Have you been wondering where I’ve been this winter??
Wow!!
Over at my new place!!
I can’t add anymore pictures on this site, since my storage is full, so I finally bit the bullet, and bought my own name!!
And so happy I did!! Come over and see me!
(Written Jan. 6)
Finally Christmas arrived!! Uh, Melinda?? I hate to tell you this, but Christmas has been come and gone for almost 2 weeks now!
Let me explain.
Our extended family always celebrates Christmas, on Christmas Eve. But, this year due to so much sickness, we had to postpone till NYE.
Then, still too much sickness, so we had to postpone again!! It was sad. SAD, I tell you!!
dreamstime.com
But, ever so hopeful, we have rescheduled for THIS Sat.! And whoever is sick, has to just stay home, and the rest of us will carry on!! I sure hope ALL can make it!!
Wed. I had to go to the bank, so I stopped by Mama’s. She had grown weary of waiting, so she gave me all my gifts right then!! I loved it!! Thanks, Mommy!
(In case you’re wondering, that tiny dress is NOT for PPJr! It’s for my bottle of dish soap! It’s not decent for it to be naked! (Not to mention it’s blue, and is therefore hideous!)
There!!! So much better!!
Oh no! I just realized! What am I gonna open Sat.????? Well, I KNOW Brother and Shirley have me a present!! (She already told me what it is!) And Sis already gave me hers, long ago. (She’s almost as impatient as me!)
Gorgeous!!
Thanks, Sis!! So pretty!!
Well, guess I’ll just have to re-wrap some things for myself! lol
Nope!! Sis had a bunch of little things for me!
And the wrapping paper was so gorgeous! (no pix, of course….. sigh) It was purple, (DUH!!) with “Joy” written all over it!!
And this:
Is what Curtis, and Sis Shirley gave me!!! I was blown away!! So stunning!! She is a professional artist! I’m blessed to own an original Shirley Hawkins!! Now, all I gotta do is get someone to put it up!!
(Oh Sweet Fr-iend!! Oh, XH!! Calling all my men!!)
My neighbor, Jeanette, gave me this jorgeous (hard “J” lol) lighthouse for Christmas. (I know, I know, here it is way into 2017, I’m still bragging yakking about last Christmas! Well, I’m not done with the topic yet! Sorry, not sorry!)
As you can see, I’m proudly displaying it outside. It’s light is solar, so it lights up at night! So very neat! 
She is so jenerous! Last year she gave me these gorgeous pictures, that she colored. She also painted the frames purple. She’s a great friend!
What did I give her? You may ask. Last year, I gave her an ornament that said something about being a good neighbor. (Sorry, I didn’t memorize it!) When I went to visit, the other day, she had it prominently displayed on her tree.
This year I’m planning to give her one of the cross stitch ornaments I made.
As soon as I find it again! When I finished it, I put it in the living room, to wrap. Then PP came over, and poof! It’s gone!
So, the treasure hunt begins!! I sure hope it doesn’t take me as long to find it, as it did to finish making it!
Well, never did find it.
(Update: this post was written Dec. 7. I found the ornament on the very bottom of the tree, in the back, next to the wall, where I couldn’t see it, when I was stripping the tree! On Dec.11, the very night this was published. That scamp, PP!! She knew I’d never look back there!)
So, since I knew where this one was, this is what she got! She liked it, cuz her tree is predominantly red decorations. Good job, Melinda!! Thanks!
Now, my joy is all gone….
Just kiddin!! I still have Jesus!!
Well, the worst has officially happened. The Play-Doh plague has invaded my house.
And I know who the carrier was!! “Gwandma Wose”! How could you betray me so badly, my own (ex)stepmother???
I thought you loved me! Apparently you love PP more.
I had no idea PP and you were plotting behind my back. Watching all those commercials, making notes of which things she liked best.
Drat you, Nick Jr!!!
Most of you won’t remember the “Green Goo“, because it was 2 1/2 years ago. (Except Stella, who commented on it a year later, Queen Anne, and Susie, who both liked it. Thanks ladies!!) I had a terrifying preview of what a plague Play-doh would truly be.
And it’s every bit as bad as I imagined it’d be.
Clumps of sticky Play-Doh on the floor. Lumps of it stuck to the backside of PP’s pants.
(No visual there, I was too busy trying to get if off before she ground it in, and it melded with the material. Too late…..)
Bumps of it all over the table….
And exactly who’s gonna clean it all up??????
I’m not bending over this time!!
PP did pick up the clumps off the floor. Thank you Precious!
And I scraped as much of the lumps off her pants, as humanly possible. But those pants will never be the same. Good thing they were her designated play pants already!
The bumps on the table??? As you may have already guessed, they’re still there…..
Here it is Dec.29, and I haven’t even finished making all my Christmas gifts yet. <groan > WHAT?? Melinda!! I can’t believe you!
Well, you KNOW I’m one terrific procrastinator! As a matter of fact, probably I’m a pro! Pro Procrastinator, that is! That’s fun to say!! Try to say it 10 times really fast! (I couldn’t!)
Since our family Christmas Eve got postponed, that gave me a good excuse to just drop what I was doing, and do something else. After all, I had another week to finish! Now it’s Thursday, and I have to be done by Sat. Will I make THIS deadline??? Well, unlike Kim’s Kwilt debacle, there is hope!!
This is the raw state of the cross stitches. It only took me 20 or so years before I found them again! How can that be?? Hellooooo- ever heard of Hoarders??? And see my name??? The SLOB part???
And here’s how I left them last week:
Sadly, the one on the right is a boo boo. Instead of sewing right sides together, I did right to wrong. 😦 That’s when I knew it was time to quit sewing that night!! Tired sewer makes lots of mistakes!!
Oh wait! I’m mistaken! It’s not done wrong! After looking at it when my eyes aren’t crossed from tired, it’s right! Whew! Then I realized, I forgot the hanger! {shrug} Oh well, what ya gonna do??? Umm, rip out the stitches, and do it right?? Seriously? Do you even KNOW me??? Nope, just add it onto the back.! Like it or lump it!
Then I needed stuffing, but didn’t have any. Hmmm, was I gonna have to use cut up rags?? Cuz I will! But, then my eyes landed on this:
Perfect! And so it was!
Now, get off the computer, get over there in your sewing room, and finish them!! I mean it young lady!! Or no lunch for you! WAAAAHHHHH!
Fine, but I’m gonna mutter grouchy things about you under my breath. You don’t scare me!
Stuffed, and waiting for the final stitch in time. (Shouldn’t have eaten so much!)
There! Done!! And it only took 20 years! Woot!! I beat my own 9 year record! (Kim’s Kwilt)
One for you, one for me! Guess who these 2 are for????
Since my middle name is Joy, I’m keeping that one! I deserve some reward for all this work!! And sis collects Nativities, but has run outta shelf space, so two for her!
Now I have Michelle’s present, and neighbor Jeanette’s. (More about her later.) Now to go finish the wrapping…..
Finally Christmas is done, done! For this year….. mwuahahahaha You know, it’s already less than 360 days till next Christmas!
You’ve probably been wondering when I’d get back to the Paper Purgathon. I just know it’s been bothering you, that I would just leave it hanging like I did.
Well, personally I had to pause it, to concentrate on Christmas prep.
And poor Queen Anne was felled by that massive migraine, that turned into a month long ordeal. As I mentioned in Paper Purgathon Perch. (We were both praying she’d survive. It was catastrophic.) So she was in pause mode as well. All in all, we agreed all around to discontinue until 2017.
Now you know the rest of the story.
http://moneysavingsisters.com/4-gift-christmas-challenge-want-need-wear-read/
This graphic belongs to the Money Saving Sisters.
Love this idea!! But I had already purchased, and had wrapped almost all my gifts, by the time I read it. There’s always next year!
I did kinda combine #2, & #3, without even knowing about this, tho! I bought several sets of clothes for the girls, including their Christmas dresses. Well, in PPJr’s case, a “dress” is not exactly accurate. It’s a top, and leggings. Perhaps, I should say “outfits” instead. And of course, forgot to take pix! Maybe I can sneak one, without showing their faces??? We’ll see!
And some Pj’s too. I love to see littles in cute pj’s!! I just wish I had found some matching ones!!
I did find matching shirts, but forgot to take pix. Maybe I can grab one of those too tomorrow. (I’m writing this late Christmas Eve.)
#1, the toys I bought- I’m sure they’ll want them when they see them!! They’re too little to turn loose with a catalog! Well, I’m sure PP would have had a fine time marking one up! But Mommy, and I both are trying to teach her not to be materialistic, so that would kinda defeat that goal.
#4- Wow! I can NOT believe I didn’t buy them any books! (Probably because Beall’s doesn’t carry them! It’s Florida’s store, but apparently we don’t need to read.) Next year fer SURE! Wonder if PP would notice if I just wrapped a few that she hasn’t read in a while????
I need to get some sleep, so I’ll be bright eyed, and bushy tailed for church tomorrow!!
Then “PWESENTS!!! YAY!!
Grandmama, Aunt Michelle, Cousins Kristen and Jaime came over on Sat. Dec 13th to make sugar cookies. And they were wonderful!! We ate ’em as fast as they came outta the oven, almost!
PP had her own tiny rolling pin! So cute!
And she knew how to use it too, buddy! Grandmama set that lump of dough in front of PP, and she went at it! Grandmama stood there in astonishment! “But, I didn’t even tell her what to do yet!” We have a genius on our hands!!
(Maybe this will help show the scale of the rolling pin. 
Yes, that’s a giant cookie cutter, but a regular sized cookie sheet.)
Soon as she got it (the dough, not the boy) rolled out, she attacked it with the cutters,
with a will! I think she had them all cut out in about 15 seconds! 😉
So everyone chowed down, and enjoyed themselves. When Mommy came to pick up the girls, she got some. Pop Pop even got a few! (And is now lobbying for a second bake-athon. Whenever ya got the time to some over and help, just let me know! So far, ain’t happening!)
Now, all that to say, here it Thur. 12/22, and the table still looks like this.
That’s the right half of the table. I skipped showing ya all the flour, and crumbs! Welcome!
The left side of the table. Showcasing BOTH the cookie chaos, and the craft crap creativity.
(Yeah, the cookie mess is there, under the craft mess. PP didn’t have the time to wait for me to clean up, she had to get her craft on!)
So now, the crunch is on once again, to clean up. I’m having DD1, SIL, the girls, Pop Pop, and SIL’s sister that I just met last night, over for Christmas Dinner, after church. (Actually it’s gonna be more like Christmas Brunch, since it’s gonna be our family’s traditional chocolate syrup, and biscuits! Sadly, canned biscuits. Please don’t tell Mama! Or she will beat my butt for serving that mess to my family! I’m planning to look up some kinda breakfast casserole I can do in the cook pot. I ain’t afraid to use that! And bonus: the fire alarm doesn’t go off!)
Okay, so after I get this written to this point, now I gotta go clean! UGH
And now would ya lookit the time!! Gotta go take a nap now, it’s on the schedule!! (I write “nap” down every day on my ta do list! So, at least I’ll accomplish ONE thing a day!!) The reason I had the time to write this post, and take the pix is- the girls were in day care. But I have to go get them at 5, so I have to rest up first!!
You’ll be the first to know when I actually get the table cleaned off!
What can I do with ALL these popsicle sticks that were just going in the trash??
{So many ice cream bar skeletons. smh}
Why, make pop stick frames for presents, from PP and Jr, of course!!
So, I did my part by eating all those ice cream bars. Then, it should be PP’s turn to wash them, right?? Remember the flood?? Yeah, maybe not the best idea…… Nope, the little red hen has to do it. Boo hoo.
So that the glue wouldn’t stick, I covered a cookie sheet with tin foil.
What??? You taking precautions beforehand?? I’m shocked! And, ahem, it’s actually aluminum foil now.
“What”
“Ever”
Onto the actual project. Or prep for the project. Whichev.
OOPS! Ran outta sticks! Back to the store for more i.c .b. #Not even kidding.
(Frantically licking, as fast as I can. Wash, and dry more sticks.)
She even discovered that blue and red make purple! It was so much fun to hear her exclaim “Pupeh???” Then she looked at me in amazement. Watching a child discover on their own is worth a million dollars to me! Then, she figured out how to make her own “bwown.” Never was I a prouder Omie!!
Can’t show ya the girls, so enjoy looking at Bubba. He’s pretty cute, too.
Frabulous Frames!! (You might want to buy the sticks, if you don’t wanna gain 10 15 lbs in the process!)
Some people in the family are gonna be thrilled with these under their tree! Ssssshhh!!
Okay, here it is the last Monday before Christmas!! Are all the cookies made?? And eaten?? Check at my house!! All the presents wrapped and under the tree?? No?? Are they still at the store?? Jesus’ birthday party all organized?? Outside lights up?? Mine neither! Tree up?? Check. Decorated? Well.. depends on what you call decorated! lol Enough with the 3rd degree there, Melinda!!
Anyway, on to Maxine, Maximum version!
Nooooooo! 
I’m pretty sure I’ve reached the legal limit of maximum number of Maxine memes in one post!
Annnnnddd, not Maxine, but too funny to miss!!
???? Just.no.words.
Honesty IS the best policy!
OOps! just a little late!
And I woulda called 9-1-1, but the “I’m a dog” thing….
1 last one….
Bwahahahaha!
Fa la la la la, la la la la. (Know how many times I had to sing that to get the number of “la”s right??? And if I’m wrong, I don’t wanna be right!)
Merry Christmas!! Coming soon to a house near you!
purpleslobinrecovery 