There is one easy way to relieve some of the stress of the holidays – have your meal catered. Let someone else cook while you enjoy visiting with relatives. I do enjoy cooking occasionally and find I am more in the mood during the holidays. I don’t cook a lot since we always go to visit family during Thanksgiving. If I ever have to cook, then I will seriously consider letting someone else do it.

Have you been to the grocery store this week? I’m sure it’s a mad house. It is around here. Everyone is getting ready for the big meal. Just think if it was catered, you could avoid all the shopping madness. I had to run to the store yesterday. Today I’ve decided that we can do without whatever for a few days. It is just not worth the headache.

Having Thanksgiving catered is one way to relieve stress. Let someone else worry about the food. Sounds like a plan to me.

Every year I set out to buy one Christmas outdoor display piece. Unfortunately I have not bought one yet. This year will hopefully be different. There are some wonderful Christmas displays in our neighborhood. It would be great to have a decorated yard for Christmas.

I’m thinking with our Christmas lights that we should have an overall theme. Since our daughter is still young, something kid centered like candy canes or Santa Claus would be cute. I really would like a theme since this will help with buying. Plus I think if all of the items are tied together, then the display is more appealing.

In one neighborhood, they have a really neat tradition. One street displays candy canes, so every yard has a candy cane. The next street will have Christmas trees. Then a third street does giant Christmas cards. It is simple but is really nice. We always drive by when looking at Christmas lights.

Decorating the yard could be a lot of fun for the whole family. We don’t have too many Christmas traditions, so it would be wonderful to set aside a certain day to decorate. We could bake cookies and just make a day of it.

This year we will have to buy something for the yard. I will have to consult with the ‘boss’ to see what she would like to get. Maybe it is because I have been on a diet but anything candy-related sounds divine. She doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth but maybe she will like the idea.

We have a new family member. Meet Moo – so named because of her black spots. Rae calls her Moo Princess since she will definitely be treated like royalty. Rae is really into princesses right now, so it’s not surprising that she has given her puppy a title.

She is in indoor puppy for now. She stays some outside especially when Rae is playing with her small toys. I thought this dog would have to be in the house 24/7 but Rae is fine with putting her outside. It makes it easier to get adjusted to having a puppy in the house. We have a lot of clutter, so we have to watch her every minute. Hopefully having a puppy will give me the motivation to finally clear the clutter. I do find it harder to do housework with her inside since she is always biting my slippers or pant leg. I’m sure she will grow out of some of that.

Having an indoor puppy is almost like having a newborn. We put her in a crate at night. She usually whines at least once during the night. That’s a whole lot better than her first few nights when we were up 3 -4 times.

The whole family is enjoying having a puppy. She is going to be a good dog – loving and not too playful.

This week Rae is making her Christmas list. She is very excited. I remember making my list. It was so much fun. While she makes her list, I work on my Christmas shopping list. Through the years, I seem to rely more on Black Friday deals for the bulk of my shopping list. Ten years ago you couldn’t have paid me to go shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Now I start looking forward to it weeks before the big shopping day.

The first thing I do is to find as many leaked Black Friday flyers as possible. There are numerous websites devoted to this. Then I began to make my list from there and adjust when the flyers are released for our area. Usually they are identical. Then I prioritize my list. Which items are the best bargains and/or on the top of the Christmas list.

Some stores open extremely early. Wal-Mart usually begins their sale at 5am. In recent years, they have improved their delivery system of big ticket items. But you will still probably have to wait in line for anything related to electronics. This costs valuable shopping time. One Black Friday I stood in line for 30 minutes for a portable DVD player. It was well worth it since we have really gotten our money’s worth from it, and it still works. I tend to hit Wal-Mart first and grab those items that are on the floor. Then I try to be at Target at 6am since they sell out fast of video games and other hot items. Then I usually come back to Wal-Mart since the waiting lines are much shorter. It’s a risk but they usually still have what I’m looking for still in stock.

Wal-Mart and Target are about the only stores I hit on Black Friday. Sometimes I check out Best Buy. If I’m feeling brave then I got to Toys R Us. I need to finish making my Christmas list so I know what I need to look for when the flyers are available. I’m so behind this year.

What are your Black Friday plans? Any tips or specials you are hoping to snap up this holiday?

We have a Lysol Neutra Air automatic sprayer in our kitchen/living room. I have it set to spritz every 36 minutes. It never fails. When I walk pass the thing, it sprays. I get a nice whiff of the scent. Most of the time, it is not that bad. But when it is a new can, it is extra strong.

It makes me question where I have it located. I probably need to put it in a corner that doesn’t have any foot traffic. Right now it is located in a high-traffic area. You pass by it to go anywhere in the house. It is a great spot for the sprayer since the scent radiates everywhere. But it is very annoying to be spritzed when you walk by the sprayer. It is up high, so I don’t get totally drenched with the mist.

So my advice is that if you get one of these automatic sprayers, put it up high and some place that is not a high traffic area.

The holidays are fast approaching. This is the only time that I am in a baking mood. It seems baking just has more purpose in November and December. Some of my fondest holiday memories revolve around baking cookies and using cookie cutters to make Christmas trees, bells, gingerbread men, and snowmen.

When I was asked if I would like to review Ann Clark cookie cutters, I said yes because of how much I enjoy using cookie cutters during the holidays.  She makes some really cute and fun cookie cutters.

These handmade cookie cutters from Vermont are really cute. They are several different styles. What I love about these are the handle – making it easy to press into the dough and remove the cutter. I hate to admit that I’ve been confused about which end of the cookie cutter to stick into the dough. With a handle on the wrong side, that certainly won’t be a problem anymore.

Also I think cookie cutters make great holiday gifts. They can be at the center of the gift or a great embellishment for a gift tag. Ann Clark cookie cutters come in a variety of shapes. You can find a cookie cutter that matches your interests. The cookie cutters are well made and each comes with a recipe.

For the giveaway, I have an assortment of cookie cutters. They are – a frog, a butterfly, an angel, and a pumpkin.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post. You can comment on the cookie cutters or holiday baking traditions. You can also retweet this post for an extra entry(Twitter – GeekyHousewife). Contest closes Sunday, November 7th. The winner will be chosen at random(Randomizer.org) on Monday, November 8th.

Cookie cutters were provided free of charge. The opinions about the Ann Clark cookie cutters are my own

Last week was a rough one around here. Both Rae and me were sick. She was sick the first part of the week. I began to feel bad about Friday or Saturday. Yesterday I was still pretty wiped out, so my dear sweet husband stayed home to take care of us.

Although I had to ask him to do it, he cleaned the dishes and cooked supper. When he does the dishes, he cleans the whole kitchen. He did a great job, and I’m so glad to have those dishes put away.

Being sick did put me behind on the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I didn’t make 31 posts for October. I may try again in December.

I also have a couple of reviews and giveaways for November. I plan to start the first one tomorrow. Both are pretty cool products.

So hopefully tomorrow we will be better. Or at least have more get-up-and-go. Being sick does put a damper on plans.