Knitting Stocking and Reading Updates

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. I am back at work now after the holidays and it is going well. We are still pretty busy this time of year at my work. It slows down a bit before Christmas, then gets busy right away afterwards. I have just been doing a lot of reading, knitting, and watching shows after work. I want to get back to working on my puzzle, but might work on it more on the weekend to have more time to relax and take my time. I am working a half day tomorrow, then I am off work on Monday, so I will have more time to relax this weekend.

I am not finished Millie's stocking yet and I was hoping I would be done by Christmas. I am still knitting up the leg part of the stocking and nearing the start of the foot of the sock and will be setting up the afterthought heel soon. I am using the classic Christmas stocking pattern by Betty Lai on Ravelry. I look forward to using the stocking for Millie next Christmas.

Millie has been busy and getting bigger. She is now 7 months almost 8 months. She is getting more independent and going off to lie down by herself in her favourite spots. She still likes to be near us and play with us and she has her routines. With Liam and I still working from home due to the pandemic we spend a lot of time with her during the week and she keeps us company. 

I am still reading The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews. It is such a sweet story so far and I love the characters and the storyline.  There is a bit of a mysterious element to the story and the protagonist is trying to find out more information about something she discovered.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope that you are having a good week after Christmas. I will be posting again on New Year's day and will be sharing some plans I have for the year.

Have a great day!

Time Between Christmas and New Year's Day

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Today is two days after Christmas Day. It was such a nice holiday these past few days and I really enjoyed having today off work for Christmas Day Observed to do a few things around the house. Mostly to relax, look at my gifts, and to start thinking a bit about New Year goals. It is Monday and doesn't feel at all like a Monday and now we are in the time between Christmas and New Year's Day when I have no idea what day it is and what to do with myself. Like the meme below states so well.

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I never shared the French toast casserole from All Recipes and how it looks and turned out. I had a piece yesterday morning and it was so good the next day as well. I had it with some fruit and it was so delicious. We enjoyed it on Christmas day for brunch when my mother-in-law came over.

I was catching up on some vlogmas vlogs on YouTube this morning while I ate and Millie was also keeping me company. I watched a video from Milk and Honey life today. Charlotte has such nice vlogs and I love watching her vlogmas this year and her vlogs all year round are so good. She always goes the extra mile to make Christmas special for  her husband, dogs, and also her viewers. It is always a treat to watch her videos especially at Christmas.

I got some wonderful gifts for Christmas. I got the book I asked for called Malibu Rising, a Happy Planner for 2022 and planner stickers, cookie mix and accessories, cookies, chocolate and jam, I got an ornament for Millie's first Christmas from my dad. I got some lovely sweaters from my mom. I wore one yesterday as it was perfect green for the holidays. 

I got this black sweater from Joe Fresh with pearl type buttons and another green sweater from GAP from my mom. I got the Roots sweatpants below from Liam and AirPods from Liam. I can't wait to wear these clothes and try out the Airpods while out for walks or exercising. 

My sister got me this necklace from GIGIMEY on Etsy. I love their necklaces. She asked for the infinity on the front and our wedding date on the back, I can't wait to wear it!

My sister dried some of my wedding flowers for me as a gift. It is so nice of her and really nice to have them now as décor for our home. She also gifted me the beautiful round vase in the second photo.

My mom gave me the Happy Planner for 2022 and I am so excited to get started writing in it starting this week. I plan out the week leading up to New Year in my new planners each year. I will be sharing my spread on Wednesday. 

I got a puzzle that I started today from my sister, she got it from Indigo. It was a bit tough to do the puzzle at times with Millie trying to eat the pieces. I was also gifted a puzzle roll up mat from my sister, so I rolled my puzzle progress up when I was done for today so Millie can't eat the pieces while I am away. 

I had a nice view to still admire my Christmas tree that we still have up and didn't rush to take down yet! Millie hasn't been bothering with it since Christmas I guess she knows its over haha

Yesterday we went to my mother-in-law's condo for Christmas lunch. It was nice to see Liam's family and exchange gifts and have lunch together. I was gifted a Michael's gift card from my mother-in-law, I am sure I will find lots there! I also got the slippers below that are so comfortable from La Vie en Rose. 

It was such a lovely day today to sleep in and feel so rested all day. I enjoyed staying in and watching the snow fall outside the window. I had turkey and side leftovers from Christmas dinner for lunch, I did some work on my budget for end of the year. I wrote this blog post, and reflected on the holidays. Tomorrow I will be back at work for boxing day. I am feeling more refreshed now. It will be good getting back into my work routine rested and feeling happy from the holidays. I hope that you also enjoyed the holidays and time away from work or your obligations for a bit. This week I will be preparing for the New Year and will share some posts leading up to 2022!

Have a great day!

Merry Christmas! - Blogmas Day 25

 Hello Friends, 

I hope you are doing well. Today was such a great day celebrating with loved ones.  We opened gifts to each other and opened Millie's gifts. Liam's mom came over this morning for brunch and it was really nice. The French toast casserole turned out well we enjoyed it. Then we went over to my sister's place this afternoon, and I saw my brother-in-law, my nephew, my sister, and my parents. It was fun doing a gift exchange and having dinner together. 

I got Millie this bed for her to sleep on beside our bed. I will move it up there tonight to see if she sleeps on it. She enjoyed using the scratching post of the bed today. 

I also got her this senses circuit toy from Catit. She enjoyed playing with the ball in the tunnel. There was a part of it that unfortunately popped up once and awhile and sent the ball rolling out of the tube. We'll have to see if we can fix it, if not try to return it. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas with family today. I had such a wonderful time and I also truly loved blogmas this year. It was so special sharing all the activities, projects, and plans leading up to Christmas. I hope that you enjoyed it too. 

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Christmas Eve! Preparations for Christmas and Recipes - Blogmas Day 24

Hello Friends, 

I hope you are doing well. I am so happy today is Christmas Eve! This morning I read some of the Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews before work. Then I worked until 1 pm, then once we got the message that we could log off for the holidays, I had lunch and we watched an episode of Lost with Liam. Then I had a Facetime with my mom and sister to discuss tomorrow's Christmas plans. I did some laundry and cleaning. I took the photo below this morning of the Christmas tree with all the gifts I wrapped last night below. I feel good that is done already and ready to go for tonight and tomorrow.

I opened the last day of my advent calendar Lindt chocolates. The biggest chocolate is the teddy bear that I enjoyed after lunch today.

Once I was done cleaning, I made a side dish of bean casserole to bring to my sister's place tomorrow. She will be making the turkey dinner and hosting and I will be bringing the side dish. I used the recipe by Taste of Southern called Classic Green bean casserole. I liked the step by step photos on their site to follow along. It smells so good, I am looking forward to trying it.

I also will be making a French toast casserole for brunch tomorrow we are having Liam's mom over. I will use the recipe French Toast Casserole from Allrecipes.com. I love French toast, so I am looking forward to seeing how this recipe tastes.

Millie was sleeping tonight on the couch as I typed my blog post up before dinner. She was tired from a busy day watching me cleaning and cooking. 

After dinner I will be watching It's a Wonderful Life as a tradition I do every Christmas Eve. I was hoping to start watching it earlier this year, but it was busy with preparations for tomorrow that I didn't watch it this afternoon. I hope I don't start too late because I want to try to go to bed in good time. I look forward to watching while I am knitting Millie's stocking.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope you enjoyed your Christmas Eve today! Please join me again tomorrow for the last day of blogmas. I can't believe Christmas is tomorrow. I am excited and feeling more prepared now with the gifts all wrapped, cards written, and one dish made for tomorrow. I hope you are feeling excited for tomorrow and prepared.

 I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family!

 

What's In My Kitten's Stocking - Blogmas Day 23

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Today I am sharing what I am putting in my kitten Millie's Christmas stocking this year. I am knitting the stocking for her this year using the Classic Christmas stocking pattern by Betty Lai. Please see below for all the fun things I got her this year!

Feline Frenzy cat nip toys by P.L.A.Y - I bought these toys from Ren's Pet Depot. She bats around these kinds of toys and chews on them. I just love these festive toys for her stocking.

Crinkle balls - I also bought these balls from Ren's Pet Depot. These are her favourite toys and whenever we pick these up to throw them, her eyes get big and she gets excited. She chases them and plays with them with us for a long time and on her own as well.

Felt festive toys - I love these festive felt toys I also picked up at Ren's Pet Depot. I have bought her other felt toys before and she really has fun batting them around and chewing on them.

Tooth brush and tooth paste - not a gift that she will love as much, but it will be good for her. I got the procare at Rens' Pet Depot, and ordered the bluestem brand from Petsmart when I still needed the toothbrush. Teeth brushing and cats doesn't sound like fun, but I have read that it is good for their overall health. I think I will start slowly with it and see how it goes in the new year.

Treat paste by Churu - I bought this treat at Ren's Pet Depot, but see it everywhere. She just loves these treats and gets so excited once she sees the tube. We give her treats sparingly, mostly when she listens or when we want to do something fun for her.

This is Millie's stocking progress. I am using the classic Christmas stocking pattern by Betty Lai. I have about half of the body of the stocking to go then will work on the foot tonight to finish it in time for Christmas. Can't wait to share when it is finished.

Joining along with As Kat Knits for Unraveled Wednesday.

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I am excited it is so close to Christmas now, and I am almost ready to enjoy the holidays. I have a half day of work tomorrow and then off on Monday. So I am looking forward to having some time off. See you again tomorrow for blogmas day 24!

Ways to Avoid the Holiday Rush - Blogmas Day 22

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Today I am sharing a post on ways to avoid the holiday rush. This year I did a few things that would maybe help and some things I didn't do well to beat the rush that would help in upcoming years. I think Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year and I like the rushing around a bit, but too much stress right before Christmas is not good and can take away from enjoying it to the fullest.

Things I did well

Ordered gifts starting in November- I started ordering gifts online that would take awhile to deliver or sell out quickly. This helped especially during Covid when I didn't want to be in stores too long shopping.

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Created a Christmas wish list in November - my sister started a tradition a couple of years ago of sharing our wish lists with our family at the beginning of November. Being able to pick out what I want and knowing what other's want early on helps me to buy gifts early.

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Goal to have wrapping and tasks done before Christmas Eve- most years I leave some wrapping and knitting until Christmas Eve. This year I am working on wrapping gifts and getting things organized before Christmas Eve so when I am done work I can relax and watch It's a Wonderful Life.

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Write out a to-do list - sometimes all the things to do for Christmas can feel overwhelming, so this year I wrote a list on my phone and checking things off my list helped keep me on track with the tasks. Then I assigned dates of when I wanted to complete the tasks and added them to my planner and kept to the plan to get things done.

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Things to improve:

Left some items like cards, stocking stuffers to week of Christmas - I usually do leave these last minute items until the week of  or the week before, but they are items I could definitely buy ahead of time to just be prepared. Especially with  the new Covid Omicron cases on the rise it's best not to have to go in stores right now.

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Had knitting projects right until the last week of Christmas - working on knitting projects until the week of Christmas made it very busy and it is time consuming. I enjoy knitting but it would be good to knit more ahead of time.

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Didn't write out blog posts ahead of time - some years I would work on blog posts more ahead of time and this is my best tip for blogmas if you are thinking of going blogmas is to write some posts ahead or to start on projects early to share best content. Sometimes some posts I like most come from coming up with ideas on the day of, like this one!

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I hope these dos and don'ts from my experience this year help and I will be sure to revisit this list next Christmas maybe in November to think back on what worked and what didn't work so well and plan out the holiday season. What are some of your tips to share? See you again tomorrow for blogmas day 23 when I share what is in my kitten's stocking.

Have a great day!

Knitted Christmas Tree Ornament -Blogmas Day 21

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Today I am sharing a knitted Christmas tree ornament from All Free Knitting. It was a fun pattern to knit up today. I knitted two trees then sewed up along the edges to sew them together. I knitted the tree trunk and sewed to the bottom.

Millie had to check out what I was doing when I was putting the ornament up and she climbed right up the tree!

Thank you for visiting today for blogmas Day 21! Hope you give this ornament a try! The top doesn't look perfect, but I am planning on getting a little star to place on it. Please join me tomorrow for blogmas day 22.

Have a great day!