I have Christmas soaps for sale

on eBay!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's time to put this guy away and start getting out the Christmas stuff!
I have candles burning in the front windows already, but the scarecrow and mailbox may stay the way they are until it warms up on Saturday. Brrr! The mountains are expecting a dusting of snow tonight.

35 Shopping Days!

It's time to get busy!

Finally, flowers!

My good friend, Beth, graciously gave me this Royal Ruby vase from her late dad's depression glass collection. It's been sitting on my kitchen counter, patiently waiting for some flowers. It now holds some, at last!

October's on it's way out

and Christmas is just around the corner! I remembered to squirrel away my Christmas savings for this month. My charity of the month however, wound up being my class reunion! I spent a small fortune on decorations and people searches. It was well worth it! Everybody who attended seemed to have a great time, so much so that those of us who can are getting together at a classmate's restaurant on Thursday.

There's nothing like seeing the people you grew up with!

Mmmmm, it smells like Christmas!

It's been unseasonably cool and rainy here today, so I hunted out a "cinnamon roll" candle and lit it. It didn't just smell like fall, it smelled like Christmas!

A little early shopping

Which reminds me, I renewed gift subscriptions for my mom, my mother-in-law and my daughter. I do this every year as part of their Christmas gifts.

Instead of an order

When I received an invitation from my little neighbor's school to buy magazines, I declined. Instead, I took her a check for a donation to her school. The school will get all of that money, and I don't have another magazine subscription that I don't want.

Christmas Money

Christmas is only 4 months away. I just barely remembered to get August's contribution socked away!

Catching up

Here it is late August and I am finally feeling back to normal after the surgery I had in mid-May.

I helped a friend and bought a sketch pad for a an inspiring young artist in July. The money I gave the local sherrif's fund in June also helped pay for the Fourth of July fireworks, so I'm pretty pleased about that. I left a party at a friend's house to take my mom to see those fireworks and was blessed with a visit from two former students.

Of course, the best blessing is the baby my daughter is expecting in February! I have been having a grand time knitting and embroidering for him/her. I'll have to post photos on my craft blog.

For this month's extra charitable giving, I'm considering giving to the Triad Flight of Honor, a program that will fly 100 local WWII veterans to see their war memorial in Washington, DC in October. I will, of course, donate in memory of my dad.

The Best Blessing!

I'M GOING TO BE A

GRANDMA!!!!!

Charities for June

This month, I gave to St. Jude's Hospital and the local Sheriff's Fund. I also sent a little extra to Tani, the child I sponsor in Honduras. Her birthday is Christmas Day, so she needs a little "half birthday" present.

June is almost over

Only 6 more shopping months till Christmas. I remembered to sock away my Christmas fund for this month and May.

Hand Knit Newborn Caps

I delivered a pack of baby caps to the hospital this evening! Knitting and donating these caps makes me really happy! It's a great way to keep Christmas year round!

This month's donation

We've had quite a bit of flooding in our county this week, so this month's donation goes to the Wilkes-Alleghany Chapter of the American Red Cross--a no brainer.

My charity for April

My charity for April is Hilltop Home, a residential facility for special needs toddlers and infants in Raleigh, NC. I won't go into detail, but the staff here are very special people and I wish I could give more than I did. If I ever win the lottery......

I almost forgot!

April is almost gone, and I almost forgot to put money in my Christmas account!

Spring!

One of the things I love best about spring is :

The trees decorate themselves!

Too soon!

I took the snowflakes out of my kitchen windows and replaced them with my stained glass strawberries. Too soon, though! It snowed Tuesday--in great flurry blasts--with the sun shining!

Decorating

It's one of the best parts of Christmas! But spring is here, so out with the snowmen and in with the strawberries and farm blocks!

This month's charity

is, of course, the March of Dimes. Here's the website: http://www.marchofdimes.com/

Finally!

I got my husband's old cell phone in the mail to Cell Phones for Soldiers! This is my dad when he was a soldier in World War II. He used a walkie talkie.

Christmas Money

I just made my monthly deposit to my Christmas fund!

Christmas Post Cards

I am printing my Christmas post cards for next year. This is the back. The front will remain a secret. I'm glad I decided on post cards again since postage is going up soon.

Have a Heart?

It's mid-February, time to give to the American Heart Association. Here's a link to the donation form: https://donate.americanheart.org/ecommerce/aha/includes/ahaP4form.pdf

Maybe I'll check first and see if any of my former students are participating in "Hoops for Hearts," and give through them.

Virtual Cupcakes!

As of today, I've sent 37 virtual cupcakes from Electrolux: http://www.electroluxappliances.ca/cupcake.aspx
That's $37.00 for ovarian cancer research!

Cell phones for soldiers

I got a new cell phone over Christmas, and I had gotten prepaid mailers for Cell Phones for Soldiers with my Book of the Month Club orders, so I checked out their website to see if they are legit. They appear to be. Then I deleted all numbers and messages, gathered up my chargers, and got them ready to go.

The website, http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/shippingLabel_generic.html, allows you to print a shipping label if you don't have the mailer.

Another Discovery!

http://www.freecycle.org/ -a network for giving stuff away!

A Christmas Card from Honduras

I just received this Christmas card from Honduras, via Christian Children's Fund. (There is a mail delay of at least 12 weeks.) This is my sponsored child, Tania, her mother, Martha and her new baby brother, Gerado. The art work is by an 11 year old from another village. (I cropped her name and location from the photo.) The inside of the card explains their Christmas celebration in both English and Spanish.

Call it Karma

I took a friend to a doctor's appointment in Boone (NC) today. While she was in the office, I did some shopping and got some fantastic buys!

I remembered!

I was paying bills, and remembered my goal to sock away a little Christmas money. It was very little, but I did it. Only 10 more shopping months till Christmas!

A Most Wonderful Discovery!

Today, on TV, Kelly Rippa was promoting Electrolux's "Send a Cupcake" promotion. Visit their website:

http://www.electroluxappliances.ca/cupcake.aspx and click on "Create a Cupcake." (You'll find Kelly there.) You get to choose cake and liners and frosting and toppings, and then send it (virtually, of course) to a friend.

Now here's the best part : For every cupcake you send, Electrolux will donate $1.00 to ovarian cancer research! Now, how's that for putting the fun into giving!?!!!

Sponsoring a child

It's time I talked about Tani in this blog. She is a six year old Honduran child that I sponsor through Christian Children's Fund. This is the first photo I received. She had just turned two anos!

I sent her family $12.oo yesterday to pay their electricity bill, FOR THE YEAR! Helping her family is something that makes me feel really good. Folks are often leary of child sponsorship programs. Kent and I once sponsored a child through World Vision. It was much more expensive than CCF, and we only got one photo of the child and a description of his circumstances.

I get letters from Tani's father and photos all the time. It's great! Ill have to post more about them later because they really help me keep the spirit of Christmas throughout the year!

Letting go

I hate to throw out a beautiful plant, but poinsettias have their season. I take mine out to the compost heap and "set them free," but not without a final closeup.

More gift tags

In cleaning out boxes and ribbons that are no longer suitable for recycling, I came across a box lid I could not bear to throw out. Instead, I turned it into gift tags for next year. I may go ahead and order a roll of plain red wrapping paper to use with them (and for Valentine's Day, soon.) I have dozens of white bows I could use with them, too.

Recycled Christmas Card Tags

I may not get my postcards done this month, but I did go through my Christmas cards for candidates for gift tags. All of these tags were cut from the fronts of received cards.

Lunch Money

We were having lunch at Cracker Barrel today and four soldiers came in. We couldn't afford to buy their lunch, but Kent, my husband, gave them some money toward the cost of it and told them he appreciated them. I'm very proud of him. He's keeping Christmas!

Hiding Christmas!

Here's a way I "keep" Christmas (out of sight) till next year!

Snowmen in January

I think I'll leave these little guys up a while longer. I use red & white in my kitchen, anyway.

Share the Warmth

In January, I used to give a donation to Duke Energy's Share the Warmth Fund. Last year, my check came back ,"Address unknown." I checked Duke energy's website, and it still lists the same P.O. box as last year. It also lists partner agencies with phone numbers. I'll try to call one of those, tomorrow.

A few years back, Duke Power cut off the electricity to an elderly woman who could not pay, and she froze to death. That should never, ever happen in America, today.

CELEBRATE THE EPIPHANY!

Today is the Epiphany, or Old Christmas, as it is sometimes called. In England, it is the Twelfth Day of Christmas. Today, the Epiphany commemorates the arrival of the Three Wise Men, bringing gifts to the Baby Jesus.

I am celebrating today by turning on all the Christmas lights I've not packed away.

I also made a gift for my husband. We were watching vH1's "Greatest Hard Rock Hits" the other night. I took note of the ones he liked that we don't already have on hand. I then legally downloaded 9 of them and burned him a CD today.

So now, he can sing, "On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a CD of my favorite hard rock songs!"

Finally Fish

I finally finished the neighbor kids' "fish in a bag" soaps. I left them in the neighbors' mailboxes as a surprise this afternoon. I intended to deliver them tomorrow on the Epiphany, but its supposed to rain and today was beautiful. I even sat on the front porch and read for a little while.

I got the idea for the fish soaps from the Martha Stewart Show shortly before Christmas. It took longer than I'd anticipated, so they weren't done in time for Christmas. Besides, I like stretching out the season. I'm not too crazy about the carol, but I do like the idea of the Twelve Days of Christmas. One side of the gift tags I created for the soaps explains what the Epiphany is about.

Now the kids can sing, "On the eleventh day of Christmas my neighbor lady gave to me...a toy goldfish trapped in a bag of soap!"

Gift Receipt Folder

I found a better folder for my Christmas receipts. I found it at Staples. It's vinyl and a pocket folder. Having a place for gift receipts definitely makes Christmas easier.

Christmas money

Years ago, the local banks offered a "Christmas Card Account." Each month, you put money in your Christmas account and the amount of deposit was recorded on a card. I haven't seen that offer lately, but today (actually yesterday) I started a savings account for next Christmas.

After examining receipts and my credit card bills for this Christmas Season, the amount I'm saving might not be enough to cover all my expenses, but it'll take a good, stress-relieving chunk out.