific sub forum for costumes.

Today I saw one in which Darth Vader had the Elf by the neck up against the walk with his feet dangling down, obviously choking him. A storm trooper stood by passively.

Could you start out by sending them to school, and then regroup as necessary? Friends moved to Oxford and did just that. One child ended up coming back home because that was a better fit, but others stayed in school. One printout worksheet wouldn't turn me off the school, though. I would figure we could still have real literature -- I mean, the British Library is right there next to St Pancras station, so easy to visit and for the kids to see that literature is important (okay, that's the voice of pure jealousy talking there -- so many opportunities in London, and such good public transport!). And I think they would still have plenty of time to spend with their baby sister. The (eventual) youngest of your family (perhaps this new baby, for example) will not be spending a lot of time with a baby sibling and will presumably grow up into a balanced adult who can figure out baby care.

One of our favorites! How fun that it's now available on Youtube so more people can see it!

First, I'd definitely wait until you have nothing pressing like school before doing further experimentation. Second, could it be something that has nothing to do with the wine, and the wine was just a coincidence? Fluid in the inner ear? Beginning of a fever? Something else you ate? Next, yeah, it could be that you're more reactive now than you used to be to something in the wine. Somedays I react more to certain irritants (like the perfume of laundry detergents when I'm near that aisle in the store -- some days it's not a big deal and others I feel like running out of there).

Yikes, I stayed up way too late trying to figure out which book to get!

This is what we do also. Although we have two timers that have to be perfectly synched or else the light czars at our house get twitchy. :laugh:

Dd was just going through a pile of Christmas cards, asking where we got them. "Some charity that wanted us to send them money." I had thrown out everything else from the charity ... she threw out several of the cards. We both remarked what a bad marketing move it was. But I suppose others think they "owe" money for the products sent to them, so send in a donation. Agreed that it's annoying. I think they probably make money off of it, though.At least enough money to accomplish whatever it is they're trying to accomplish, which might simply be for the marketing department to continue being paid.

I'm okay giving to UMCOR, which is the United Methodist Committee on Relief, because 100% goes to whatever they say it's going to -- the church picks up the administrative costs. I'm also okay with Doctors Without Borders because I haven't heard any reason to distrust them. Other than that, we give to things that we have a personal connection with. Examples would be a local group home, the local food bank, helping out a refugee we met, local animal protection groups, some people we know who are starting a circus school. Our church does work in northern Ghana, so that would be something I would support overseas since I know a lot of people who have gone over and seen what is going on, plus I would be welcome to go myself and have a personal connection. Do you use the websites that rate charities on how they spend their money?

Some of the stuff I want the most I talk about the least because it just doesn't occur to me to go on and on about things. Or, like Night Elf says, I figure it's out of reach and I don't want others to feel bad about not getting it. I vote for the Surge (although I'd never ever want one for myself, so don't anyone take that as a hint).

"Well, Mom, that's just how I am -- when people continue to make that sort of comment, I stay away from them. You'll just have to look past that."