Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Days 55-58 - Christmas Cookies

George Strait has the most adorable Christmas Song; it's called "Christmas Cookies" and in it he talks about how much he loves Christmas cookies. He croons about how tasty they are and warbles about his sneaky and greedy obsession. But beyond the indigestion and sugar high, there is a greater purpose - between the time each batch goes in the oven, he has 15 minutes to cuddle and snuggle with his sweetie. So he eats those Christmas cookies all year long. I know. Aw. But good old George makes a good point, I think. The things that seem so important and precious to us during the holidays aren't any more special because of the date; Christmas can be every day of the year if we only focus on what really matters.
Ok, now that I've made my little soap-box spiel, let me move on to my sappy Christmas story. My mom loves Christmas. A lot. I have to get it from somewhere and I am sure it was from her. And my grandma. But that's another post. When my brother Scot and I were young, Mom would let us help her make "Christmas food." We always made fudge, Martha Washington candies, peanut brittle, and sugar cookies. We loved to help with the sugar cookies. It's a recipe passed down from me great grandma. The original recipe actually just says "bake in hot oven." Mom told me that when she asked Grammy-O how long to bake them, Grammy replied "Until they're done!" Now these sugar cookies are soft and delicious. And they are loaded with 5 whole cups (sometimes more) of flour. We used to tag team the stirring. We'd add one cup at a time and take turns stirring into it was all mixed and we had a beautiful soft dough. Then the next day Mom would roll out the dough with Grammy's rolling pin and we'd cut the cookies from it with the little yellow cookie cutter that seemed to get beat up more and more each year. We'd bake the cookies in a "hot oven" until they were "done" and then the fun began. Mom would make icing and we'd sprinkle the cookies with colored sugar crystals or those little multi-colored candy balls. That's Christmas to me - working needlessly hard on something that will be consumed in a matter of minutes. But we really have some fun memories. So when I made "Christmas food" this year, I spread it out over several days. It was really a lovely way to spend the first part of my Christmas season.





Remember to behave well, dear friends. Santa still has time to put you on his naughty list! Blessings and peace.


Thursday, December 16, 2010

Day 54 - Self Esteem

Day 54 was a day of high hopes. Unfulfilled high hopes, but high hopes nonetheless. Josh published a book last year called "Finger Food Fiction". It's this eclectic little collection of one hundred and one word stories. One hundred and one of them. He started this project as an exercise and turned out to be really good at it (no surprise there - Josh is good at everything! Except physics. I'm not being mean - just ask him.) Well he ended up with around 200 of them and was able to pick and choose his favorite and, well the rest is history. He's a published author! So you can imagine how proud of him I was when the owners of the local book store asked if he would like to have a book signing during Carlinville's annual Christmas Market. Hence the high hopes. I spammed everyone in my inbox letting them know the book signing would take place. I talked him up at my work. I told everyone I saw weeks before. I made sure the event showed up in the Carlinville paper. At the market while he was signing books, I wondered around the tents and told everyone I saw (that I knew) to go check him out. He sold three copies.
I was crushed. I thought, what is this going to do to my delicate hot house flower of a hubby. His fragile ego will be crushed. He'll never want to do anything like this again.
I took it a lot harder than he did. After a nice warm Mexican dinner, he was laughing and smiling. So Joshy, Day 54 is dedicated to you. I love you and your talent. "Finger Food Fiction" is easily one of my favorite books and I feel blessed that you shared a piece of yourself with me and the rest of the world. It's truly a better world with you in it!




Plus, you looked damn fine!

Sleep well dear friends! May warm blankets and sweet dreams await you in your beds!  

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Day 52 - Not Much to Say

So you will notice, dear friends, that I skipped day 52 on my previous post. This is because I was sick and spent the whole day on the couch. But I did take my photo!


Not too much else to say about this one. I was sick. Took a picture of my couch. That's about it.

I will continue my posting catch up but for tonight I will say sweet dreams and restful sleeps. Blessings for your tomorrows dear friends!

Day 51 and 53 - Beginning to Look Like Christmas

I am behind on my posting as you may know, but I'm not going to post them all on one post - that would be too much. So here is are days 51 and 53 - we are starting to look like Christmas.

We put up our Christmas tree which is always a bit of a battle. It is about seven and a half feet tall and takes up half our living room, but I love it; I wouldn't give it up! And of course, our cats love it too. They want to chew and climb and play in it. It's a battle I finally realize I am probably never going to win so I just keep the squirt bottle close and dowse them with water when they start climbing. Anyway, I was going to just put white lights on the tree this year, but Josh suggested red and green, and I think it turned out really nice, don't you?



In keeping with the Christmas theme, we got our first snow the following day. Now, I love fall. I love fair weather - 70 degree days and 50 degree nights are my favorite. After Christmas, I will long for these again, but for now, as the holiday draws nigh, I can't help but be super excited about the accumulation of the white stuff on one of our trees.



More to follow dear friends. I know you are waiting with anticipation. Try to contain it; more will come soon!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

No I Didn't Forget

Hello dear friends. I have not forgotten you nor have I abandoned my project. The holidays have just been a little hectic and in a frenzy of baking, cleaning, and decorating, my mind has not possessed the eloquence to bring you these delightful words. I will be posting in the next couple days though so don't give up on me! In the meantime, share with me how you have been. What's been on your mind? How are the holidays treating you? What expectations do you have?

Sweet dreams dear friends and have a blessed tomorrow.