Saturday, November 16, 2013

Fall Things

One fine fall day, we played in the dirt quite a bit.  We picked leaves and autumn things and decorated some potted bulbs.
 
I like potting bulbs in the fall because I strategically plant them in the Spring when all of the other landscape is sprouted.

We repotted some houseplants.
 
 
I'm thankful for a day in which some Fall tasks didn't seem like work at all.
 
 

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Christmas Postage

If you think it's too early to start celebrating Christmas, then I agree, it kind of is.
 
But, it's not too early to start planning. 
 
I start creating my "lists" the first week of November.  Goals, ideas, and budgets. Surprisingly, one advantage to planning I found was that I had a lot to be thankful for well before Thanksgiving because I had thought so much about my friends and family all month long.  The first list up is your  
 
1. Decide who will receive Christmas cards, photos and gifts by creating a list. I create a list of names with spaces to check mark whether they should get a gift, photo and/or card and a little space to annotate a gift, photo size or special card.  By determining who you will send cards to, you can determine how many cards, stamps and/or photos to purchase.  Remember, always have 5-10 more than what you need.  Don't forget teachers, babysitters, doctors and your regular service folks. I always get a little something for the UPS guy because we give him plenty of exercise walking up our hill and porch stairs to deliver us happy mail.
 
2. Update your addresses. I keep all of my address in Microsoft Outlook.  I call around and put a notice on Facebook to send me their new addresses if they've changed or if they want to be added to my list.
 
3. Choose coordinated stamps and cards.  Some folks on your list will only receive a card so why not make it as special as possible. 
 
I usually take a look at the freshly setup Christmas displays at my "every week" stores to check out any cards or stickers that I like.  It allows me to get in the spirit without buying anything... except stamps.