Wow, you ladies are all so smart!   We had a nice Christmas here, and we didn't have to go out anywhere, which was nice.  We stayed in and my dh's family came to us. My mil is usually a very opinionated woman, so I was terrified about preparing Christmas dinner, but she surprised me and I really enjoyed her visit.  I made a bread pudding for my fil, he loves it, and I don't normally make it.  I used a new recipe and it was a hit!  So I was really relieved it went so well.

We got a lot of really great gifts.  My mil must have forgotten that she bought us a tent which I use during the spring and summer to sell my soap when I do outdoor shows.  She really spoiled us this year.  I got a really wonderful roasting pan, it is so heavy, and I actually used it yesterday to stew down the turkey carcass in.  It smelled wonderful in here!  I also made 3 turkey pot pies, and now I also have 5 containers of turkey stock in the freezer. 

My mom gave me the most wonderful present.  She gave my sister, brother and I each our own photo albums, with pictures of us growing up, my great grandparents and my great great grandparents in it.  It also had pictures of my dad, and those are special since he died when I was young ( see my blog at www.homeschoolblogger/horsefeathers for more about his story)  I was in tears, it was just such a special thing for my mom to do, as she doesn't like to talk about my dad. 

So, my plans for the next few days are to get myself organized.  I would like to accomplish the following:

-inventory my soap making supplies for year end

-declutter and organize toys, books etc

-goal planning and schedule making for school

-practice kata for my brown belt grading

-get out my seed catalogues and dream

-paint my upstairs hallway, the downstairs hallway and my room ( ha!  Well, at least one of these!)

-make my newsletter that I am starting as part of my soap business.  If anyone wants one, let me know!  If anyone has good tips for newsletter making, let me know that too!)

-stop biting my nails

A million other things too, but I have to stop doing too much!  Getting myself to bed before midnight would be great!

Anyway, I hope you all had a great Christmas, I will post pictures soon! And recipes, I am going to start a category for that!