Christmas Day
I slept in a bit this morning (7:30, yay!) but had enough time to turn on the coffee and put my breakfast casserole in the oven before grabbing a shower. Kids planned to wake by 10 AM so I could enjoy the peacefulness of the morning.
Once they both came downstairs around 10, it was time to pass out presents!
Presents!
Presents for them and presents for me! In addition to the items in the picture, I also received a few gift cards (Amazon, Macy’s, and Starbucks!) and a nice gift check! I’m already researching ellipticals on Amazon and the gift check will get tucked away for my cruise in February. I’m looking forward to testing out the ice cream maker for my KitchenAid. Can you say Ice Cream Par-tay?!
I texted the ex to tell him that I’d like to watch Social Diva open her present since it was a joint gift. He was actually receptive to bringing it over here for her to open in front of both us. She was pleased (and I can’t wait to play with her new camera). Vampire Boy’s gift was an easy transfer of cash from my bank account to his. They also had a few things in their stockings as well.
After the kids left, I resumed my Christmas Day tradition of seeing a movie, American Hustle. I made myself a nice Christmas dinner and have enjoyed a quiet house to myself.
There were no drinking plans for the evening, so it will be two Christmases in a row where I will wake up hangover free. I’m both happy and sad about this.
Now the question is do I want to go out shopping tomorrow morning? Hope you had an enjoyable day!
Merry Christmas!
From my family to yours:
Wishing you Love and Laughter, Happiness and Cheer.
Merry Christmas!
Are You Fucking Kidding Me? The Family Christmas Edition
Thanks to the summer birthday card fiasco involving a missing birthday card mailed to my nephew and the shit storm that resulted afterwards, I wasn’t planning on driving to my mom’s on Christmas Eve. I had already asked the kids about it, and they said they were ok with not making the visit.
Over the weekend, I made sure to send a package to my mom’s address with Christmas cards for her, my step dad, and my two nephews. To avoid any “we didn’t get anything” fiasco like the birthday card, I made sure to send it Priority Mail with tracking.
Package was delivered today and I get an email from my mother asking if I’m not coming up for Christmas Eve. Immediately followed by a text from the sister asking the same question. And here’s where the “Are you fucking kidding me?” comes into play.
Mother and sister said some shitty things back in the summer, and now they’re expecting me to show up for Christmas Eve? I really don’t think so.
The Countdown to Christmas
There’s about a week left until Christmas. I’ve been a baking fool since Thanksgiving weekend!
In lieu of buying gifts for people at work, I spend the weekends leading up to Christmas baking cookies. I then make cookie platters for the physicians I support as well as a handful of co-workers. [They love my cookies so much, they pitched in and bought me a KitchenAid mixer last year!]
I learned a lesson last year. Don’t leave the time-consuming cookies for the weekend closest to Christmas! This year, I began early and baked the time-consuming cookies during my Thanksgiving break.
First up, butter cut outs!
Butter Cut Outs
I no longer bake and decorate these on the same day. I’ve been researching different icing recipes to decorate these over the past few years. Social Diva initially began decorating for me, but then received a better offer and off she went! It was fun to sit down and create these. I am so happy with how they came out!
Gingerbread truffles were easy to whip up. I threw the rolled balls into the freezer to dip on a different day. I made Social Diva help me with the dipping!
Naked Gingerbread Truffles
Next up, my Nana’s Nut Horns!
Nut Horns
Followed by nut bread. I made two batches of bread over two days. This is the finished product from the first batch.
Nut Bread
Have I mentioned how much I love the KitchenAid mixer and it’s ability to produce bea-U-tiful dough?
Bread Dough
This is the dough from today’s batch. I was able to make 9 various-sized loaves from this batch. I like to send a loaf of this and some nut horns to my Uncles from my dad’s side of the family. I used to always make these with my Nana and have continued to make them even though she’s no longer with us. I know they miss her and her baking so I like to remember them at the holidays.
Yesterday’s cookie was a tweaked recipe.
Brownie S’more
I had a recipe for a ‘chocolate/marshmallow’ cookie. To change it into a s’more-type cookie, I rolled the cookie dough in crushed graham crackers as well as sprinkled crushed graham crackers on top of the marshmallows. I also drizzled these with chocolate.
Also in my freezer (I forgot to take pictures) are red velvet peppermint cookies, rolo cookies, and buckeyes.
I’ve run out of #BakingMondays. I need to finish up a few minor details (like dipping the buckeyes, for example) and then I can start putting my trays together. I’ll be packing up cookie trays all week to haul into work. Since everyone isn’t in our office on the same days, it’s helpful to take in a few trays each day.
If I can gather up the recipes, I’ll add the links later.
Day 30: A Day of Being Productive
I can’t believe we’re at the last day of November.
Since the kids and I went to a movie on Thanksgiving and they went over the ex’s early, I didn’t bother cooking my turkey on Thanksgiving Day. I cooked it today instead and it turned out beautiful!
I also managed to get out early this morning to pick up groceries. Yay, we can eat for a week!
I also stopped at Busy Beaver to pick up some plastic to cover my living room windows. I spent the afternoon hanging the plastic and a set of mini blinds on the windows. Wow, what a difference! There is no longer a cold breeze on my neck when I’m sitting in my chair!
Tomorrow, I am going to try to rustle up some Christmas spirit and hopefully start my Christmas decorating. And I still have cookies to make and decorate. And I have Christmas cards to address and mail. So much to do!
I must say, I do like this week’s work three days with five days off. I know I’ll enjoy my Sunday a little better knowing that I don’t have to go to work on Monday. (Sorry, just a little gloat about that.)
Day 29: Thankful Continued
The kids and I enjoyed seeing the movie, Frozen, yesterday before I dropped them off at their dad’s for their Thanksgiving dinner. I, however, came home and opened my bottle of wine. Pity Party, party of one? There was no turkey, stuffing, or mashed potatoes for me yesterday. Luckily, I had some leftover pizza for a late lunch (since I’m overdue for grocery shopping). Three glasses of wine later, it was time to change and go out.
The Mongolian Mother Lover
Previous Thanksgiving Days have involved a large group of friends meeting at Jack’s on Thanksgiving night. This Thanksgiving, however, didn’t follow tradition. As my relationship ended recently, I wasn’t interested in pretending to happy and jolly around a large group of people, so this year, I just met a few close (and true) friends for a drinks. One drink turned into two, two into three, and I lost track after that. After making his way through a posted beer list, my male friend ended the night with this fruit ornated (but umbrella-less) drink.
The night was filled with stories and laughter. I’ve been hibernating since September and it was great to get out. It was just what I needed!
To top off the fun of the night, I got to stop at Tom’s Diner for breakfast. Why is it that breakfast always tastes better when someone else makes it?
Breakfast!
Yes, that is both bacon and sausage you see on my plate!
Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving and survived Black Friday shopping if that’s your thing!
Day 28: Thankful
Today, I am thankful for:
- having two healthy and happy children
- having a warm place to live
- having a stable job
- having food on the table
- having a car that gets me where I need to go
- having truly good friends who make me laugh
Today, I am wishing my father a happy birthday. He would have been 68 today.
Today, the kids and I are going to see a movie before they go to their dad’s for Thanksgiving dinner. I will return home, possibly bake some cookies, then meet those good friends for a few holiday drinks. I bought a turkey to bake, but I may wait until Saturday to throw him in the oven (need to coordinate around the baking cookies!).
So wherever you are reading from, Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Day 27: Pre-Turkey Day Eve
It’s the night before Thanksgiving.
My bird is thawing in the fridge. Kids are full of pizza and hoagie. I’m full of pizza and wine. I’ll be cooking tomorrow, but not for a crowd nor even a sit down meal. My initial plan was to go to a movie by myself tomorrow, but now I’m going with the kids to see Frozen. After the movie, I’ll likely drop them at their dad’s after the movie. Then I’m free until I meet up with friends for drinks later. And I’m hoping to get my drink on later! [I am way overdue.]
It will be an interesting Thanksgiving for me. I found out a cousin passed away this past weekend. Tomorrow would have been my dad’s 68th birthday. I have a bazillion cookies I need to make for Christmas gifts.
So if you’re reading tonight, happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Day 26: Horoscope Tweets
I fell down the twitter horoscope hole this afternoon.
It all started when I saw this tweet:
My Way (But, of course!)
I do admit to this. I do prefer things to be done my way and on my timeline. Honestly, though, I do try to reign this quirk in when dealing with kids and friends.
Of course, I had to click on their entire timeline. A few favorites:
I’m not really hard to please as long as you do it my way and on my timeline. 😉
I would suck in politics. I hate BS and stories and lies, etc.
I’m struggling with this right now.
I have read before that I am more compatible with other water signs. I’ll certainly be keeping this in mind when exploring new relationships.
I know horoscopes are crap, but these are just a few horoscope tweets that caught my eye today.
Day 25: Working from Home
So on one of the coldest days of the season so far (it was 20* outside yesterday), I discovered after a day of baking that my furnace was not working correctly. The thermostat was set for 70, yet the inside temperature was 63. A quick call to the landlord got me the name of their HVAC company and permission to call them first thing this morning. I sent off an email to my supervisor and co-worker to tell them of the problem and request that I work from home while waiting for the service call.
The repairman showed up pretty quickly this morning after receiving a call from my landlady to authorize the call and a call from me to request a service all. Landlady was concerned as I wasn’t getting any heat last night when I talked to her. The furnace seemed to kick on around 7 last night and seemed to work ok, but this morning I woke up to an inside temperature of 63 again. I almost considered going to work, but I’m glad I didn’t.
Turns out that the furnace’s safety feature was kicking of the distribution of heat. The serviceman asked when I last replaced the filter and I told him a little over a month ago when I turned the furnace on for the season. Apparently, higher-end filters attract more dust/dirt and should be replaced monthly. That was news to me!
Repairman was gone by 10. I thought for a minute about getting changed and heading into work, but then talked sense into myself. I would lose two hours of work if I did that, so I sat back down at my makeshift desk (the dining room table) and got back to work. Unfortunately, I couldn’t print anything I wanted to work on, so I was swapping windows all day! At 2:30, I signed off and headed out to pick up Social Diva from school (since it’s so cold). A quick check of emails when I returned, and I am done for the day.
Unlike most of our departmental personnel, I think I actually work harder and longer when allowed to work from home! I need to negotiate on being able to work from home more often.
The Bitch Desk 