Let The Holiday Begin!
2:14 p.m. - 2008-12-19


I am now finished with the shopping and with the sewing. My sewing projects turned out very well, and only one needle died for the cause. Now I have to clear off the trunk to make room for the tree and generally straighten up the LR while listening to a not-so-gruesome murder mystery on tape. I am ahead of schedule this year....how on earth did that happen??

One of the church ladies brought some peppermint bark to the Christmas tea and told us that it is really easy to make. You just crush up 3 or 4 candycanes, melt some white candymelts or white chocolate in the microwave (though I don't have a microwave), and stir in the crushed candycanes and a few drops of peppermint extract then spread out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. When cool, you break it up into pieces. Very tasty. My favorite Christmas cookies, preferably made by Abby, are snowballs, fire candy, and shortbread made with real butter. I am reaping the benefits of training my daughter to like baking - I don't have to do any Christmas baking anymore unless I feel like it.

It has been very cold here lately as we suffer the same arctic blast that has chilled other sections of the country, but it is kinder to us here in the lower elevations of California. We are getting temps down to the lower 30's but no snow. Hopefully it will snow tons and tons up in the Sierras and save us all from the threat of a drought.

What would I like to get for Christmas this year? I would like some cone thread, some Netflix, a private income, and an embroidery machine. Not a single hope for the last two items, but I have it on good authority that I may get the first two. Particularly since I have already gotten a gift subscription email from Netflix, hooray!