Favourite bits of decorating the house for Christmas

I'm very slowly becoming less Scrooge-like :)

this is on my coffee table (previously Connor's crib)

The kids have a ton of very small things under the tree and there are one or two for others and actually a couple for me too... bought by me.

I keep going to buy presents for other people and I come out with stuff for me - at CNA the other day I bought myself about 20 lovely pens in a bag, at Clicks the other day I bought myself a little gift set because it sparkled :) and at Poetry yesterday (my first time in a Poetry shop which explains why my bank balance is healthier than it could have been) I bought myself some more treats. The guy asked if it was a gift and I said, "yes, for me"!

Anyway, since I have work tomorrow - I know, I must surely be one of the 1% in SA still working, let me get on with the "afters" as Laura mentioned in yesterday's comments.

you can look right up through this section of my house - the openness is what I love!

I realised that I actually don't have a picture of the full tree. Use your imaginations :)


Things I love to do:

1. Use up all my clear vases (which is 95% of them - I have a thing for clear vases) and fill them with Christmas tree decorations :)
2. Use up all the fruit bowls and... fill them with more Christmas tree decorations.
3. Put little Christmas tree ornaments everywhere... everywhere. 
4. Oh, and candy canes. This is probably year 3 for some of them. Until they go all squishy, they'll be doing their real job ...of decorating the tops of vases.

(I'm nothing if not predictable)

had to crop tight because I found my kids' school visible in the background. Do you like my reflection? :)

So this ornament thing that seems to go on all over the world except SA? Or is it something I don't know about?

There's a nice blog for people like me. She wrote something the other day that said "love the look of chalkboards; hate the dust" (that is me to the T!). Same with these ornaments for every year. Love the idea - hate the thought of the clutter and "having to keep" the things for sentimentality's sake. When I get tired of things, I want to happily toss!

Of course, there are many ways to decorate your home for Christmas and other holidays.

entrance hall table - yes, those are the same wire trees the kids made last year. They actually haven't moved the whole year :) Why fix something that's not broken? (I've told you about my one friend who leaves her tree decorated the whole year, right?)

Connor did this one

this looked like this for about a week and then I got irritated and took the remaining ones down and hung them from a vertical piece of ribbon, so only the beaded garland remains

Connor's tree

Kendra's tree

this one moved from the keyholder. When I sent my client a photo of it and gushed about how much I love it, she sent me another one (!) for this year. That one is not as Christmassy so is in my study. Needless to say, I LOVE IT!

thankfully, these pegs have cards now.

I had to take this photo - my watch and the ornament matched!

i love these little ladies! This flying one is my favourite

this one looks like she's saying "aaah, freedom" :)

from Mandy! LOVE - it missed the tree last year - I think it arrived on 2nd or 4th Jan (I have it on Instagram somewhere...) but it now has a firm place.

I love these white wooden ones too

And bonus, this year the kids have actually left everything as I set it up. Except for the washi tape - that they won't leave alone at all.  I found Kendra practically wallpapering an envelope this afternoon.

So on a scale of 1 - 10, I'd say I'm a 5. I make some effort but I like to still see my house. And to be honest, on the 6th Jan, I can't wait to take it all down and give the place a good clean (there are some of us out there who like cleaning).

Where on the scale are you?

I want to hear from the Americans too! (this is probably a 1 for you :))

Weekend snippets and some of my favourite ornaments

I can't find a gingerbread cookie cutter anywhere. South Africans???

I love this one. I get the feeling this angel is taking a leap off a stage into the crowd :)

what's not to love? wood plus gingham

beaded angel from my friend Roz a few years ago

I'm too crazy about these -I have hope, love, joy, adore

Well, I've had a productive weekend socially but not so much list-wise.

Which is how it goes, I suppose :)

A few quick updates:

1. This week I found out that two other people who work with me were robbed of their iphones in Ackermans at Eastgate within two weeks of my incident. The one has been taking the matter further and eventually some people in the management office told her there seems to be a syndicate operating in that store this Christmas season.

While I'm not happy this has happened to others, on the one hand it makes me feel more okay, like it wasn't totally my fault.

So I went to Eastgate yesterday to sort out an email problem on my iphone and I was extremely anxious being amongst the crowds. I actually mini-freaked at the istore guy when he wanted to go out of the store to test my 3G signal "what are you doing? my iphone was stolen here a few weeks ago!!!!" And then I realised I need to calm down but still stay away from that shopping centre for a few months til the immediacy of the incident passes.

2. My study is a hot mess. I'm working off two desks - one for the computer, one for crafting/ gifting/ cards - which is effective but driving me a bit batty. I also can't leave any presents in plain view because my kids got into their Sunday school teacher's present and ate a few of the toffees.... so I want to get everything DONE and wrapped and put up high. Louisa, Connor wanted to know why Nicola gets to have THAT present and why he can't have one too.......... so looks like I may go
back and see if there's another :)

3. What do you say when people ask you what you want for Christmas? "I really don't need anything" seems to not be acceptable. Hey - maybe I should tell them to get me a Kindle book. I will definitely read it and bonus - NO CLUTTER! I got the most lovely present from a client - a
bottle of handmade marmalade. Totally speaks to me - consumable food (also I'm the only one in the house who eats marmalade :) :)) and an acts of service gift! I've been clever with gifts from the "kids". I went and bought a few things at Mr P for me for the beach and came back, gave them all to D and said, "here - these are my presents from the kids" He loves it!

4. We went to a 3rd birthday party. The kids had a ball playing in the water and I have some lovely spontaneous laughing pics (sneakily taken thanks to the zoom lens). I also met someone who reads this blog (that's the first time someone's said "I read your blog" and I was a bit taken aback!) and have some pics of her too.

My friend did the most awesome party favours (I won't tell you exactly what because I don't want to
spoil the surprise for someone else reading) and put them in gorgeous handmade drawstring bags. My two have been dragging those bags around the house with their treasures the whole weekend.

5. Today we went to some 3 am friends for a quick lunch. They're off to Australia for a month (jealous!) and we all wanted to see each other one last time this year. I love going there because once my kids eat, I don't see them again til we have to go so we 4 can actually talk and connect. Bliss! My friends have 3 teenagers who are a huge source of fascination for K & C and they're the most relaxed people I know. The kids can get away with murder there... but of course, I don't allow outright crazy :)

6. I'm still on book 1 for December and my goal is 7. So after I finish this one, I'm going to be strategic and read shorter ones and only ones I know I'll get through quickly. D has challenged me and you know me, I'm always up for a challenge :)

How was your weekend?

What's your reading goal for December?

Christmas "decor"

I love this pic!

We're still decorating "up" and we only have this tiny little tree. To be honest, I did look, couldn't find a nice size one easily and by that time I was done with the shops. Imperfection - I love you!

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I love these hearts I got this year from Mr P Home

same with these silver things - adore, joy, love and hope (you may have seen the love one in my study - it stays up year-round). The beaded decorations are my South African twist and they're simple but lovely.

this thing gets rearranged daily by Connor

my mantel (who knew the mantel was such a big deal til you start reading decor blogs?!) these stockings are just for show - I don't actually do anything with them

this deserves a mention - it's how I display my Christmas cards. I like BOTH strings full of cards. Last time it was full was 2009. Those were the first 3. And then on Friday I got 5 more.

I love these wooden angels - Mr P last year 6 for R50. The other one is in the "button" on the top of this post.

I got these at a church craft day, the night of the Christmas carols. Aren't they cute?

Vase filled with Christmas ornaments (and a little green thing contributed by the babies) with candy canes around the edge

So here's the plan for tomorrow:

• Boys and girls eat breakfast separately at hospital and home.
• D will bring Connor and the presents here to the hospital.
• Open and try and take some pics...
• K and I stay, D and Connor go to church.
• They will then come back and bring food? I don't quite know from where. There should be some leftover chicken and salad at home with rolls at the very least???
• Spend time together, then they'll go home.
• Afternoons spent quietly at hospital/ home while kids nap.

The place is dead quiet now as we're the only patient left. The other two little patients (7-8-year-old and a 9-week-old were discharged today).

Had lovely visit with the boys tonight.

Do you know what the worse thing is about being in the hospital? No food or TEA! Maybe I'll lose some weight? There is no canteen here and the one coffee shop is SO expensive and I'm tired of paying R12 for a cup of tea - it's a fair price but when you drink as much as I do.... (remember all these expenses are totally unbudgeted for)

Hope you have fun and no family drama tomorrow :)

Excuse the blurry Christmas pics

See, here's why you need to download immediately and check the quality.

I am about a month late and am way too lazy to go around the house again, taking more pics.

Here's a collage...just because I've been playing in Picasa...

this is how I display my Christmas cards - pegged to a piece of ribbon. Looks very pretty when it dangles... is it me, or are people sending out fewer cards every year? We got 10 total and of those, 2 are from blog friends (thanks!), 1 from my coach :), 3 from family, 1 from pastors, 3 from friends. I sent out about 40.

the babies' stockings, not that I put anything in there or that I "do Santa" (topic for another post). look carefully... see the 3 candles in the middle of the two stockings? the beige ones were holding the stockings in place until Connor pulled at the stocking and the candle whacked him on the forehead - so D made another plan (Prestik)

angel from my friend, Roz :) poor thing had to perch on such a tiny tree but she did well, the angel, not Roz.

half the things are off the tree thanks to my little boy's exploring hands

this little guy lives on the babies' room door handle - Kendra loves this thing. She squeals with delight when we give it to her for hugs at every nappy change.

for this I consider myself pure genius, just MONTHS too slow. So simple and yet so powerful - red ribbon prevents the babies from getting into my sideboard, finally :)

I bought these hanging decorations last year, on a whim, for R20 each ($3). I got 2 that say Love and 2 that say Hope. When I went back, they were GONE. Out of stock. So glad I got them. I love them so much they stay up year round. Connor loves them too :)

that's our teeny-tiny Christmas tree. As a friend said, you just have to get used to "decorating UP"

this was me being creative. I saw something similar on one of these decorating blogs (which I'm addicted to, by the way, but only the imperfect ones).


this tiny tree used to live on my work desk til I couldn't be bothered anymore to be "that person" who always "does the celebrations". Again, a story for another post but I realised they don't take you seriously if you become defined by being that person... I made it festive, put it on a lovely mosaic platter that I never use and voila!


And that's it! I basically only "decorate" (and I use that word very, very loosely) the lounge and open-plan entrance way/ dining room area.

On a scale of 1 - 10, I'd consider mine a 6.

Do you go ALL out? What's your number?

P.S. We went to the pharmacy instead and got some medicines. Connor has already had a coughing fit since going to sleep at 6 pm; not a peep from Kendra.

The situation with Nanny V is just getting worse

Some background for MandyH and my other US blog friends....

Because of the political/ economic situation in Zimbabwe, we have TONS (about 4 million - I have the research at work) of Zimbabweans here in South Africa. V is one of them.

It's far better for them to work here and send money home than to try eke out a paltry existence in Zimbabwe. As far as I can tell, it's only the very very rich who are okay in Zim at the moment.

Before, they needed to go to our Home Affairs (government dept) to apply for asylum status every 6 months. That has been happening and was a process that worked, if a bit inconvenient.

The government recently decided to let these Zimbabweans apply for a proper work permit if they had a proper job, etc, etc. So THIS is what V's busy doing.

This process, once the application is in, takes about a month, so she needs to give this whole thing a month to be processed.

bottom line - if any Zimbabwean is caught without the correct papers and is in the country on 1 Jan, they will be deported.

As it is, I have NO faith in our very inefficient government processes (except for my local dept of transport where I renew my car's licence annually - fantastic service) so I'm not even convinced this will happen in time.

We all know I can't do without V so we have to suck it up and take leave from work to look after the babies.

And now... V phoned us about an hour ago to say......... they've been told to come back again on Monday. Monday will be day 3 of being there from 4 am, queuing in the hot sun and being at the mercy of authority, all for a lousy piece of paper.

This is such rubbish and I'm going crazy.

I'm going to have to suck it up tomorrow and phone Wonderful Boss for a nice chat because I'll have to take yet another half day on Monday.

I already told D we can't possibly take the entire day off on Tuesday as planned and then, if this TV interview pans out (a producer phoned me on Thursday to make a date for this Thursday to interview me as a time management expert for a lifestyle programme), I'm not in on Thursday too, possibly the worse day to have this interview as I'm now triple booked with normal meeting and a workshop I really want to attend and have tentatively accepted (this means I was going to run in an out for an hour here and there).

I have a rule though - when the media calls, just say yes. You never know. I had to suck it up and get photographed last year when the babies were 4 weeks old and I still had the big preggy belly.

Gosh, I just want V back at work so we can go work.

It's ridiculous, I know, but I feel cross with her. Somehow, irrationally I suppose, I feel like she's not trying hard enough. And yet who in their right minds would WANT to spend 3 days in a government building?!

If you're still reading, thank you for listening.

Oh, in other news, I "decorated" for Christmas. I write "decorated" in inverted commas because it's all very minimal, Marcia-style. I should take pics but I'm too lazy. I'm going to try and get book number 7 in for this month since I have 3 whole days.

This morning I was super motivated and ran 4 errands in an hour - bought my Secret Santa gift for work, bought new nose pads for my specs, returned some things, printed a few photos and I also asked a man to make me a wicker set of drawers to organise our CDs and DVDs because I'd just had enough of the mess and the kids getting into everything.

That felt really good!

And now to cheer me up, here's some pics of my gorgeous kids.

What are you up to this weekend?