Please Excuse Our Renovations

Congratulations! You’re way ahead in the abort that gremlin game now.

Take a look at your accomplishments to date.

Aren’t you glad you stayed with the plan? How are you doing with your conscious awareness? Anything else I can help you with? Please let me know at Contact Brenda.

From March to August you don't have much to do, but that's what this plan is about. Easy does it. Try not to procrastinate now because there's still lots of time before Christmas.

Go ahead and allow these case scenarios to motivate you and then take action. Remember, each task completed between now and September means less to do later.

The Gremlin of Special Occasion Table Cloths and Napkins

It’s Christmas morning already. The Chief is in the kitchen getting ready for her family to arrive to open gifts and share a light brunch. She assigns the task of ironing the party linen to her helper. But because the table is set for brunch, she asks her to wait until later in the day. The brunch runs late, because no one seems to watching the clock. The ironing gets done but not without the helper noticing a few stains remaining from previous usage. Too late now to do anything about that. Hopefully, the unsightly spots will go unnoticed with all the condiment dishes and plates placed strategically around the table.

Gremlin Prevention

For those of you who send your party linen out to be laundered, you can skip this section. If you would rather do your own, read on.You’ve probably already laundered your table cloths and napkins and put them away, right? Did all the stains come out? If not, try chlorine free OxiClean! It safely removes stains of all kinds, on whites and colors. (I can’t guarantee those familiar stains on Mom’s Christmas linen that you hardly notice anymore.)

Tip: After you iron the table cloths hang them on special hangers with large rollers. Try to protect all your party linen from gathering dust, and from sunlight which will fade them, if they are stored for long periods of time.

The Gremlin of Kitchen Accessories

Case Scenario

It is Christmas day about one hour before dinner. The kitchen is bustling with people coming and going. The gravy needs to be made, the cranberries need to be put in their serving dishes, the potatoes need to be mashed. Guests are crowding around me asking if they can help. I’m delighted with their offers and put them to work. Now they are requesting the appropriate gear to begin their tasks: oven mitts, aprons, a floor rag to clean up a spill. I just don’t have enough of those necessary accessories to adequately suit up this kind and generous army of helpers. How embarrassing! A beautiful satin blouse is splattered with cranberry sauce. A very smart and expensive-looking tie is now sporting a few gravy spots. It was a nightmare I’ll never forget.

Gremlin Prevention

Extras of every conceivable protective kitchen gear should be conveniently stored away for such occasions. Helpers could wear Santa hats to help identify who should be in the kitchen and who shouldn’t. Serving dishes and plates can be checked now for chips and/or cracks. Did you have enough at your last special event? Remember to personalize your To Do list for March-August and keep it with you. I recall seeing wonderful summer sales while I was vacationing in cottage country in Ontario.

The Gremlin of Wood Burning Fireplaces

Case Scenario

Let’s have a fire burning on Christmas day. What a great idea! The sound of crackling wood, and scent of burning logs would enhance the ambiance at Christmas. The fireplace hadn’t been used for quite a while. It looked pretty clean. Wood was brought in from the yard to dry. A special wrapped log was purchased in case the wood hadn’t dried out thoroughly. Guests began arriving on Christmas day around 4:30.

The logs and newspaper were set up on the grate. We set fire to the paper, and pulled the fire screen closed. The fire was burning well, but the smoke began pouring back into the living room. We quickly opened the doors and windows to let the smoke escape. The flu – did we forget to open the flu? Try it now. It isn’t working. It won’t budge. Oh dear! We waved the doors back and forth to blow the smoke away. We turned on the kitchen stove fan. Thank God the fire had gone out on its own. The guests politely helped to wave the smoke out, while giggling with embarrassment for us. We did get ambiance, but not quite the kind we wanted.

Gremlin Prevention

NOW is the time to be testing the fire place. If any repairs are necessary, or if the chimney needs a good cleaning, call in several contractors for a few estimates and have the job done this month.

The Gremlin of Smoke Detector Alarms

Case Scenario

Christmas day everything was running perfectly, the turkey was just 10 – 15 minutes away from being cooked. It was time to cook the vegetables to have them just right and perfectly hot to go on the table. The steam from the cooking vegetables triggered the smoke detector alarm. The loud piercing ringing eventually stopped after the vegetables were taken off the elements on the stove. But, they had to be cooked for dinner, so back on they went, and so did the ear piercing ringing from the smoke detector.

This resourceful host, cleverly taped his baseball cap over the unit on the ceiling. On again went the vegetables. The hat wasn’t doing the trick. The ringing returned. Then the cap was stuffed with gobs of tissues and taped back over the unit. The vegetables were put back on the element. It worked. But with all of those distractions, the vegetables were over cooked.

Gremlin Prevention

Learn how to quickly disable your smoke detector alarm and, of course, don’t forget to enable it later. Also attend to other alarm systems in your house and make sure they are serviced and working properly.

Go ahead now to the March-August To Do List.

Case Scenarios: January, February, March-August, September, October, November, December

Glossary of Terms

To Character Roles and Tasks for Christmas Day

From March-August Gremlin Prevention To Last Christmas? What Stress?