Lists, Lists & More Lists

Have you ever been so busy that you don't know where to start, so you don't start, and then you try to start, but you can't focus because you don't know what you should be focusing on?

Yeah, that's me right now.

I seriously have like a billion "to do" lists, each with different stuff, and all of it seems important, yet I can't figure out where to start! 

So, I've broken it down in assembly line sections.  One thing I'm stressing about is getting my material prepped for printing.  Well, getting it prepped will do me no good if my screens aren't built or burned?  See what I'm getting at?   So, I've made a list of what needs to be done and put it in order...can't get to "B" if you haven't completed "A".  Sounds so remedial as I write this, but I've been struggling a bit the last few days to get into a groove.  I'd find myself in the middle of something, setting it down, to only start on something else, and then ending up with two unfinished projects because my multi-tasking abilities apparently suck.

And, not that I'm complaining, I swear I'm not, but I have a lot of other stuff going on besides Chaps Buffalino stuff.  Home stuff, getting ready to move in the next two months stuff, laundry - my lifetime nemesis stuff, kid stuff, lots of stuff.  If I'm being honest here, maybe I jumped the gun a bit...maybe setting my launch date for 1/1/11 was a bit absurd, but when I ask myself these questions, I answer back with "If not now, when?" 

Well, I purchased Elsie Flannigan's (from A Beautiful Mess) Blog Love E-Course, and let me tell you it has lots of valuable information about blogging and how to fit it all into a busy, hectic schedule.  I highly recommend purchasing it.  I won't go into much detail because that is what the course is for, but I'm putting a few things I learned into action.  I've put together a doable "to do"  list for tonight only and my reward if I get it all accomplished will be my favorite chai tea latte tomorrow on the way to work.  It's not a huge reward, but it does give me a little extra motivation to get my butt in gear and stay on track.  I usually save my tea purchases for the weekend, so if I get my "chores" done tonight, I will get a sweet little reward tomorrow!  Yes!

12/6/10 To Do List

1. Finish making 2 screens
2. Clean up station in garage using for burning screen & printing - getting ready for 12/7 print
3. Clean finished screens - leave to dry in clean space
4. Get artwork 100% ready
5. 2 load of laundry completed (washed, dryed and ugh put away...gross) - seriously when will they invent disposable clothes?  Either that, or I need a wife ;)
6. That huge Christmas party I mentioned in the last post is this weekend, out of town, so I need to start packing for the kids & I, and all the stuff I'm bringing (decorations, games, food, etc.)
7. Type out Christmas Party game directions - easy enough, but it's "one more thing"
8. Make an email contact list for the party...that way next year's communication will be much easier.

I'll let you know how I did on my list tomorrow!  If you have any great tips to staying on task, being organzied, etc., please leave them in the comments below!  I would love to hear all about them.

♥
Olivia

The Power Of Love In The Kitchen

So, back when I was a little girl, I remember reading a story about a mom who made the best cookies ever. Well word got around town about her delicious cookies, and soon she was baking them for everyone. Eventually, she grew tired of it and her cookies became less popular. She moral of this story was her cookies started out so wonderful because she baked them with love. As she started making them for everyone, she wasn't putting enough love into them and they started to taste gross. I think I was maybe 7 when I read that book, and the lesson has literally stayed with me my entire life. I truly believe that if you don't cook or bake with love, it will show. I know I've rushed my way through something or cursed along the way through a recipe, and it always turns out like crap.


But when you put your heart and soul into a dish...pure magic happens. Case in point below...


This year, I had no idea what to get my Dad for Father's Day. He's a simple man, never really wants for much. And, with the hobbies he does enjoy: fishing, hunting, gardening, he could open up his own Outfitter store with all the supplies he has. I thought about a gift certificate, blah...then I remembered it takes an act of God to get him to go to any retail store on his own, unless it's 6pm on Christmas Eve.


Then I knew what I wanted to do. Make him his favorite dessert: Banana Pudding. My Grandmother used to make it all the time, and it was epic. Yes, it's very simple, but it's a little time consuming when you make it the way she did...lining a round bowl with vanilla wafers, bananas, and homemade, from scratch, vanilla pudding. It not only had to taste good, but it had to look pretty too. I know her pudding always turned out so awesome because she cooked with love. She was a Southern Woman, and what better way to show your family how much they mattered to you, but by cooking. And, cooking great food. I remember every time we'd visit, she'd let me help her make homemade biscuits. OMG...I can't still smell them and taste them if I think long enough about it. My Grandmother also always made the banana pudding in this old Pyrex bowl with a wheat and eagle pattern on it. She died when I was 15. And it wasn't until several years later that I inherited her bowl when my Dad cleaned out my grandparents house. I couldn't believe he gave it to me. I thought for sure my Mom would've had dibs on it. But, my Dad knew I'd love it because I liked to bake so much. My mom can bake, but she doesn't love it...cooking is her passion. So, I was bestowed with The Bowl.


Now, packaging is sometimes just as important as the present itself. So, I made his pudding in my Grandmother's bowl. The same bowl that she used to make it in when he was growing up. He loved it. I knew he would. I knew this was the best present I could give him that money couldn't buy. A flashback of his own mother making the pudding, a taste that triggers memories of his youth, a simple dish that always reminds him of his mother.


Priceless.


And here is the email from my Dad that brought me to tears:


Olivia,


If I didn't know better I would say Grandma came down from Heaven and made that absolutely best ever banana pudding I have ever eaten. Mom and Cameron thought so too. Thank you so much and I love you all.


Dad


So, my moral of this post? Cook and bake with love. Don't focus on the monetary things in life...when it's all said and done, they never matter anyway.


Happy Day!

Christmas Q & A

I saw this on Samara's blog, and just had to borrow it for my own! Hope you enjoy!

A little get-to-know-ya Christmas holiday Q & A...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Both. I really love to wrap presents, but sometimes time gets the best of me, and things end up in a gift bag. But, I have to to have coordinating tissue paper.
2. Real tree or Artificial?
Growing up in the NW it was always a real tree. Living in Phoenix, I've bought an artificial.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Typically the day after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Around New Year's.

5. Do you like eggnog?
It's okay.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Probably my Cabbage Patch doll when I was 7.

7. Hardest person to buy for?
Greg's Parents.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
The kids, my Dad.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes I do.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail for sure. I love old fashioned pony express mail!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Not possible. It's nice to receive any gift. It's the thought, right? YES.

12. Favorite Christmas movie(s)?
Elf, The Family Stone, the old Rudolph & Frosty cartoons, Charlie Brown Christmas.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
About 10 days before. Ugh. Not next year though. When I see that perfect gift, I'm going to snatch it up regardless of what time of year it is!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Nope.

15. What holiday activity do you look forward to?
Baking, looking at lights, actually passing out the gifts on Christmas.

16. Lights on the tree?
Yep.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
O Holy Night - Josh Groban's version, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas-any version, but love Coldplay's.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We do both. Christmas Eve with Greg's Parents, and Christmas Breakfast with my family.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
No...

20. Do you have a holiday collection?
Not really. I mean I LOVE snowmen...so most of my decorations involve snowmen.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Morning?
One on Christmas Eve, and the rest on Christmas day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
The general sense of obligation. I feel like everyone feels like
they have to buy, wrap, do cards, cook, travel, attend parties,
etc. If you don't have the money or energy, it can really take
a lot of joy out of it. (This is Samara's answer, but I couldn't have said it better myself, so I'm going use her answer :)

23. Favorite ornament, theme or color?
Just snowmen.

24. Favorite FOOD for Christmas dinner?
With Greg's parents it's tamales and menudo. YUM. With my parents it's Prime Rib and all the awesome holiday side dishes like green bean casserole, candied yams, rolls, mashed potatoes & gravy (yuck), some jello salad my Nana has made forever...YUM.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
A peaceful end to a stressful year.

Trying To Not Be A Scrooge

Ugh. I usually *LOVE* Christmas. I'm the type that skips Black Friday and is decorating the house, inside and out, for the Christmas season. The house is decorated from the day after Thanksgiving until after the New Year. We do the outside, and all over the inside, including the bathroom. I really love doing this because Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. We didn't do much decorating other than a tree growing up, and when I moved out on my own, this was one holiday I knew I wanted to go all out for. And for the last 9 years or so, my husband and I have done this. Each year we get a little more, and expand our decor.

This year is different. Part of me feels bad because Penelope really "gets" Christmas this year, but I have no desire to go all out. I hesitate to say I don't have the Christmas spirit, but this year has been really tough in more ways than one, and most of me is just looking forward to getting through with 2008 and hoping for a better 2009. However, during one of P's naps last weekend, me and the hubs went outside and put up some lights. She was delighted. Then yesterday while she was out with the Grandparents, we put up our big blow-up snowman outside, put the tree up, and displayed our stockings. When she came home, she was very excited. So it was all worth it. But, I still have 3 tubs of stuff I normally put out that are going to stay packed away this year. I think another part to my ho-hum attitude is the fact that I'm 8 months pregnant and don't want to do anything right now! I'm totally focused on the countdown that has begun and I am so unprepared this time around. It's weird. Last time, I had nursery done way in advance, all baby clothes washed and put away, diapers stocked, bottles and formula stocked, etc. This time the crib is still disassembled, nothing is bought, and I'm starting to stress about it all, but here I sit blogging instead of getting prepared :) Go figure.

So, I guess I will stop being Scrooge, and just appreciate everything I have, and be thankful that I am where I am.