Today I started my 2007 Christmas shopping.
Down to the sad, empty box in the basement go the things I found on clearance that will be 'perfect' for a couple people. I'll start a new spreadsheet as well, so I can keep track of what I've bought and how much money I've spent.
Crazy, I know.
Having just finished Christmas three of three, I've now poured myself a drink and finally turned on the computer.
Friday we celebrated our family of five Christmas. Kids opened things from us, and the Husband and I exchanged a couple things as well. Saturday we tidied up best we could, had the Rot0-Rooter man out to fix the sink drain (could you imagine the smell if we'd let it go a week?), and drove to my parents. Celebrated Christmas Eve as I always remember - one present, chili and oyster chowder. Woke up Christmas morning to Santa! Kids loved it. The after the kids were in bed, the adults adjourned to the hot tub with a glass of their favorite drink (or three). Today (Tuesday?) we headed to the inlaws, and waited for Husband's Brother for dinner then gifts. I do enjoy my brother-in-law. I really do. He's snarky and funny and seems to get the joke. We'll be here for the next couple days, then plan to head back to my parents on Friday, and to the homestead on Saturday. One more day away from home than I'd like, but...
By Christmas3, I had a plan. Went to WalMart and purchased four stacking blue bins - they don't have lids, but remind me of the totes UPS uses to deliver bulk mail.
Can you guess where I'm going with this?
Each kid had a bin, plus one extra for good measure. I put their names on them. As they opened a present, they thanked the giver, gave me the paper, and put their gift in their bin. If it was clothes, they went back into the gift bag minus the tissue paper. I was on standby with two trash bags for the paper. Nothing got buried in the shuffle. The room wasn't a complete disaster when they finished. And I can use the bins when I clean out my craft room in the coming weeks. As we proceeded, the fourth bin was designated "shared" toys.
Next year, I'll be doing the same thing. Somehow, the kids were a little more careful with their gifts. Rather than throwing them on the floor and wondering what to open next, they looked a it just a little longer.
Soon enough I'll be plotting my New Year's Resolutions. Can you tell one of mine is more order in the house?
Dear Santa,
It's been a pretty good year this year. I guess my list is pretty short, other that wanting to end hunger, war, and AIDS, there's not a lot left for me to want.
I do have one thing.
One teeny thing.
I'd like a break. Nothing long, maybe a day or two.
I know, part of it is my fault; I need to take time for myself more often. Usually by the time I find my way out of the house, I'm thinking of all the things I should be doing (grocery shopping, errands, etc) rather than what I want to be doing (reading at a coffee shop or going to a movie).
And guess what I end up doing?
So what am I specifically asking for this year?
Two three day weekends. Leave Thursday night and come home Sunday afternoon.
I know, the Easy Bake Oven was easier...
Christmas is Coming
Well duh. It's the same date every year. I made a list this morning that has six stops. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Part of the problem is that I work better with a little pressure, so the fact that I'm doing it today, versus Saturday morning before we leave, is an improvement. Part of me misses going to work, simply for the fact that I had a lunch hour. I had an hour in which I could run errands - alone. I don't miss the actual "work" part - just the lunch hour. And the shoes.
On the Road Again
We're heading to my parents Saturday for Christmas, then on to the in-laws Tuesday. Hopefully we'll be home Friday. Nothing says lovin' like 900 miles in the car. Next year, we're staying home. I said that last year also.
If You Believe
Three mornings a week, two of the neighbor kids come over for about 45 minutes. This morning, the older one (in 3rd grade) asked me point blank if Santa was real. I told him "If you believe, you receive." He said that's what his mom said.
Ever have one of those weekends where you didn't do anything in particular, but you felt like you accomplished a lot?
Friday, my husband took a couple hours off and went to the Big Girl's school to make "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers, frosting, and sugary treats. Unfortunately, the teacher forgot to have the kids keep their milk cartons from lunch. They tried using a plastic cup, but our fell apart before it even got home. What a sniffly mess the girl was. "We worked so hard on it!" I promised I could fix it or we'd make another one. True to my word, Sunday we all made one. My husband almost hyperventilated at the mess, but they had such a good time.
Saturday Husband and I took time to do a quick go-through of the gifts and figured out where we are deficient. I then ran of for a little 'me' time. The long and the short of it - got a hair cut. A lot. Talked to the gal that did my hair, and she said that the ends were a crispy, and to have enough to donate for Locks of Love, I'd practically be bald - or I'd have to let it grow out more. So in true selfish fashion, I told her to chop away, but leave enough for a pony tail. No Locks of love this time. It is really cute, though. I told her to give me a style that wouldn't need a lot of maintenance, but would still have style. Plus, she colored it down quite a bit - to what I call my winter color.
I'm down to one project to finish - for the Big Girl's teacher. I should be done tomorrow night. We picked up our bottles of Bailey's for friends/neighbors on Saturday before we took the kids bowling. They had such a good time, and after having my husband gone all week, it was good to have some time as a family. Plus they looked really cute in the shoes.
I finished getting the cards ready and will get them in the mail today along with three more packages.
Sunday I got the bags made for the Bailey's bottles. I'm too cheap to buy a gift bag (9 x $2.50 or so) when I can purchase fabric (on sale - 2 yards x $2 = 9 bags) and sew some up. It only took an hour, and they look pretty nice if I do say so myself.
We kind of piddled through the weekend. We were never really in a rush to do anything. After having my husband gone all last week, it was nice to be able to relax, but still get plenty of things done. I finally feel like I've crawled out of the hamster wheel - instead of going round and round, I'm making some progress.
Today I'm going to finish up my shopping. Luckily, the Toddler is still young enough I can slyly shop in front of her. Next year, I won't be able to do that...
I've got two of my projects done and wrapped, and I need a little break. Thought I'd share this picture. Mom-o-matic, consider this my corner. We moved the chair in the corner to the office to accommodate the tree. In the upper right hand corner of the picture, you can see the clock on the wall. The clock hung in my grandparent's house for over 30 years.
I know it's just the time of the year, but as my kids get older I am much more cognizant of how I do things. Creating traditions and the like... Knowing that growing up, our traditions became more involved and now that I'm a mom, I'd like to create some of my own for my kids.
I was reading Momish, and she talked about to wrap or not to wrap. We, ok - my mom, wrapped everything. As things were accumulated, she'd wrap them and put them under the tree. Santa left gifts after we were in bed Christmas Eve - and they were wrapped too, only in different paper that we hadn't seen before.
Of all the tradition, this one sticks out the most. We always open one gift on Christmas Eve. This started when I was around 10 or so. I can remember as a kid my sister and I begging our parents to just let us open one. Pretty pretty please. After doing it one year, it became automatic. Now, it's usually something that we can't wait to give. Like, if I'm really excited about the gift I have for my sister, she'll open that one. The only catch is you can't pick what you open - someone else does.
One year, I think I was a senior in high school, we opened our traditional Christmas Eve gift. Everyone took a turn and opened one. It had gotten late; it was around midnight. Somehow between my sister and I, we tried to convince our parents to let us open all our gifts. Technically, it was Christmas. They finally relented when we promised we wouldn't be disappointed the next day. We laughed and told them we still had stocking gifts (Mom said as long as we believe, Santa will fill our stockings. I still believe.) and our table gift. We finished up around 1:30, and wearily crawled into bed. There was a certain giddiness that year, even the next morning when we should have been opening gifts.
There is something soothing about tradition, but it's ok to stray from it. Not too far, though... I still can't convince my mom to serve enchiladas on Christmas...
I love holiday music. Pretty much from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Day, that's about all I listen to.
Not sure when this came out, but I heard it on the radio the other day. This is from a concert, so the quality leaves something to be desired, but I'll take it...
Maybe I'm just getting soft, but there are a couple places where the hair on my arms stand up.
Updated... Here it is, studio produced:
BNL and Sarah Mclachlan
I have quite a few pictures to share... Only problem - no batteries. I thought I'd be "smart" and pick up a couple of the $1 packs from Target. After 7 pictures on pack one and 4 pictures on pack two, they were shot. But I'll tell you about them...
Butter
Seems a couple of my "friends" like to good naturedly "joke" about my "martha" streak. Two days ago I made Truffles, leaving my with an extra cup of cream. Rather than eat it on oatmeal, I thought the kids would like to make butter. Turns out The Boy already had, and was full of helpful advice... Poured the cup of cream in a Bell jar and started shaking. Shakey-shakey for about 20 minutes and it had really started to thicken, only problem? The kids lost interest. So rather than shake, I poured the really thick mixture into a bowl and got out the mixer. In about a minute I had butter and buttermilk. Poured off the buttermilk and rinsed off the butter. A little salt later and it's in the fridge. It was very good last night on bread...
Workout Clothes
The Queen went to the gym. She was amazed by some of the women there and the lenghts they would go to to look good. I thought it would be funny to take a picture of me before I left for the gym. Went to grab the camera yesterday and remembered the lack of working batteries. It would have been a gem - black track pants circa 1990, a t-shirt of the same vintage, one of my husband's discarded xxl pullovers and a stocking cap to my eyebrows (hey, it's cold here). Better yet, I'll take a picture when I'm done with the workout and look like Nick Notle's mug shot. Maybe tomorrow...
Cookies
I love Alton Brown. He's got this show, Good Eats, where he not only explains how to make things, but why cooking works the way it does. This is the third year I've made these cookies, and they always get rave reviews. This is one of my selections for the cookie exchange tomorrow. Without further ado...
Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel Cookies.
1 batch Sugar Cookies, recipe follows
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies
To half the dough add chocolate and vanilla and incorporate with hands.
Add egg yolk, peppermint extract, and crushed candy to other half of dough and incorporate with hands.
Cover both with plastic and chill for approximately 5 minutes.
Roll out doughs separately to approximately 1/4-inch thickness - (use powdered sugar to keep it from sticking too bad
Place peppermint dough on top of chocolate and press together around the edges.
Using waxed paper or flexible cutting board underneath, roll dough into log.
Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 1/2-inch slices.
Place cookies 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat and bake for 12 to 13 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through cooking time.
Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Sugar Cookie:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Here's the thing - they take a little while. Notice, they have to sit for two hours two different times - first after being made, and second, after being rolled into a log. My last batch, I let the logs sit over night and sliced and baked the next day. I'm not sure how long you could let them go, but overnight was ok for me. Also, rather than do one big log, I make two. The cookies come out smaller, and it's easier for me to handle 1/4 of the dough at a time. So when it's time to make the log, I'll roll out 1/2 the chocolate dough and 1/2 the peppermint and make a log, then repeat.
These really are worth the work for both the 'wow' factor and the taste. I think they'd probably even ship well.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll post some pictures tomorrow...
All I want is to get the tree up.
I can't find the screws to hold it in the base.
I already checked the garage for screws, but we don't have any big enough. I searched the empty box and the ornament box. Normally, I'd just load up the kids and head to the local home improvement store, but it's raining and about 40. Besides, they're still in jammies, noshing breakfast.
If this is how my day is going to work, I'm going back to bed.
