Okay, I tried to cut and paste from Excel, but it didn't really work. My sheets are actually very easy to read grids. This is just the first page. I have 12 pages worth of stuff, but that includes everything that is direct sown, indoor sown, or wintersown. GERMINATION CHART 2011 Here are the column categories: Name of Seed Date Planted/ # of Seeds WS, DS, SI (wintersown, direct sown, or sown indoors) Germ. Date Date Planted Out # of Seedlings Bloom Start Date Agastache 'Apricot Sprite' WS African Daisy WS/SS Amaranth 'Autumn Touch' (sow April) SS Amaranth 'Love Lies Bleeding' (Green) SS Aquilegia 'Firecracker' 2/3/11 WS Aquilegia 'Chocolate Soldier' 2/3/11 WS Antirrhinum 'Frosted Sunset 2/3/11 WS 3/25/11 Antirrhinum 'Scarlet Giant' 2/3/11 WS 3/16/11 Asclepias curassavica SS Asclepias tuberosa 2/17/11 WS 3/16/11 Calendula 'Bon Bon Yellow' 2/26/11 WS 4/2/11 Calendula 'Pacific Beauty' 3/26/11 WS 4/6/11 Calendula 'Radio Extra' 3/26/11 WS 4/6/11 Calendula 'Touch of Red - Orange' 3/26/11 WS 4/6/11 Castor Bean 'Carmencita' DS in May California poppy 'Copper Pot' 3/3/11 WS 4/2/11 California poppy, dwarf red 3/3/11 WS 4/2/11 Chrysanthemum carinatum 'Sunset' 3/26/11 WS 4/2/11 Chrysanthemum 'El Dorado' 3/26/11 WS 4/5/11 Chrysanthemum 'Primrose Gem' OUT WS Coreopsis, Dwarf Red WS Coreopsis tinctoria 'Roulette' 3/3/11 WS 3/16/11 Hope that makes sense. So far I've wintersown 71 containers, and almost 50 have germinated. Most of what hasn't sprouted yet, are the tomatoes, and it's a little early for them yet. I'm just about ready to start sowing the tender stuff, like basil, zinnias, etc., but my schedule has been so crazy lately, that I just haven't found the time to do any more sowing. I did direct sow some carrots and radishes earlier this week, then today I discovered that a cat used the vegetable bed as a litter box, so I had to remove the present he/she left, and resow a section of carrots. Grrrr! I gave a talk on wintersowing at a local women's group this week, and it went very well. Hoping I made a few converts : ) Bonnie

Thanks for sharing the site swest2. Yesterday afternoon I was browsing tv channels and happened upon "Miracle on 34th Street" an old time favorite of mine. It will be nice to know when the different movies will be on. Two of my very favorite movies that don't seem to be on any of our local channels any longer (Peter Pan with Mary Martin & Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland) are now in my DVD collection.

We have some family traditions that came from my family when I was a child, and new ones that we created. We opened one present on Christmas eve, and it was usually the kids "care package" of smoked oysters, smokehouse almonds, and dried apricots (This was always one of their favorite presents) Christmas presents were opened on Christmas morning, but could NOT be opened until Mom (me) had her coffee, so the kids always got up early and made a pot of coffee, and delivered a cup to me in bed. Then we opened presents. Since when I was a kid my mother always passed out the presents, I now always pass out the presents, although in the last few years, I have given relinquished that job to oldest daughter, and then oldest granddaughter. My kids do not come on Christmas day, because that want to stay home and create their own traditions. I think this is wonderful, cause I hated having to get up early, open presents, then go to two sets of parents. The kids never had time to play with their stuff, and we were just rushing around all day. Now we decide at Thanksgiving when we will celebrate Christmas together. This year it is Saturday, Dec. 22. Because the kids get sick of all the turkey type dinners at the holidays, we would have a fancy Christmas evening dinner of standing rib roast, with fresh seafood flown from the coast, or Crown roast pork and fancy canapes. The kids and grandkids always liked getting dressed up in fancy-pants clothes for this. Bear in mind that the "Christmas evening" was actually our designated Christmas evening, not the real one. We would not open presents until after the fancy dinner. When presents are opened, it is one at a time from youngest to oldest (I always made sure everybody got the same number of presents). Noboby can open theirs until we all see what the opener before us got. In my husbands family, people just went in and started ripping things open, and we never knew who got who what, or instructions would have been ripped away and discarded, and I found the entire thing to be a disorganized disaster that stressed me out. My kids do the same things now with their kids: one at a time and the proper thank yous passed on. Now, with all the kids grown up, and nobody coming here for the real Christmas day, we stay up late watching movies on Christmas eve then sleep in on Christmas day, open our gifts to each other, and then go visit his family for a traditional Christmas dinner. For the past several years, however, we have decided to set a new tradition: a little trip at Christmas. Two years ago: New Orleans, last year, a Caribbean cruise, and this year, San Antonio, Texas. We have found it kind of fun to start new traditions and watch our kids start their own. One other thing, whatever day we all decide to be our Christmas together, the following morning we always have a sausage and cheese and egg casserole for breakfast. My kids all do the same thing: they serve this casserole every Christmas morning at their own homes. It has been fun reading everybody's traditions! Sherry

I agree with debrak...on not getting hung up on the date. Your kids are young and if it works to celebrate on another date then do it. I realize that its likely your kitchen will not be finished during the Christmas season but when you see your parents in January - CELEBRATE! Have the Christmas feast. Maybe leave a few decorations out. My dh works all different times, shifts, holidays, last minute. He literally was given his work schedule yesterday for the 2 weeks starting THIS SUNDAY through the holidays! Talk about throwing any plans out the window, I actually just don't bother to try to make any. I'd love to say I've gotten used to it after 14 years and that it doesn't get under my skin but I'd be a big fat liar. Some years are better than others and I do not take it out on my dh but I do need to vent here and there. It was very hard when the kids were young and I had this vision of what I thought Christmas morning would be like - vision not reality. Sometimes I think our expectations set us up for failure. When the kids were younger we celebrated whenever my husband wasn't working. Santa came any day that worked for us during Christmas break and it was usually NEVER on the 25th. They are older now so they'd realize the date but then the 'gig' is up anyhow. So I guess my point is - after all of this schedule business and the added stress it causes I have come to cherish the simple togetherness with my immediate family and do not get hung up on the days or what we couldn't do or had to miss. We fit in everything else with extended family when we can. Sometimes it is January. It's just the way it is. That way we space out the big meals and food coma's so I guess that would be a perk! Sending you best wishes for a memorable holiday with your family and with your parents.