Advent 2013

Enjoying a foray into celebrating Channukkah this year, it has overlapped the start of Advent and well I just wasn't ready for Advent to begin. The Jesse Tree is undecided, the decorations unmade and so I think next year will be time enough for it. We have two new nativities this year though and numerous children's Bibles and a little one who enjoys reading with a fervour unforeseen even by this reading-mad Mama so I think Advent will certainly be a time of preparation for the "big day" just without a script per say.

Decorating has begun in earnest with boxes upon boxes unloaded from the wardrobes as the little one drifted off to dream world (nap and bedtime). Our "wee room" is all but decorated (I was waiting for a vase to dry which will be filled with blue and white baubles). The hallway and doors off it are adorned. Autumn is all but packed away (only tablecloths and kitchen linens to go I believe). The nativities await the clearing off of the "old dining table" on Wednesday when Bundle's two-week birthday period ends and the cards come down and streamers and birthday signs are packed away once again. The piano is topped with seven snow globes, three snowmen, Santa's workshop scene and an orphan plastic reindeer figurine. The Christmas music book is open on the music stand. One of the winter-y pictures is displayed upon the easel. A collection of candles has gathered, as has another of lanterns, another of snowmen and another of Santas. There are soft bodied reindeer, snowmen and Santas strewn around the sofas and stockings and Santa hats will call to Bundle in the morning. The trees await "building" - a six-footer for the lounge in traditional red, green and gold and a five-footer for the bedroom in much more modern purple, pink and silver. The silver round post-modern spiral will more than likely adorn our chest-of-drawers whilst I'll borrow a bare-branch white wooden tree from my Mama to sit atop our dining room sideboard and accompany our Christmas dinner without over-powering the room (I hope). The red light-up reindeer will grace the kitchen windowsill and I've even managed to decorate Bundle's play kitchen with light-weight wooden blocks spelling out JOY on the top of the upper-cabinets. Our new "Merry Christmas" banner hangs happily over our bed and this Mama is enjoying the accompanying excitement as she anticipates the month of holiday cheer ahead.

Tomorrow the tree-building (ugh) and taking Bundle on a tour of all the decorations but first a lovely breakfast outing with my parents before they high-tail it to Australia for the holidays and then I hope to size-down a Christmas top bought for Bundle, email my sister for her birthday to allow for the time difference, exchange some ill-fitting pyjamas, buy him some non-slip slippers, waterproof his new shoes and hand-me-down boots, jaunt through the charity shops, finish decorating, tidy, clean, launder, write the few Christmas cards that Hubby has left for me to write (my family and closest friends), knit gifts and fast and enjoy being off work until January (or later). That should be the whole week, not just tomorrow though! Oh and play lots of Christmas and Channukkah music (three nights left)... and so to bed, it is stupid o'clock (almost two AM) and I'm not even in my pyjamas yet! Breakfast is at nine/half nine!

Six words:

Christmas coming, joy abounds, miracle birth.

Tired Mama, busy brain, sleep eludes.

Sleeping toddler, snoozing man, blogging lady.

Day 27 - Cleaning up the visual

An old display unit, for what - who knows, recently unearthed at the back of an outhouse and given a thorough going over. Placed horizontal rather than the vertical stance its brackets suggested and filled with an assortment of small "treasures," mostly of my husband's bachelorhood. Trinkets of worth to him but not necessarily of tremendous beauty. Gathered together, the trinkets, including a couple of my own, and the small shells and stones to add a touch of nature, a display worthy of witness - a gathering of us both and our lives and loves. Simple and yet not quite as it shoukd be - the unit darkly painted failing to show off the "treasures" and so to scrapbooking or rather scrapbook paper and the large collection I have gathered up over the years. A few small rectangles of lighter paper (chosen with input from the Hubby) and the "treasures" are offset and ready for a proper exhibition.

Beautifying our space, making it ours, cleaning up the visual of the old and making it new.

Christ risen cleans up the visual of our hearts and makes them new and clean, showing off His love if only we allow it.

Day 18 - Be prepared

Today I followed a new recipe (an actual recipe!) and made hash brown crusted (vegetarian) quiche; you kmow it was good when my Hubby didn't even mention that it would have tasted better with a little meat in it!

All-in-all a successful cooking experiment but I certainly got to think about preparedness, you see alongside this (slightly) increased amount of cleaning, there has been a dramatic lessening of messing up the house and a big increase in tidying and setting things to rights about the place. The house is definitely looking the better for it.

Recently the Hubs decided to invite his family for Christmas and I begrudgingly agreed to go along with that decision. The decision itself made sense, my in-laws weren't terribly keen to host, my SIL is pregnant and pretty sick (and hosted last year, though not for us). Logically it made sense but emotionally...

I dream of being a regular, relaxed, house at the ready for company hostess - however I am none of those things. Hosting makes me terribly stressed, we don't do it very often, the house had (until recently) not been company ready ever and well I disliked that state of affairs (being that hospitality is biblically mandated and especially for church elders-my husband being one) but wasn't trying terribly hard to right the situation.

Now however that I'm discovering the benefits of (somewhat slapdash but much more) regular cleaning and better tidying habits I actually text Hubs today to say how "I'm kinda looking forward to Christmas now that I'm starting to make headway on the house." His reply made me cry:
"That's just great. You brought a big smile to my face... You are doing fab. Christmas will be great."

Of course I haven't yet offered to actually help him with the cooking, but baby steps people! ;)

Anyhow just to round this off nicely, yes it's good to be prepared, to have a plan, to be company ready in case the "company" materialise but sometimes being prepared ahead of time has its downsides...

This morning saw me prepare all the vegetables for my new quiche recipes, I was set to go, with courgette and celery chopped, chopped onion defrosted, cheese grated and potatoes peeled and grated. I set to creating my masterpiece after my hour of tutoring had been accomplished and... I found lots of grey grated potato. So tonight I served my Hubs and Sunny hash GREY based vegetarian quiche - yum yum!

It was still delicious though!

Day 17 - A little cleaning goes a long way

Today (being the third Thursday of the month) saw us at our monthly La Leche League meeting, a definite pick-me-up for this Mama, it also being a LLL meant no official cleaning schedule beyond my everyday ones of a quick swipe over the bathrooms and kitchen. In a (very) small effort I was putting away some stragglers (items set down to be put away but still sat there, wherever there may be, months later) and having done that tiny (put off for far too long) job I set to and dusted that cupboard top and tidied up the decorations to beautify the space.

A little cleaning goes a long way because now that space makes me smile, instead of think, "Oh! I really should tidy that and dust it."

Day 15 - What Cleaning Schedule?

Today I opted out. I cooked (lunch, dinner and tomorrow's lunch). I beautified the nursery walls with the rest of the animal/woodland decals. I played a couple of new pieces on the piano. We visited a gorgeous newborn. I studied further about Judaism and Pesach and Seder. I zoned out. I didn't clean.

Day 12 - Tidying vs Cleaning

Today choosing tidying over cleaning; deciding to tidy instead of clean; prioritising tidying over cleaning - why?

Necessity.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

Necessity in this case forced this procrastinating, ditherer to pull up her big girl pants and get to getting.

Tidying done, the lack of cleaning didn't matter so much and the house is ready for visitors.

Cleaning house indeed.

Day 11 - Decorating and Dusting

Today was all about (finishing my) decorating for autumn which of course included (finally) dusting in the lounge.

Dusting is a job I put off much too often.

Dust was also moved around on the bedroom and nursery windowsills and I decluttered the decorations on the nursery sill a bit. Also cleaned the kitchen hob.

Another day done and the house is going to bed a little cleaner and much more beautiful to me.

Winter Wonderland

Replacing the bright reds, greens and golds of Christmas in our lounge (blues in the dining room) with whites, silvers candles everywhere and lots of glassware for our own little snowy winter wonderland.

Charity shop decanters, lanterns, simple glass tealight holders, crystal candlesticks, vases filled with pearlised baubles and large candle jars with sparkly white and silver wired ribbons wound in and out.

Snowmen, white and silver tree decorations, a simple silver menorah and the wonderful wintery-ness of the snow globe collection, baubles of white and silver and mini-disco-balls gathered into silver star shaped dishes and snow falling outside to complete the scene.

You what? I mean...ahem...pardon?

I love my home but it's exasperating, stuff seems to breed more stuff, it doesn't clean itself or do the laundry and there are boxes everywhere (barn, attic, underbeds, in cupboards, in corners, under tables....etcetera). Little "fix-its" need fixed and the dust just lies there mocking me.

A little step forward everyday...or you know two forward and one back...

I want a haven for my Hubby, a den for my baby and a home for myself.