Monday, December 9, 2013

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Christmas Decorating

I've been putting off this important step -- partly because I've been finishing up a quilt restoration (last for a long, long time - yeah!) and partly because I haven't felt that great. And it's been really, really cold. As you already know
     The fireplace mantel in the living room is full of poinsettias. It looks wonderful -- but they'll be headed out this weekend as decorations for the monthly Seniors Luncheon. (Someone at our church is allergic...so they had to come home with me.) This year will be the first that we have an artificial tree -- but it will just be up for fun. We'll still get the traditional real one later in the month. 
     I am not looking forward to lugging out the boxes and schlepping them upstairs. But it will be worth the effort in the long run. Maybe I'll even make some cookies. Meanwhile:

An elegant IKEA wardrobe renovation...now it looks more like custom work!  (Thanks, Domino.)

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, thanks to Easy Recipes. I've just started reading this down-to-earth blog. It has a wide range of recipes for everything from chicken to soup to cake. Best of all, they sound like a regular person -- and her kids -- are actually making them. 

 A crunchy, de-lickety winter salad.  (From 101 Cookbooks)


One million worth of Lord of the Rings movie items is going up for auction. I love this film series...of course, you wouldn't have known that, would you...

Speaking of millions...
Millionaires are investing in stuff...but not stocks, according to this study. And...

A man sues the hospital that switched him at birth -- he was actually the son of rich parents, but got to grow up poor, instead. (And he wins!) I wonder...did he miss the folks, or the money most?

Moby's Sky is Broken... one of the moodiest, most rainy-night evocative pieces I've ever heard.


A $500 giveaway? Why not...we could all use a $500 Amazon gift card. (From Five Little Homesteaders)

Keeping an eye out for scammers -- and giving your money to the charity that will make it count. Five Cent Nickel says:
     Folks from coast to coast, touched by emotional appeals at a time of holiday giving, dig deep in their pockets for donations...The only problem with these heart-tugging requests... they are in reality the creations of people intent not on assisting the less fortunate, but on lining their own pockets with as many free greenbacks as they can hoist.
Says Daniel Borochoff, president of Chicago-based CharityWatch, which rates and evaluates charities to help folks make more informed gifting decisions: “Just about anyone can set up a charity, implement a website and send out letters and solicitations that pull at the heartstrings. Some are quite expert at this. Many of them simply look at this as a business decision.”

 Thrift Shop by Macklemore. Yes, this video is vulgar, with a handful of swear words thrown in. (For shock quality, I'd bet.) But it also catches the sheer fun of finding an incredible bargain.


And in honor of the season:

A huge list of links to homemade stocking stuffers (from Moneysaving Mom)

Twenty-six ways to save on Christmas, from Midlife Finance.

Weird ways to celebrate, from Penny Thots.

The latter two are from yours truly. Have a fun week. Christmas only comes once a year...why not take some time to enjoy it!







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