This is the first year that I can remember, ever, not having a Christmas tree in my home.
With moving and then helping my parents move, and spending last weekend in DE helping them unpack and put up THEIR Christmas tree. . . and with plans to be out of town here and there over the holidays, it just all of a sudden turned into being less than a week before Christmas and still no tree.
There was a mad dash to Target' to see if we could pick up a tiny tabletop tree - fake, with lights already in place (yes, its THAT busy here!) - and lo and behold - there was nary a tree to be found at Target'. Who knew?
Not me obviously.
Or I would have gone....dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,
to WalMart.
Yes, I would have...for my LG, I would have done it. (Actually I don't hate WalMart like some folks do. Evil abounds. WalMart is such a small slice of suburban sinister-ism comparatively speaking. )
However, my LG came out of school today positively devestated and decided he just wanted to go home. (he had already decided a tree was NOT a huge issue anyway) We have a few decorations around the house, a small string of white lights outside - and that's enough this year.
I am so hopeful that the New Year is going to usher in a period of relative rest. . . and since LG is gone the week between Christmas and New Year's I am already envisioning evenings at the bench. This is SURE to help me find me slow down. The repetitive motions of hammering, sawing, filing....my very own playlist pouring from my little purple ipod.
Sounds heavenly - right?
OK, maybe not for some of you - for some of you it might be similar to having a manicure/pedicure or working your garden under the warm sun, fingers in the dirt, muscles stretching and bending, the sun on your back.
Now are we in the same place? Same but different? Yes? Good.
Please don't get me wrong though, part of the busy-busy around here is directly due to Christmas - we've got happy holiday preparations well underway.....some decorations up, cookies baked, presents bought (and even some wrapped!). And I have proof!
I tried a new cookie recipe the other night - these are a yummy, chewy, pumpkin spice cookie with a sweet sugary frosting drizzled on top.
Much to my surprise, EVERYONE enjoyed these, including LG who typically stays with the chocolate variety of cookie, sweet, treat....
Then a variation on what has become a standard the past few years - the peppermint cookie. Typically I do a red/white dough and make candy canes dipped in a sugary glue and then crushed peppermint candies.
This year a different recipe and no sugar glue! These are dipped in crushed candies while they are still HOT - so the candy is self sticking.
Gotta love self sticking candy.
I made some round like above,
and then I flattened a few
'Cuz I'm creative like that.
And of course - the real favorite - the choco chip variety.
These are already half gone and I am going to have to make more.
And I would complain about that if I hadn't eaten a half dozen of them yesterday
and the day before
and well, the day before that too.
While Christmas shopping LG and I stopped for a quick dinner.
we split an appetizer -
the calamari
sooo, good.
then split a HUGE cheeseburger (nothin' raw about that)
then he ambled over to the dessert case and selected something for himself -
his own dessert -
the mousse mouse cake
Cute - right?
And not at all tiny like a mouse should be.
This thing was HUGE!
so try as he might
he just couldn't finish it
(could you?)
he DID make it a little further than this though
:)
If you are local and want to try this monstrous mousse mouse cake, stop in at Players.
The food was good as was the service.
LG's only critique was that the bathrooms could have been slightly better attended.
I hope that you all are enjoying the holiday season but not 'over' enjoying, if you know what I mean.....
~Janice
